Modern Warfare 2 tips for survival
(Picture: Activision)Call of Duty Modern Warfare II comes out tomorrow and, while the campaign is looking very fun indeed, for many, CoD is all about the multiplayer.
The trouble is that the fast-and-furious multiplayer gameplay of Call of Duty in its current form has been entertaining players for 15 years and, while it’s evolved a lot in that time, the fundamentals are still the same. That means that, if you’re a newcomer, there are grizzled veterans ready to take advantage of all your rookie errors.
These Modern Warfare II multiplayer tips should help. They won’t put you top of the leaderboard overnight, but they will certainly help move your KD rate in a respectable direction.
Train your ears with a quality headset
The first tip is a hardware one: if you’re playing with your TV’s regular audio setup, you’re missing out.
You get a big advantage in Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer lobbies by knowing exactly where your enemies are, and sound is a big part of that. Even a basic headset will help you pick up on the direction of gunshots and footsteps but, to really up your game, consider investing in one of the best
Keep calm and ADS
ADS — or Aim Down Sights — is vital in all versions of Call of Duty. You can hip-fire but, if you shoot that way, your bullet spread will be massive, making it really only effective at very close range — the kind of range where a quick stab of your melee weapon is probably better.
Take the time to aim down your sights and line up your shots. Being accurate is significantly more important than being fast in Call of Duty (obviously, both is best of all, but baby steps!)
Side note: being comfortable with your controls is important, and don’t assume that the default levels of sensitivity are right for you. Head to the menu and adjust your aim sensitivity until you’re in the ‘Goldilocks zone’ — not too fast, not too slow, and just right.
Headshots are king but account for recoil
As with most first-person shooters, headshots are significantly more impactful than body hits. They’re also harder to pull off, of course — especially when you have weapon recoil to account for.
Our advice? Aim somewhere between the chest and lower jaw, and let the recoil do the rest, pushing your aim upwards and landing the perfect headshot.
Get used to burst firing, too. Shooting too many bullets at once will make the kickback nearly impossible to control, while stop-start firing in half-second bursts will keep recoil manageable.
Don’t make yourself an easy target
If you think about your easiest kills, they’re almost certainly the people running around in the open. You don’t want to be like those people if you can possibly avoid it.
The secret is getting into cover, exposing less body, and ensuring that stray bullets are safely absorbed by the wall rather than, say, your chest.
Think about this even when you’re moving around the map. Yes, you’re always going to be vulnerable when running from A to B, but limit the possible angles. If you can run alongside a wall, that’s one less angle you can be shot from.
Crouching and going prone are also important: not only do they make you a smaller target, but they steady your shots, making return fire that bit more likely to be a direct hit.
Switch game modes to unlock more weapons
While it’s not entirely true to say a Modern Warfare II player is only as good as his or her arsenal, having access to better weapons certainly helps.
The trouble is that you unlock better weapons by getting kills, which can make it slow progress and a bit of a catch-22 if you’re struggling with your current loadout.
Our advice? Consider switching to Invasion mode to level up faster, as this version of the game comes complete with AI opponents as well as humans. While taking down bots won’t give you the same XP as killing a human player, what you miss in quality you will more than make up for in quantity, giving you access to a better weapon set in no time.
