From Jason Rybka,
Your Guide to Video Game Strategies.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Shooters are quite possibly the most popular genre among games, and believe it or not, you don't have to know every tiny little detail about each game to play like a pro. There are some simple tips that apply to almost every shooter game, whether they are fist person shooters, third person shooters, tactical shooters, or a combination of any of these game play types. Using these tips will help you be the best at your game, and many people may think you've been playing it non-stop since the game was released, even if you've only dabbled with it a bit.

The Keys to Success Are Right At Your Fingertips

Game Options: Optimize Them to Your Tastes
One of the easiest ways to become better at a game, without ever playing it, is to adjust the game settings to something you are familiar with. Most shooter games come with a few standard areas that can be tweaked to your liking, such as brightness, X and Y axis sensitivity, and inverted look.

Did you say adjust the brightness? Yes, I did, some games are so dark at the default settings that you'll miss many of the details, adjusting the brightness to a higher level will help you spot those details more easily, once you've become more familiar with the game, you can re-adjust the brightness back down to the default level, for a more realistic game play experience.

Inverted look and the X and Y axis sensitivity fall under a similar category, if you find yourself looking up when you are trying to look down, chances are you need to invert the look. The same goes for the axis settings, if turning to the left or right seems too slow, then the X axis should be adjusted up a bit so your character moves more quickly (same for up and down, and adjusting the Y axis will resolve the problem). This is a setting that needs to be continually adjusted as you become more and more familiar with the game, so going back and adjusting the X and Y axis up as you become more skilled with the game will help you overall. The bottom line, the quicker you can turn, and stay in control, the better you'll play!

Targeting - If You Can't Hit 'em - You're Toast

General Tips to Meet Your Mark
One of the most basic principles in all shooters is to make your shots count. Firing aimlessly towards enemies does little to nothing unless it is specifically meant as suppression fire, as is common practice in tactical shooters. One common mistake many people make is firing too soon, never fire until you have a clear shot, and can gain a kill, or do some serious damage before the enemy AI can react to your presence. If the enemies don't know you are there, they won't fire at you, so you are somewhat safe as long as you are undiscovered. This is much more common in stealth shooters, where the main objective is to go through the game primarily un-noticed.

I Was 'Dead On' Target, But Missed, Why?
If you were on target and still missed, there are several factors that could be hindering your effective targeting. One of the most obvious is weapon selection. Different weapons react in different ways, it is a possibility that the recoil from the weapon is changing the exact point of impact, or it could be that the game you are playing is so realistic that you will need to lead your target. In other words, if your target is running to the left, you may want to aim just a bit to the left of his head, by the time the bullet makes its way to where you have aimed, you'll have a perfect head-shot lined up.