MEMBER BLOG

Everybody went out and got it. Tons of people stood in line in the middle of the night to get it. Millions are still playing it, as we speak. Yes, obviously I'm talking about Call of Duty. I, like so many others, went out and got this game. Although, I was intelligent about it, or so I thought. Maybe the others were just foolish. There were about a million people in line all night long at Gamestop, waiting for their preorder. I walked in the doors of the BX, walked past the big line, past Gamestop, and into the main shop. It's basically a Walmart in there. You can find a little bit of everything. The neat part about it, was that they didn't take preorders. They had plenty of copies of the game, but no line. I walked in, paid for the game, and walked back out. You wouldn't believe the looks I got as I held my new copy of the game on my way out, just showing it off to the suckers standing in line.

Well, much like everyone else, I've been playing it since I got it. I had to work the next day, but it was a short two day cycle. Fifteen hour shifts don't leave much time for gaming, but we were on a short week (that is sadly coming to an end). That means that I got a three day weekend. Once I got the multiplayer ins and outs, I naturally started doing better. I'm steadily climbing my way up the ranks. I was playing with some buddies back home, and one of them decided to ask me: "Hey, do you use any of the **** the military teaches you in the game?" Personally, I laughed at this. Now, not everyone is in the military. I know that. Even a lot of people in the military aren't taught ground combat tactics, outside of the simple things learned in basic training. Two man tactics like "High-man/low-man" work to some extent, but the big wedge formations, rules of engagement, disciplins and whatnot just can't work in a game like this.

When I'm moving down an alley, I'm naturally shifted to either wall. I'm usually crouched, too. When I'm moving down the alley with someone, if they're crouched, I'm standing, and vice versa. This way, should we encounter enemies, I won't be in his way, and he won't be in mine. This is also a good method to clear corners. I'll keep my weapon down the alley while he, crouched, will pie the corner. This covers the dead space, or, area you can't see. Little tactics like this work in any game, but my friend was assuming that I should be doing better because I've gone through a lot of ground combat training. Real world, I'm pretty good at it. Urban warfare is my nich. But in a game like this, real world tactics hardly work. Running through the village in a tight wedge formation looks pretty badass, but really just makes you a very easy target. People in the real world don't run around and jump and throw frag grenades and knives and shoot rockets and whatnot just like that. A wedge formation works because it covers all areas of attack. Everybody has a field of fire that slightly overlaps, providing total protection. It's even better with a fifth man dedicated soley to rear security. When somebody's head pops up, there's always going to be at least two team members who will see him, and put rounds on him accordingly. In call of duty, when one guy runs around the corner blasting with an RPD, it doesnt matter who sees him. Someone's going to die, and your whole formation is going to be messed up from that. Real world enemy psychology aside, nobody ever takes the body armor into account. With the body armor I wear every day, a 9mm round will not go through the vest, even without the plates in. With the plates, it will stop a 7.62x54mm round. The AK-47 fires a 7.62x39mm round. The M240B (which, by the way, weighs 27 pounds on its own, and is NOT a weapon generally carried on foot. It's a mounted weapon. Where's the 249?) fires a 7.62mm round, too. I'm getting off topic.

To put it bluntly, you can't expect real world tactics to work in an arcade game. The stuff works great in ArmA or Flashpoint, but not in Call of duty. It's still fun to try sometimes, because if by some chance you pull off a smooth sweep of the village, it's extremely satisfying.

What tactics do you all use in your shooters?

OSS