Frag Like a Pro

f you get blown to giblets in the first 10 seconds of videogames like Unreal and Halo, maybe Tom “Tsquared” Taylor can help. A pro Halo player and the founder of Gaming-Lessons.com, taylor offers this advice for kicking a little n00b butt.

»Study the terrain. You may be lost, but your opponents aren’t. To avoid getting double-barreled in the back, learn the maps by playing alone. You’ll not only memorize layouts and weapon locales, but also find hidden shortcuts. Picture your enemy’s face when you snipe him through an open skylight.

»Work on strafing. Strafing – or sidestepping – is the best way to avoid getting a face full of metal in a close-quarters melee. But you need to vary your moves: Try two long side-to-side jumps followed by two short ones. The pattern is hard for opponents to figure out but easy for you to remember.

»Know your guns. Experiment with how different munitions work and how to use them effectively. Shooting a rocket into the ground near a foe will surely kill him, but you’ll need to know the blast radius. And be creative: Grenades, for example, are often more than lethal weapons – they’re sometimes used to flatten walls and move objects.

»Increase look speed. Set your controller to track faster – much faster. Initially, you’ll want to puke, but you’ll also be able to turn quicker than your foes. When someone attacks you, you’ll be able to whip around, splatter them across a wall, and continue on your way.