i hate the controls. they remind me of the awful controls in the resident evil games (which i cant stand because of them)
is there any way to have it so the character doesnt rotate on the spot, and pushing left = moving left etc?

yes... in the options menu under controls the sidestep left and sidestep right options
defaults are z and x
also consider using a gamepad... this game feels more right with a gamepad than a keyboard

this game was definetly made with a gamepad in mind, theres no doubt about it.. but i find a decent way to play it is so set wasd to movement and strafing... and arrow left right to turn, its sorta like turning dual analogue into digital and is surprisingly effective, then up shoots and down throws a grenade.

I customised the controls so it's mouse to fire, and just set movement to WASD. Those are the only controls I bother using.

Worst controls ever. Ruins everything.
@AmishFury
This is about absolute vs relative controls. Like an RC car = bad (think Resident Evil < 4). The direction you press equals the direction you move on screen = good (think Mario64).
This could have been so awesome with a Robotron/Smash TV control scheme. :/

The camera thing I don't think is fixable, but these controls (paste over old values in config file) should make the game manageable and pretty enjoyable for you (I hate the RE-style controls too, but liked it alright this way):
Player_1_up [17]
Player_1_down [31]
Player_1_left [0]
Player_1_right [0]
Player_1_fire1 [294]
Player_1_fire2 [0]
Player_1_fire3 [295]
Player_1_fire4 [33]
Player_1_fire5 [30]
Player_1_fire6 [32]
Joystick_Sensitivity [100]
Joystick_FF_Toggle [0]
Joystick_FF_Strength [5000]
Mouse_Sensitivity [0]
(W = up
S = down
A = strafe left
D = strafe right
F = change weapon
Left/right mouse = fire/grenade)

the best way to play it using a keyboard is:
- WASD to move and strafe ( no rotation )
- mouse to rotate and fire (left button primary fire, right button nades)
- E\Q or mousewheel for weapon toggle.
Would be just stupid believe me, In this game you can aim at 360°, not at fixed angles, and you need to move at 360° too.

I'd rather be forced to move in fixed angles and shoot 360 degrees with absolute instead of relative control. Of course the perfect scheme would be geometry-wars style - dual analog stick, move with left and aim with right.
The game fails to recognize my Xbox 360 controller btw.

oh that's sad D: i have an xbox360 controller too (wired) and I hoped to be able to play with it, I still have to try.
With that WASD+Mouse configuration I can play pretty well, but as you said a geometry wars style of controls would be great.

Actually I was able to get the game to detect the 360 controller after I unplugged my other joystick, so that part turned out to be fine.
However I found it to be even harder to control than WASD+Mouse.
Maybe I'll try pure keyboard without mouse...

pure keyboard is terrible for aiming, i think i'll stick with WASD+mouse...

I agree. I hate these controls. The dreamcast version controls way better. And the Android version controls perfect. I wish they could patch it. geez.

I used WASD for moving, where AD are strafing and mouse for aiming. So it is like FPS...