For many years I’ve played video games, over and over I went through challenges, traps, gun fire, and explosions. Most of the time I come through unscathed but everyone makes a mistake and sometimes you find yourself trapped, lost, riddled with holes, and blown up. But the point to winning any video game or making your way to the top of the leader boards is to Never say Never (and not the Justin Beiber type). You will find your self in a lot of sticky situations in just about any video game and there are a lot of ways to keep your self going even when you can’t seem to win. Today I will share my secrets on how to succeed in gaming and I will touch on multiple subjects including how to keep yourself beating FACE in games like Call of Duty.
Keep it cool.
The first thing I can tell you, that I would think to be the best advice is to keep a cool head. I know it is hard to resist that nagging feeling of giving up, throwing your controller, or finding the nearest camper and stab them in the face, but you have to keep your cool. Being angry will cause you more problems than you realize, you see as your blood begins to boil you begin to make mistakes left and right, miscalculated jumps, falling off cliffs, running into a gun fight, pressing buttons too early, impatience. You will put yourself in too many bad situations. Use that anger, turn it into focus. You want to kill that camper? Do it, but think first, a well thrown flash grenade will end a sniper or camper very quickly, then while he is blind a quick stab to the face will satisfy and encourage you.
Know your surroundings.
This one can range from knowing that there is a hidden cliff just beyond camera view, to realizing that there is a giant metal box between you and the person in front of you that he can’t seem to shoot through, a quick duck with give you an advantage. This one can be difficult to master and most of the time you will still end up on the bad end of the situation but hiding behind that metal box can save you just enough time between reloads to kill your opponent. In a game like Metal Gear Solid, knowing your surroundings is crucial you need to know where to hide, how to hide and when to hide. Putting something between you and your opponent can give you an advantage, use it!
Know your Equipment.
This one should be pretty obvious but sometimes you tend to forget everything you have at your disposal. Having a hard time with that puzzle? Oh yeah the game lets me use this journal that somehow has almost all the answers (Uncharted). There is a ladder up over the ledge I can’t climb how am I supposed to get it down? Remember, the answers are usually more obvious than you think. “Oh I have a sling shot that can shoot pellets, lets give that a try. (Legend of Zelda) There is no exit, how am I supposed to move on? Oh yeah I have this handy explosive in my inventory. When in a game like call of duty don’t forget you have kill streak rewards. You will find that using them at the right moment, before an opponent plants the bomb, you can save the game completely and those extra kills get you higher on the score board, also in Call of Duty don’t forget you have stun and flash grenades, these are very helpful and are easily forgotten.
Be Prepared.
No, not the Lion King song. You must expect the unexpected, yes I said that right. Unfortunately it is impossible to predict everything but sometimes taking a quick breather to plot your next strategy or taking that extra second to check all your corners can save your life. You never know when a bad guy is hiding, just waiting for you to turn your back so they can put a knife or something into it. In Call of Duty most people forget that a flash grenade will show an X when it affects someone in the area, it is good to throw those into a room you’re not sure is clear and see if that X pops up, if it does then you know someone is there and can strategize your next move.
Combos.
Now this might not affect every game but most I’ve seen have some sort of combination system that can get the best effect. Opposite elements can cause great effects in some games. Freeze the little guy then fireball him, sit back and watch Frosty melt. Throw a stun grenade, then a regular grenade, the poor fool will slowly watch his demise. Don’t want to run around with that pesky little clicker for your C4? Bullets work just as well and you can keep shooting if they make it through the blast.
You see? It is thoughts like this that will put you in the lead of your friends. And they will be impressed at some of the ways they died or how you killed that boss in the game they just couldn’t seem to beat.
The last advice I can give you is from the fabled Star Wars. “That’s great kid!, but don’t get cocky!”. The moment you start to tell everyone you’re the best or try to trash talk your friends, you will quickly find yourself at the bottom. Be a good sport and a good loser and you will go far.
Rob aka the Duke out….
