tips

[Santa Coder]

1) Faster, carbine, kill, kill!

The little bar graphs for each weapon don't tell the full story. For instance, the M4 Carbine might not have stats as good as the starting weapons, but its fully automatic fire is an invaluable asset. Believe it or not, the wasted milliseconds between the M16's burst fire can make all the difference. Similarly, the R700 sniper rifle might look like a no-brainer over the previous guns, but consider that it's a bolt-action weapon with a 4-round clip. You better make every shot count.


2) You can run, but you can't hide

Walls, schmalls! Guns can punch through solid materials in Call of Duty 4, particularly the LMGs fired by someone with the Deep Impact perk. Don't forget to shoot through walls, particularly on game modes where players have to defend a fixed position. Soften up a defended HQ or Domination site from the outside. And even if you're a small-caliber class, you can use fixed gun emplacements to take out snipers who think they've ducked behind cover. Backlot, for instance, is a great map for sweeping through walls with its fixed guns.


3) Ditch the pistol

Once you get good enough to stay alive over the course of a few kills, regularly earning UAVs and air strikes, ammo for your primary weapon will be a limiting factor. Keep in mind you can swap out your pistol to pick up a killed enemy's primary weapon. If you get in the habit of doing this early on, you might never need the Bandolier (extra ammo) or Overkill (start with two primary weapons) perks.


4) In the boom boom room

Call of Duty 4 might seem too fast for C4, which has to be planted and detonated. But it's an invaluable part of all the non-deathmatch game modes. For instance, drop your C4 satchels into the headquarters area when you're defending, and then hang back someplace to watch the bad guys rush in. Remember that a quick double-tap of the use key will detonate the C4 if you have your weapon equipped. If you plan on doing this regularly, don't forget the Sonic Boom perk for extra damage in a larger blast radius.


5) This is my mouse, there are many like it!

Consider switching the controls for your frag grenades and your special grenades, particularly if you take the Special Grenade perk and therefore have the flashbangs and stun grenades to spare. Using your middle mouse button to lead with one of these is a great way to round a corner or enter a room. Also, if you have the buttons to spare, put the melee attack on your mouse. The times you'll need melee ("Oh @!&*, I'm out of ammo!") are the times you can't afford to fumble for a key on your keyboard.