pWn4g3 Round

I've had much higher ratios than this before, but this is a serious kill count.

You know you've played too much MW2 when...

You go out and buy a real SCAR.

Finished Everything in MW2

AdM1r4l Nelson's Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Team Deathmatch Tips

If you haven't played Multiplayer in MW2 yet, prepare to be frustrated. The learning curve is steep in this CoD installment. I consider myself an expert and I got owned for the first few days. Only recently have I started to play at the levels I achieved in CoD4 and WaW. That is why I have waited until today to post some tips.

First of all, make sure your Internet connection is configured properly. When you enter the Multiplayer screen you should see a message that says, "NAT Type: Open". I don't know WTF this means, but it's good. If you see "NAT Type: Strict" or "NAT Type: Moderate", you will need to reconfigure your router. What I did with my Linksys router was enable DMZ for my 360's IP address. That exposes your 360 directly to the wide area network. You could also hook your 360 directly up to the cable modem, but if there are other people using the web in your house, that might piss them off.

General Strategy

My general strategy is still the same as WaW:

My strategy is always to stay under cover, tap the trigger at long range, hold the trigger down while hip firing and strafing at short range, use the knife when you're close, hide betties [claymores] around corners where they can't be seen, and always crouch walk to move silently. 5.1 sound is a must so that you can hear the location of footsteps. When you hear footsteps, look at your radar to see if it's a friendly. If it's not, then get ready to shoot in that direction.

When crossing open areas, I always sprint. Sometimes it helps to drop into prone position when people start shooting at you, then resume sprinting after a few seconds. I always sprint to cover before reloading.

Recommended Class

Here is my favorite class. Last night and this morning I had a consistent 4.0 Kill / Death ratio with it. I will explain why I recommend each of these choices.

SCAR-H w/Silencer
AA-12 w/extended mags
Scavenger
Ninja
Cold-Blooded
Claymores
Kill Streaks: Care Package, Emergency Airdrop, Chopper Gunner
Death Streak: Final Stand

SCAR-H w/Silencer
The SCAR-H is the "heavy" version of the Special Forces Combat Assault Rifle. It is made by the Belgium company FNH who also produce the P90 and F2000. It fires a more powerful round (.308) than the "light" version or a standard M4/M16 (.223). It's basically like getting free Stopping Power. That is why it is better than the M4. (BTW, a civilian semi-auto version will be sold mid 2010)

AA-12 w/extended mags
The Atchisson Assault Shotgun (12 gauge) is a badass auto shotgun. It is instant death in close quarters. The only drawbacks are the tiny range that it has, and the small mag. If you are on the other side of a large room, it will not reach your target. The small mag problem is resolved once you reach 400 kills and unlock the extended mags. I switch to the AA-12 in 90% of indoor or alleyway areas. Until you unlock the extended mags, I recommend the grip attachment for tighter groups. You should only really fire this gun from the hip while strafing.

Scavenger
Hands down this is the #1 perk in the game. It allows you to pick up ammo and equipment from bodies. That means unlimited ammo, frag grenades, rocket grenades, claymores, etc. Keep in mind that only two claymores can be planted at once. If you plant a third, your first claymore will disappear. Once you unlock the Pro version, you also start off with Bandolier levels of ammo. If you want long kill streaks, use Scavenger.

Ninja
Ninja makes you invisible to the annoying heartbeat (Aliens) sensors that many people use. More importantly, the Pro version gives the added benefit of Dead Silence. Your movements are very quiet (not completely silent though).

Cold-Blooded
What's the point of ninja abilities if you show up on everyones' UAV radar? Cold-Blooded also protects you from air support, thermal scopes, and sentry guns. Sentry guns are the only thing that you will be completely immune from. People can still see you from the air support view, you just won't have a red square making you more obvious. Thermal scoped snipers can also still see you, but you won't be so easy to spot.

Claymores
Even though they nerfed the Claymores, they are still one of the best items in the game. You just need to keep in mind that enemies using the Scrambler perk will be able to pass Claymores, and flash bangs will temporarily disable your claymores. Flash bangs also disable sentry guns temporarily. While Scrambler might help with claymores, I consider it the dumbest perk in the game. As soon as the Scrambler perk affects someone's radar, they know that an enemy is near, and may also know the direction that they're coming from. Scrambler is an idiotic perk that telegraphs your attack.

Kill Streaks: Care Package, Emergency Airdrop, Chopper Gunner
Care Package drops one random item at a location that you designate with a flare. It is important to throw the flare away from rooftops, the map edges, etc. or the package may be inaccessible. If the item is a UAV, UAV Jammer, or resupply, I just leave it for a teammate to pick up because you get more points that way. However, if there are enemies near, or if the item is something kick ass like a Chopper Gunner, AC-130, Predator Missile, helicopter or air strike, I pick it up. Emergency Airdrop is the same thing as Care Package except you get four boxes instead of one. Chopper Gunner is the best killstreak reward, so hopefully you will get one from your air drops and also when you hit the Chopper Gunner streak.

Death Streak: Final Stand
Final Stand is way better than Last Stand in CoD4. This time you can crawl around on the ground, use your primary weapon, and even get back up after enough time has passed.

PAX 2009

Just got back from PAX 2009. Here are some pictures and video.

Mile High Club Achievement - CoD4

This achievement is a pain in the ass, but it is doable.

The key is to learn the flashbang spots, and also to reload your gun whenever you have time to.

The key reload is when you are lying on the ground behind cover in the hull breach room. Reload one gun while on the ground, then reload the other gun while walking to the stairs.

Don't forget to pick up the extra flashbangs upstairs.

You must headshot the last guy in order to kill him.

60 seconds isn't much time, so you need to keep moving. That's why you need to flashbangs around every corner. Once you move up, your guys will help kill a few.

My New Xbox 360 Wireless Controller

Sanwa parts. Made by Kojiro.

AdM1r4l Nelson's Dead Space Guide

General Strategy

Only Use "One Gun"
The plasma cutter is the most versatile weapon. It is accurate, has focused fire, and once fully upgraded it is powerful enough for any of the enemies. I recommend using only the plasma cutter on your first playthrough. Doing this will also get you the One Gun achievement on the first playthrough.

It's a good idea to carry only one gun and to use it exclusively. The plasma cutter and pulse rifle are the only guns worth consideration. This will ensure that you are able to fully upgrade it with power nodes, and it will also increase the probability that the ammo you find is for your favorite weapon. When you do find ammo for one of the other guns, sell it at the store and buy power nodes.

Buy a DLC Suit
If you don't mind spending $3 of real world cash, I recommend purchasing the Tank Suit from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Purchasing this downloadable content will make the best suit available for 0 credits at the in-game store. It is the most protective suit available in Dead Space (60% shields), and it also allows you to use the full inventory. Like Resident Evil, this game is very annoying with limited inventory slots. A few bucks is worth all of the frustration and inconvenience you will have with the standard suits.

Aim for Limbs
You will conserve ammo and kill enemies faster by blowing off their limbs. This is especially important for the big fat pregnant aliens. You don't want to have more enemies to deal with by letting them out of its belly. Don't forget to adjust the plasma cutter with the alternate fire button for the best chance at severing a limb.

Use Environmental Weapons
The red exploding tubes are your friend. Launch them at your enemies with kinesis whenever they are around. It will conserve ammo and they kill most enemies with a single explosion. The gravity tiles are also a great way to dispatch the aliens. Freeze them with statis while they are near a gravity disturbance, then push them into it for an instant kill. Be careful not to get too close yourself.

Use Stasis
Frozen enemies can be killed by just stomping them to death with your foot (alternate fire button). This is another way to save ammo. If you are near a statis recharge station, then freeze away as much as you like. There is also a statis cheat code that will instantly refill your gauge. However, if you want to enjoy the game, I would not use any of the cheat codes. I did my first playthrough on Hard without using any cheat codes.

Loot Every Room
Don't pass by any of the small rooms. These often contain power nodes, health and ammo.

Boss Strategy

Leviathan
At the end of Chapter 6, you will fight Leviathan. Once you know his pattern, he is very easy to beat. I beat it without taking any damage on Impossible difficulty.

When you first enter the zero G environment, use kinesis to grab all of the health packs and ammo that you can see. You can do this from the doorway without activating Leviathan. There will be many more that you can collect after the fight is over.

There are three stages to the Leviathan fight: 1) Tentacles, 2) Mouth, and 3) Tentacles & Mouth.

The tentacles only have one attack. A single tentacle will slam down and then sweep across the floor. If you stand directly in front of Leviathan, the tentacle will slam down to one of your sides. As soon as it slams down, perform a zero G jump to your right or left. You will not take any damage from the tentacle attack. Once all of the tentacles have been destroyed, you will enter the second stage.

There are two ways to defeat the mouth. You can kill it by shooting it many times, or you can catch its pods with kinesis and throw them back. If you don't mind using the ammo, just stand in one spot and fire repeatedly at the mouth when it opens. Your shots will destroy any pods it attempts to throw, and will kill the mouth. To conserve ammo, use the second method. Run and strafe to your left while the first four pods are fired. When the fifth and final pod is launched, grab it with kinesis and quickly launch it back into the mouth.

The third stage is just a combination of the first two stages. Zero G jump to dodge the tentacle, then deal with the mouth, and repeat.

Final Boss
The final boss is easy as well. Just run left and right to avoid being hit, then stop and fire your gun at it. Repeat until dead.

Achievement Guide

Most of the achievements are self explanatory. I will only cover the ones that require advice.

Maxed Out - Upgrade all weapons and equipment
You will need to beat the game about three times to unlock all of the achievements. After the first playthrough (Round 1), you will be able to create a new save game that starts you back at Chapter 1 with all of the items and upgrades that you collected in Round 1. It will also unlock Impossible difficulty. It is not possible to max out your equipment in Round 1. You will need to start with the new save game and play Round 2 until everything has been fully upgraded. I unlocked this achievement on Chapter 11 of Round 2.

Epic Tier 3 Engineer - Complete the game on the hardest difficulty setting
Once you have unlocked Impossible difficulty, you can start a new game and beat it on Impossible.

Crackshot - Achieve a perfect score in the Shooting Gallery
On Chapter 9 you will find a shooting gallery game. Just keep playing it until you achieve the full score on each level. An upgraded plasma cutter works great. Make sure the cutter is set to horizontal mode. Aim low at the targets because they are vulnerable at the bottom for longest period of time.


There's Always Peng - Find the Peng Treasure
In Chapter 11 you will return to the large shuttle bay from the end of Chapter 1 (where the ship exploded). Look between the two walkways for the treasure and use kinesis to grab it. It's worth a bit of money at the store.

Don't get cocky, kid - Survive the ADS Cannon with over 50% shield strength remaining
This is the hardest achievement in the game. You need to finish the asteroid shooting scene at the end of Chapter 4 with at least 50% shield strength left. There's no trick to this. You just need to do it. It took me about 10 tries.

Here are some tips:

Sit close to the screen.
Focus on one at a time. Aim, fire, aim, fire...
Shoot them when they are far away, especially at the beginning.
Shoot large ones by holding both triggers down briefly.
Don't be afraid to hold the trigger down to catch those tough ones that are about to hit you. Let your gun cool if you have time to.
Prioritize them based on speed, size and distance. A big fast one that is close is the highest priority, etc.
Even if one is about to hit you, swing over and hit it with a spaz shot.

Slugger - Kill the Slug Boss with more than 50% shield strength remaining
This is similar to Don't get cocky, kid. The highest priority target is any projectile moving towards you. The second highest priority target is a tentacle that is about to throw an object at you. The third highest priority target is a tentacle that is picking up an item from below. Shoot based on those priorities and you will get the achievement.

AdM1r4l Nelson's Call of Duty World at War Team Deathmatch Tips

My strategy is always to stay under cover, tap the trigger at long range, hold the trigger down while hip firing and strafing at short range, use the knife when you're close, hide betties around corners where they can't be seen, and always crouch walk to move silently. 5.1 sound is a must so that you can hear the location of footsteps. When you hear footsteps, look at your radar to see if it's a friendly. If it's not, then get ready to shoot in that direction.

When crossing open areas, I always sprint. Sometimes it helps to drop into prone position when people start shooting at you, then resume sprinting after a few seconds. I always sprint to cover before reloading.

You need to climb a ladder or find a secure room when they have helicopters (CoD4) or dogs. I basically lay low when they have that, because otherwise you're at a huge disadvantage and their team will take the lead. Of course jumping in a tank is also a good idea. The tanks are a huge advantage, so make sure your team has at least half of the tanks. If you can get all of the tanks, you will own the other team. Make sure you zoom in when you're firing the tank, because the crosshair is incorrect when you're firing over obstacles. It looks like you're going to fire over it, but if you zoom in (left trigger) you will see that it won't clear the top of the obstacle.

Also, don't revive people until the charlies are neutralized. Some people just rush right in to revive someone and get killed. I usually lay prone while reviving someone. You can also leave an enemy alive in last stand/second chance as bait. You'll get the kill when their time runs out anyway.

The reason I like second chance is it increases your chances of getting artillery or dogs. For example, you can fall down with 5 kills, get one with your pistol and then have someone stumble on your bouncing betty. That'll give you dogs whereas martyrdom wouldn't have.

These are my stats, as of the last time I checked them (Feb 2009): Level 65, 1.77 Kill/Death ratio, 1.2 win ratio, 1000/1000 achievement points.

Here's my favorite class:

PPSh-41 w/drum mag
.357 Magnum Revolver
Perks: Stopping Power, Second Chance, Ordnance Training, Bouncing Betties

The PPSh-41 is great for CQC and long range. I believe it is the most powerful weapon in the game. The .357 Magnum revolver is also good for a few kills if you run out of SMG ammo, or fall into Second Chance mode. Second Chance is great if you have other cooperative teammates using it. You can stick close to each other and revive when necessary. Ordnance Training is important for winning tank vs tank battles. Bouncing Betties are a great way to rack up a few kills. They also serve as an alarm system by alerting you of an enemy's position when they trip one.