Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Basics

Murphy's Law of Combat
Professional soldiers are predictable; but the world is full of dangerous amateurs.

Like the first Modern Warfare, IGN recommends you soar through the game first on Recruit or Normal before you attempt Veteran (Hardcore is about the same as Veteran but with more checkpoints).

While you may find yourself taking chances you wouldn't on Veteran, the whole point of the exercise is to get accustomed to the maps, the goals, and where enemies appear (they still do the same silent spawn-ins). Once you're comfortable, you up the difficulty.

Videogames are no different from any other task you take up; practice makes perfect. So practice dammit.

Murphy's Law of Combat
Don't forget, your weapon was made by the lowest bidder.

Depending on the distance of combat, you may want either a scoped or ACOG (Advanced Combat Optical Gear) sight or a red-dot or holographic sight (or no add-on sight).

Unlike more technical tactical shooters, Modern Warfare 2 features an "aim-lock" ability. By hitting the Fine Aim (or Aim Down Sight / ADS) function near a target, your character's gun will lock onto the last position of the enemy. With scoped guns, this ability still works, but the zoom can disorient your vision as the enemy runs around laterally to escape your attacks.

(Above Left) The very welcome universal ammo crate. Using this item will instantly refill all your ammunition (magazines included), and both types of grenades. (Above Right) Intels are hidden through the various missions and are used only for collectible purposes.

Additionally, weapons and their attachments are generated randomly on the battlefield. If you killed a squad of Russian soldiers near an outpost and picked up a pretty nifty Ak-47 with ACOG, that same weapon may have a different attachment the next time you find it. Only pre-set weapons in the campaign and SpecOps missions are always "the same". For all else, randomness is the spice of combat.

Learn to work with what you have on hand. You will get really good, really fast at switching weapons and scrounging the good stuff.

Murphy's Law of Combat
You are not Superman -- marines and fighter pilots take note.

Speaking of weapons, the damage curve of Modern Warfare 2 depends on the difficulty and who's firing. On Recruit and Normal, your character takes more damage from enemies. On Hardcore and Veteran, your character is as easily killed as all enemies.

Where possible, you want to engage enemies from either far away, behind cover (stand to pop-out from cover), and with as many shots as you can spare without missing or running out of ammunition. Headshots are crucial, but not mandatory unless you are attacking a Juggernaut.

Murphy's Law of Combat
If the enemy is in range, so are you.

If an enemy is shooting at you, that means they can see you and they can shoot you. This also means that they are vulnerable if you choose to fire back. Of course, the ideal solution is to be able to attack with impunity.

Because of the updated bullet penetration, certain pieces of cover you may recognize in Modern Warfare 1 (especially on the SpecOps missions) will not adequately protect your character. Hiding in houses and behind walls will no longer be as safe as it would be. Large caliber slugs (like cannon shells) tend to rip through the thin walls of American residential houses like wet tissue at a snot party.

Murphy's Law of Combat
Tracers work both ways.

When you cannot locate enemies, you can wait for them to fire. Enemy tracers and muzzle flashes are easily visible provided you are looking for them. On SpecOps missions (especially in SplitScreen), players will also have a mini-map to display enemy locations as red dots when they are visible.

Murphy's Law of Combat
When in doubt, empty your magazine.

The enemy A.I. will react to your attacks and attempt to evade fire. Fire near enemies if there are too many bullets coming from there. Just getting the enemy to go prone will take up valuable seconds so they can't fire (similar to your chracter going prone, getting up, etc.).

Emptying your magazine into an enemy is also vital when fighting them up close and you're aiming dead center mass. This is to make sure that the enemy combatant doesn't enter a "Last Stand" with his pop-shot handgun and kill your careless ass.

Murphy's Law of Combat
A sucking chest wound is God's way of telling you to slow down.

When your character is seriously injured, the screen will blur and turn very messy (distortion of vision). If you can, find cover or duck to break line of sight from the shooter. Your character will "heal" (or reorient himself) after a little breather. Once your vision clears (a amage indicator), your character should be able to withstand some more hits before coming to grief once more.

While this may be considered regenerating health, some of our IGN board users have readily explained this as: "disorientation" from being shot at while wearing a vest; as a game mechanic, that's how it works, so live with it.

In the SpecOps co-operative play mode, your fire team partner can revive you an infinite number of times provided he can get to you before your one minute bleed-out timer expires. Using this technique of revival, you can actually have one character revive the other and get through a lot of tough spots.

Murphy's Law of Combat
The only thing more accurate than incoming enemy fire, is incoming friendly fire.

Friendly fire is lethal. While your enhanced reality HUD will display a blue cross over friendly targets, you may still open fire on your own allies if you are far back enough to prevent identification.

Killing a non-essential friendly character is permissable, but not "mandatory" story-related characters. Sgt. Foley, Cpl. Dunn, Captain MacTavish, Captain Price, and Ghost are all essential characters. Killing any of them will instantly cause mission failure.

Murphy's Law of Combat
If it's stupid but it works, it's not stupid.

Because enemies react differently, engagements may sometimes come out in your favor. Sometimes just going about an objective from another direction or with different weapons gets you better results than before.

However you do it -- take note and assess your current situation. If you come out on top (objective completed and you have good weapons, etc.) then take it as a win and go. If an enemy blows himself up with his own grenades and opens the way forward for you, take it and go. It might be stupid, but it got you past those tough spots.

Murphy's Law of Combat
Anything you do can get you shot -- including nothing.

There will be missions where enemy patrols will come out in force, or there's a time limit. Always keep on the move unless you are positive events in the campaign are scheduled to go off at certain locations (like waiting for your character to breach and clear).

Certain SpecOps missions are designed with a timer in mind, so you will want to keep moving (within reason). In anycase, you should use time wisely. If you are walking towards an objective, use that time to reload weapons.

Murphy's Law of Combat
One enemy is never enough; two are far too many.

Don't neglect your temmates (or your partner in SpecOps). In those giant firefights, your allies actually help out (especially since they can almost never die). Nibble away at large groups from far away and do your best to even the odds before you close up.

This is especially true in Wave Defence Missions in SpecOps. Once things are down to just one or two hostiles, you will find the odds much more improved (even on Veteran).

Murphy's Law of Combat
The important things are always simple; the simple things, always hard.

There is brutal logic in much of the game. Standing up and sprinting across a field will get you noticed by enemies. Similarly, crawling prone in tall grass is stealthy and gives your accuracy a great boost.

Semi-automatic fire is much more manageable by your character than full automatic. When getting your dope, go prone (where possible; kneeling is often good enough execpt for very far engagements) and fire single shots slowly (like plinking).

Don't forget at its heart, Modern Warfare 2 is still a videogame (complete with monster closets and spawn points). If you can see a way to exploit the game's engine or logic, take it up ruthlessly and think before you act. Chances are, you're missing something if you're having a harder than average time of things.