How to beat your friends at any Call of Duty

It's been a while since my last post, and that is because I ran out of good stuff to blog about. I had a bunch of ideas when I first made this blog, but I didn't want to use them all at once. I promptly forgot everything I wanted to say. Here is a how-to that I wanted to write originally, and I just remembered about it this week.

I consider myself to be above average when it comes to playing Call of Duty. I'm able to beat my friends pretty regularly, and I'd like to share some of my tips and strategies that I've picked up over the years. I am not teaching you how to be the best, and these tips and tricks are going to be pretty obvious to most gamers. I'm writing this for the ladies who read my blog to get them up to speed with many boys.

How to beat your friends at Call of Duty:

These principles are true for any of the Call of Duty series. I'm also assuming that you are playing on the Xbox 360.

-Out shoot: If you are bad at shooting in Call of Duty, then nothing else will improve your game. There are two main ways to shoot in Call of Duty. The first is firing from the hip. This is the default firing mode where your weapon is located just right of bottom-center of your screen. You'll also see a "+" with gaps in the center that widen when you move. This represents the spread of your fire e.g. when you pull the trigger, your bullet will pass through somewhere inside the cross. Firing from the hip is not as accurate, but it is much faster because you don't have to sight in on your enemy.

The second type of shooting is by sighting in. This is done by pulling the left trigger before firing. Your weapon will change position on the screen so that you are looking through the sights or scope. This maneuver also pulls the weapon into your shoulder for the most accurate shot. I prefer to always do this when I shoot because of how accurate and reliable it makes your fire. With practice, you can sight in very quickly to easily out shoot your opponents.

Changing your stance can help improve your shooting and your defense at the same time. If you are crouched, your hip fire will be more accurate and you are a smaller target. If you hold the B button, you drop straight to the ground in a prone position, which is the most accurate position to shoot from. You are also harder to see when you are laying down.

-Out maneuver: This one is easy. Although having a map memorized helps immensely, there is a basic principle that will help you against your opponents. Most Call of Duty maps are either a square or a rectangle. What you should do on any map is to work your way around the outside of the map while you are facing towards the inside of it. This works well because if you keep moving, you can only be attacked from the front or from one side, and this gives you a chance to return fire before you're toast.

-Outwit: Be as tricky as you can. Like Amanda said once, "The first peek isn't the problem." If you pop out of a doorway and someone starts shooting at you, don't pop back out for that second peek. Chances are they have you zeroed by that point and they'll simply kill you if you look again. This goes double if you are taking sniper fire. I can't tell you how many simple kills I get online by people taking a second peek. If you need to look in the same direction, find a different spot to peek from.

If you're on the attack, be tactical. If you're attacking a building, throw a grenade in the top or side before you storm in. This gets your opponent off guard either forcing them to deal with the grenade or move. Chances are, this will let you catch them distracted for the kill.

In closing, to be really good, just like anything else you must practice a LOT. That's how I've gotten to where I am, by playing a lot. If you don't have the time or the hardware though, these basic principles will give you the basics to be an average player.