Feature: How To Dominate At First Strike
This month saw the release of the first map pack for Call Of Duty: Black Ops, entitled First Strike.
XG247 has been playing many a game and deploying many a napalm strike lately and have come up with our best bits of advice for playing the new multiplayer levels to ensure you keep that Score Per Minute and Kill/Death Ratio flying high! So here goes...
BERLIN WALL
First up, we tackle the Berlin Wall map, set in Cold War era Germany, around the famous Checkpoint Charlie. The map is essentially divided into two: East and West Germany and separated by a no-mans-land which is monitored by automated turrets.
First big tip of day? Don't go into no-mans-land!! We've seen many a player try their best to run through it, determined that they can make it across. You can't, so don't try it!! Next up: Watch the windows! This is a map that very much suits mid and long-range fighting so keep an eye on every window at all times, or you may end up with someone's sniper or G11 bullets in your head. Be careful of traversing long distances out in the open, either stick indoors (while always watching for claymores) or stay in cover behind the various tanks or dumpsters.
As for a recommended class, it depends how you wish to play. If you'd like to try and control an internal area, silenced SMGs are your friend here, plant a claymore on some stairs and lurk in the shadows, waiting for it to go off. If long-range is your game, find a window or some cover, claymore your back and get shooting with a PSG1 or G11. While the G11 is obviously not a sniper rifle, combined with Slight Of Hand Pro, it is incredibly effective at mid to long range and one 3-shot burst to the chest or higher will generally turn your opponent into worm-food.
Another place to keep an eye on is the middle crossing in no-mans-land, a well placed and accurate player can work wonders here with the right weapon and teammates watching his back.
DISCOVERY
Secondly we take a look at Discovery, a snowy level that is a lot like Berlin Wall in some senses (a level divided into two sides, connected by few pathways) and completely different in others (not as much sneaking to be had here).
Our top tips for Discovery? Stay either hidden or elevated! The two main pathways crossing the level are the icy path (which can be damaged and split) and the central bridge. This bridge is where much of the fighting will occur - almost all of it at medium range. If you wish to own this area, the key is to get above your opponents! On each side of the bridge are buildings facing the opposite side, holding these buildings can make or break a game here. Also, there is a narrow elevated walkway that allows you access to the top of a white fuel tank that is a great spot to be with either an assault or sniper rifle.
The internal areas can also be of some use here but just make sure that you are patient and if you decide to control a building, stay there and wait. While score per minute of not very high for close-range players on this map, effectively controlling a small building and waiting there patiently can be the difference between a positive or negative K/D ratio for the match. The key to holding these rooms is movement. This should be second nature but if you shoot someone that was coming in a doorway, move to a different angle before they return! You will always come unstuck after a while if you stick in the same place, looking at the same doorway. At some point the opponent will get wise and work how to finally take you down. Keep them guessing!
So yeah, if mid to long range is your game, get high! If your prefer to see the whites of your enemy's eyes as you shoot them, get inside and get smart!
KOWLOON
Next up is Kowloon, a map based in China which players of the campaign mode will recognise many elements of from the interrogation mission. Don't be fooled. While this map may LOOK a lot like that level, please be aware that it has actually been designed and built from the ground up, so none of the layout is the same at all!
Now, this level seems to break a lot of the typical "rules" when it comes to building maps for tactical shoot-em-ups. There are almost no clear routes through or high-traffic areas, with one exception. The red building. This is very easy to find as it is central to the level and right next to a giant neon sign (which is also very good for sniping from). Basically, if you can effectively control the red room, you can control the match. From inside, it has windows to almost every major section of the level and, as long as you are patient, accurate and watch your back with claymores or a well-placed motion sensor, you can make a literally make a killing here.
As the level is so broken up, with doors at every turn, if you cannot get to the red room, your other best alternative is to arm yourself with something like the much-maligned AK74u with Rapid Fire and a Grip and stalk the various nooks and crannies looking for action. Just keep in mind to be aware of claymores and watch those corners! Also, be mindful of the fact that if you aren't in the red room then someone else almost certainly is, so try your best to avoid the long sightlines of it's windows and stay hidden with Ghost Pro and maybe a silencer if Rapid Fire & Grip doesn't suit you.
STADIUM
Of the four new maps, Stadium has been by far the most difficult to write any kind of tips for, due to it's layout. Almost every part of this level has many entrances to it, so if you're not careful you can end up getting shot in the back. A lot.
The main tips would be simply to stay alert and watch your six as much as possible, while ALWAYS keeping an eye on the many corners around you. Most of the fighting will be at mid-range so equip yourself with an assault rifle with a grenade launcher and always stay poised and ready for action. Relax on this map at your peril. In terms of main traffic areas, the action can come from all over on Stadium and it often depends on the kind of team you are playing with/against. In some games the action will center around the circular fountain in the central courtyard, sometimes within the arena itself, sometimes in the larger of the two buildings, it is completely variable. Be aware too that (while we highly recommend it here), using the "noob tube" requires a lot of accuracy here due the differing levels of height caused by the many sets of stairs.
Basically, the main advice would be to stay alert. You can try camping a couple of the spots upstairs in either the stadium or two buildings but we are yet to see a match where someone can hold it for a really long period of time or get a good streak of kills here. So be careful!
So that's that! If you would like to offer any of your own advice, feel free to comment below and if you'd like to have a game sometime, MrWest1985 will be on Xbox Live quite often to do just that! Good luck soldiers!
