| Counter-Strike Tips | |
| Page 1: Burst Fire and Reloading | |
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Despite having been around for several years now, Counter-Strike continues to dominate the world of multiplayer first-person shooters. In fact, this free modification for Half-Life still has more online players than the other top FPS games combined, making it the envy of many commercial releases. Some editions of Half-Life now include the Counter-Strike mod, and a stand-alone Counter-Strike is in the works. Here are a few tips that should improve your game, most of which are applicable to Quake and other shooters as well as Counter-Strike.
Burst Fire
Because Counter-Strike tries to simulate the recoil of actual guns, the longer you hold down the trigger the less accurate your rounds become. Unless you are at point blank range, after the first few shots you will likely just be blasting ammunition into the wild blue yonder, well over the heads of the enemy. To prevent this, and make your ammo count for something, it is a common practice in Counter-Strike to fire in short bursts of only two or three rounds, giving you a chance steady up for the next shot.
Compensate for Recoil
It may seem like common sense, but if you know that your weapon is going to recoil, it helps to compensate for it as best you can, typically by aiming down a little. Of course, the longer you press the trigger, the more difficult it will become to compensate adequately, so this is most effective when combined with burst fire as described above.
Plan Your Reloads
Reloading is one of the elements that differentiates Counter-Strike from some of the earlier FPSes. When your gun runs out of ammo, you must replace the clip, and although this can be done quite quickly, it often makes the difference between life and death. Try not to jump into an O.K. Corral style shoot-out without a fully loaded weapon, and when the time comes to reload, it's nice to have somewhere that you're not a sitting duck to do it.
On a similar note, since you can switch weapons faster than you can reload in most FPSes, a quick weapon change at a critical moment can turn around the confrontation. We've all seen two players empty their guns into (or near) each other and almost simultaneously run out of ammo. Sometimes a good Counter-Strike player will finish the enemy off with his pistol or even his knife rather than wait for a reload.
Customize Your Controls
Making fast weapon changes and pulling off more complex maneuvers swiftly is greatly facilitated by customizing game controls and using scripts. Every player seems to have a personal preference when it comes to key combinations, and having the commands you need at your fingertips will speed up your gameplay considerably, although you will have to experiment with different configurations. Many experts have a custom configuration for each different class that they play.
Strategic Jumping
When you're in an open area or you know there are snipers targeting you, it's important to move around as much and as unpredictably as possible. Jumping, but not too regularly, can force the enemy to aim vertically as well as horizontally, or it can, if you're lucky, turn what would have been a head shot into something a little less damaging. That said, some players are prone to jumping continuously, even when out of harm's way, which can make you look like an idiot.
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