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Campers lose. Campers are losers. Campers should be shot. Snipers are babies. Snipers aren’t good enough to mix it up with the big boys. Snipers should be shot. Running and gunning – sprinting around, living by your wits, relying on your reactions and turning, moving, gliding, weaving and doubling back - is the way a gentleman wins. Master these moves and you’ll come top in COD4 Free For All time and time again. (The following assumes you've leveled up to 55 and have access to all the weapons and perks.)
Use the P90
We’ve heard people refer to this as a 'noob' gun - though bizarrely you have to get to Rank 40 Colonel to unlock it. Then again, we've also heard people call using the grenade launcher on an M16 a 'noob tactic'. Basically if you're good with any particular gun in COD4 and you win often, some people will moan. Tough to them. The bottom line is this… all the guns and equipment are in the game and are there to be used. So use them.
The Fabrique Nationale P90 is a superb weapon. It's very fast firing, with good damage. Also it's lightweight, which means you can move quickly. This is key to Free for All success. Running and gunning is, on most maps, a very effective tactic and the one we will espouse most frequently here.
While the P90 is fundamentally a short-range weapon, do not discount its medium or medium-to-long range potential. With quick jabs to the trigger (rather than a sustained burst) it is entirely possible to take out targets at distance. Keep your P90 accessorized with a Red Dot Sight. We have seen people try an ACOG. This is pointless and disorienting when using at close range. Close range is after all where a great proportion of your P90 kills will come from.
Perk choices
Tier One should be Frag Grenade x 3. Claymores are popular with many. However we think they take too long to lay and are immediately rendered useless if you get shot. They seem more appropriate as part of a sniper's kitbag. And snipers rarely win.
Tier Two should be Stopping Power. Long run: you'll gain more from this than the other Tier Two perks combined.
Tier Three should be Martyrdom. Some say this auto-grenade-drop is cheap. We say do you want to win or not? Even predominantly open maps include some buildings and enclosed spaces within them, and more often than not, players naturally gravitate to the buildings.
These are your Tier choices. Don't be tempted to mess with them.
Be quick on the draw
Sounds obvious. But you'll be surprised how many kills you'll get just by being alert and pre-zooming your gun just before you round a corner. Always assume you'll see someone coming towards you around every corner. Even better, often they are running towards you which means they need a second to stop running, pull up their gun and aim. If you've pre-zoomed around every corner, you'll have that time in hand to aim and begin shooting. If players have put in lengthy afternoons of Free for All they get lazy. Take advantage of that by conditioning yourself not to flag and to remain hyper-alert.
Switch your pistol out ASAP
It amazes us how few players seem to take advantage of this strategy. After a short period in any Free for All game, you'll come across some dead guys on the floor and more importantly, their guns. Keep your P90 (of course) but, when the coast is clear, quickly flip to your pistol and swap it for the dead guy's gun. Personally we’re less interested in shotguns, but Carbines, M16s, or any Light Machine Gun make a great companion to your P90. (Yes, we know the Tier Two Perk Overkill lets you carry two primary weapons from the off, but then you've got to relinquish Stopping Power, which you don't want to do.)
This is very useful in maps like Crash, where you can use your P90 to fight your way up to the top of the three story building, then alternate between tossing grenades down the stairwell and picking people off with your longer range weapon. Remember: When running make sure you've got your P90 equipped, you'll run faster longer.
Airstrikes and helicopters
Often the key to victory. You must rack up five kills, then go and hide somewhere. Tuck yourself away and get your airstrike fired off as quickly as possible. If there are no red dots on your map, you should hang around for a few seconds and wait for some shots to be fired, then let the strike go on the dots. Wait and see if you pull off the required two kills. If so, let the chopper fly immediately. Now run about gunning for players standing in the open distractedly trying to bring your chopper down. Players that regularly get chopper support regularly win. (Sounds obvious again, but if you're not getting choppers often you need to examine what's wrong with your game.) Choppers are particularly devastating on smaller maps like Wetwork, with the boat’s two ends offering great places to hide from the fight in order to drop your initial airstrike.
Also, don't bother trying to shoot down an opponent's helicopter. Other players will do that for you and players distracted by a chopper make good targets. Just try to stay in cover and move only when you can use the scenery to create a barrier between you and the chopper.
Keep back against walls as much as possible
When moving about any map try to consciously minimize the amount of time your back is exposed. If you are running down a long passage or alley in District say, consider the time you take vs the probability of someone appearing behind you during that time and gunning you down. A good tactic, when running and gunning is to take every corner when it's offered. Turning often minimizes your blind spot and percentage wise reduces your odds of being shot from behind.
Reload at every opportunity
Even after drilling an opponent efficiently, hide behind something, crouch, reload and move. You never know when you'll encounter the next back-to-back chain of three opponents and you must minimize the possibility of running out of ammo halfway through an exchange.
Use the crouch function during combat
In an exchange where your opponent has got the jump on you, you have a millisecond to decide whether to face them off and try to outgun them or to duck out the way. You may be surprised how effective it can be to duck behind a piece of solid scenery. Often your opponent will continue to shoot at the scenery for a few seconds, even though he's not hitting you. When he's expended his ammo and is reloading you can spring up and finish him. Practicing ducking and conditioning yourself to know when best to fight or to hide takes practice, but when you get good at it you'll be able to turn a bad situation to your advantage.
Jul 22, 2008
