There are two types of cover, they say… there’s cover that keeps you from being seen; this is called concealment, and there’s cover that stops bullets, this is usually just called cover. It’s important to be able to tell the difference between the two, and know how to use each of them best. Today, I’m going to talk a little about both.
Concealment
This is not easy to find in games like America’s Army and CSS. Most objects in those games stop bullets. Some examples in AA would be doors, dead bodies (don’t rely on them), and sometimes crates and cardboard boxes. Generally speaking you should only use these things as cover as a last resort. Concealment is only useful before you’ve been seen. If you’re camping behind concealment as soon as your spot has been exposed, there’s no point in staying there. There’s also no point to running to concealment when you’re being shot at.
COD4 adds an interesting twist to concealment. Most surfaces in COD4 don’t completely stop bullets. This is completely awesome, in my opinion, and it’s one of the things that makes COD4 one of my favorite games. Just about any form of cover can be viewed as only being concealment to some gun. If you’re facing someone with a 9mm silenced handgun, you’re safe behind most things. Moving up to something like the G3, you’re not safe behind anything but thick walls of concrete or brick. The 50 cal sniper rifle can shoot through just about anything in COD4. Be careful what you pick as cover in this game, because it might not work as well as you think it will. Also: never hide behind cars.
One other note in COD4 is that even if you think there’s no way your gun will shoot through something, try it anyway. If you think there’s an enemy behind a wall, and you know where he is, blast away! Take 10-12 shots if you still have most of your mag left. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve killed people through walls when I thought I was just spamming.
Cover
This is a lot easier to find in games like AA and CSS. Most objects in these games stop bullets. I’m going to talk about AA specifically, because I don’t play a lot of CSS. That’s not to say that what I say won’t apply to CSS (and other games), but you readers will have to pick and choose what you keep by common sense and maybe a bit of trial and error.
In America’s Army it’s critical to get behind cover when engaging an enemy. The more of your body you can obscure the better. Combine this with some strafing or crouching, and you’re on your way to a 3 fragrate! The general rule is that if you can’t see them, they can’t see you. So if you crouch and can’t see an enemy, you know that when you’re standing he can’t see from about your solar plexis down (or even as high as your chin). Even obscuring your legs can provide a smaller target.
Leaning around corners lowers your CEM a little bit, but it can make you much harder to hit. Combine it with the crouching technique and you’ll be very difficult to hit. The general point about cover is to provide as small a target as possible. As soon as you get hit it becomes much more difficult to fire effectively/accurately. Even a hit in the legs can mean major problems for your ability to aim. Having cover for them increases your chances of surviving, staying healthy, eliminating your target.
Application
Find cover wherever you can. As you walk into rooms, identify potential points of cover. Try to move from cover/concealment to cover/concealment as much as possible. When you die, make a note of what sort of cover your enemy was and how effectively he was using it. When your enemy has cover, always try to have better cover.
Have fun! Comments always welcome.
