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How to use military tactics in shooter games

We all like to play the lone wolf, running into an enemy outpost like Rambo and swinging a chain gun around while yelling “Leroy Jenkins!” It’s the way shooter games may play in our head, but unfortunately it’s not going to net you many wins (and if it does, thank your teammates). The best shooter games take inspiration from actual squad-based combat, and even if at the end of the day you’re still just playing Fortnite or Battlefield, some strategies and maneuvers still bleed into the experience. Here’s our selection of squad-based military tactics that will give you an edge over players, even when the odds are stacked against you.

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1. Location, location, location

If you’re a fan of shotguns in video games, you’ll need to stay out of wide, open fields. Likewise, you’ll want to keep far away from close quarters if you’re playing a sharpshooter. Where the fight happens is up to you; avoid running into a place where you’re outnumbered, outmaneuvered, or have poor mobility. Before Napoleon Bonaparte sent off his invading armies, he hired cartographers to sketch maps of enemy settlements and terrain.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Outpost heat map — Studying this heat map of Outpost from Modern Warfare 3 can shed light on areas to avoid.

Instead, keep to familiar territory where you have a clear advantage. If you’re not sure where that is, look up the map online. Check your loadout. Plan where you want to make your stand. This tactic also works great in games that offer gadgets like thermal vision, smoke grenades, or trip mines. Keep your entrances covered, and outlast your opponents.

2. Use team chat

You know how people like to scream and hurl insults about your mother over game chat? While this is charming you can also use this tool to coordinate a team (provided you can establish the ethos for them to take you seriously). Don’t just use it to call out enemy locations either. In an actual military situation you’d be doing a lot more communicating than shooting, and it’s this way for a reason – knowing is half the battle. Which of your teammates can offer cover fire with a sniper rifle? Does anyone have eyes on the objective? How many enemies are converged over x position? If you know what you’re up against you won’t be understaffed.

Splitscreen shooter — “Who needed a carbine? There’s one by me.”

If you’re on a team with some outlandishly good players, but you find you’re still having trouble capturing a territory or completing an objective, it’s probably because your team’s talents aren’t being put in the right places. Stop banging your head against the wall and coordinate an effective push. Take a second to rethink your strategy. There could be a weakness you were too frustrated to see. Re-evaluate and exploit it, this time with numbers behind you!

3. Move in formation

The military deploys its units in small squad formations, and it’s not just because it looks cool. The way your team is positioned can make all the difference once a firefight erupts. Where are you positioned? Where are your teammates positioned? Can you effectively move, react, and shoot as one cohesive unit, or could one well-placed grenade take you all out at once? Know the best time to employ the best shape.

One of the most effective formations in a game like PUBG or Battlefield is the Fire Team Column which positions your squad mates in a parallelogram (the bottom formation pictured below). This is a great shape for controlled mobility in any direction, and also allow for an immediate, reactive counter in case you get ambushed. If you move together and keep moderately spread out you’re forcing your enemies to pick a single target. Once they do, communicate and retaliate as one cohesive unit. It’s also great because you can easily and intuitively switch formations from the Fire Team Column:

4. RTR

RTR stands for React, Take Cover, Return Fire. If you find yourself separated from your team for whatever reason, this is an effective defensive strategy should the enemy gets the drop on you. In a more realistic shooter experience you’re not going to have health bars a mile long, or shields made out of magic. Your best defense is to threaten with your own firepower, and retreat to a more advantageous position. That’s what RTR is all about:

Battlefield — No one likes getting shot at. Go prone and return fire. See how they like it.

When you get shot at, your first reaction may be to run or hide, but it’s actually better to shoot back at the enemy – even if you know you can’t kill them; that’s not what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to get them to stop shooting at you. If you lay down suppressive fire (React) you can buy yourself enough time to do step two (Take Cover). If there isn’t a decent cover to duck behind, crouch down, drop to the ground, or at least zig-zag back and forth. It’s better than standing there doing nothing, and jumping around isn’t as helpful as you’d think. Once you’re in a better spot for avoiding enemy shots, you can take proper aim (Return Fire) from a safer position.

5. Flank

This is a classic ‘hammer and anvil’ tactic employed by the Alexander the Great and the Macedonians. The idea is to keep your opponent preoccupied with an unbreakable force in front, while you’re circling around to hit them with a hard-hitting elite force from behind. It looked something like this:

Flanking is such an overused, obvious tactic that it’s often discarded as a something overly predictable. The whole point of a good flank is that it is unpredictable. If you’re just attacking from two directions at once, you are technically flanking an enemy, but there are ways to do so more effectively: Surrounding and pincering, misdirecting, or attacking from a wholly unexpected angle.

You may have noticed that most of these strategies involve working with a team. Yes, that’s the point. Even if you’ve spent the entire match bad-mouthing your teammates for a having bad K/D, at the end of the day even bad players can group up and at least hold the advantage of numbers – they just need to be properly coordinated. Hop on team chat and start playing the macro game! If they won’t listen and just keep shouting insults about your mother … at least you tried.

10 best sci-fi video games of all time

There are hostile aliens behind every corner, and puzzles set to challenge your psyche in these amazing games!

The science fiction genre has been around for hundreds of years, and for good reason. Sci-fi lets us take a peek at what might be, showing us visions of hundreds of possible futures… some hopeful, and some bleak. Sci-fi lets us explore far off worlds, encounter colorful new creatures and species, and at the same time lets us take a look back at ourselves through a unique lens. Sci-fi games are no exception and have left an indelible mark on gamers everywhere. Here’s our roundup of the top 10 most definitive sci-fi video games.

10 best sci-fi games of all time

For this list, we had to draw a hard line between fantasy games and science fiction games. Although you might not consider it to be one, the Mega Man games are technically sci-fi games. Sci-games are games where the setting is only made possible by advancements in science, technology, or major social and environmental changes.

10. Portal

Though sci-fi is known for letting players experience unique perspectives, Portal took that rather literally. This puzzle game has players taking control of a test subject, Chell, in a mysterious scientific facility. She’s tasked with using futuristic portal-gun technology to navigate a variety of increasingly difficult testing chambers.

Portal is a totally unique puzzle game that will have players looking at the world in entirely different ways and provides some truly mind-blowing and sometimes head-scratching scenarios.

It’s also loaded with Valve game developer’s trademark dry sense of humor and more than a few colorful characters, all of which combines to make this sci-fi puzzle game truly stand out from the crowd.

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9. Starcraft

To call Starcraft a worldwide phenomenon might be an understatement. It is the definitive RTS game. Since arriving on the scene several decades ago, Starcraft has endured with a loyal following of competitive and casual players across the globe.

The real-time strategy game allows players to take control of one of several factions and duke it out for battlefield supremacy. Starcraft has since become a staple of professional gaming leagues and inspires an almost disturbing level of fanaticism among fans.

Some sessions will last for hours or even days at a time, and some players have even died while playing. The game is so wildly popular that even UC Berkeley offered a class on it. It’s incredibly addictive and incredibly fun, and players that give the game a shot will soon find that out for themselves.

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8. Prey

Prey is a spiritual successor to the iconic sci-fi classic System Shock and has been given a modern makeover. Players take control of a scientist aboard the orbiting Talos space station after things have gone out of control. Unfortunately, the space station has suffered an alien invasion. A sinister alien species has slaughtered most of the station’s inhabitants, and it’s up to the player to stop the threat.

Like its cousin, Bioshock, Prey sports a stunning retro-futuristic aesthetic, and players will use a combination of both conventional weapons and supernatural powers to combat the alien threat. You can call it a sci-fi game or you can call it a horror game. We call it “fun.”

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7. Deus Ex

Deus Ex takes a more cyberpunk vision of humanity’s future. Think “Blade Runner” meets “The Matrix” with a dash of “Altered Carbon” thrown in for good measure.

In the future, corporations hold almost unchecked power, and humans are able to be augmented to near godlike status with various cybernetic components. Of course, this makes for some ridiculously fun and creative combat scenarios, but the RPG elements are what sets Deus Ex apart from the pack. The player will have to make some choices that have serious repercussions. Throw in tense, twisting plots worthy of any best-selling thriller novel, and it soon becomes apparent why Deus Ex has endured for more than 20 years.

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6. Half-Life

Another entry from Valve, Half-Life became an instant classic almost immediately upon release. Playing as scientist Gordon Freeman, players take on a hostile alien threat at a secret government research facility.

The second game, however, is where the series really shines. Freeman is transported into the future, where an alien government known as the Combine has taken over Earth. The Earth is barren and looks like the end result of a nuclear war.

Freeman is forced to fight through a variety of dystopian settings to liberate humanity. Half-Life effortlessly blends solid combat with platforming and puzzle-solving to create an endlessly replayable experience. Though fans are still waiting (perhaps forever) for the much-anticipated conclusion to the series, the other entries are still well worth playing.

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5. EVE Online

EVE Online is perhaps the best definition of the term “massive multiplayer online game.” EVE is a world in and of itself, with a living, breathing in-depth economy and player base. The game regularly breaks records and makes headlines.

For example, “The Bloodbath of B-R5RB” lasted for almost 21 hours and involved tens of thousands of players. It was also one of the most expensive battles in gaming history, measured in the real-world dollars that were lost in the battle. In fact, EVE is so significant that it’s been featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Though there are microtransactions (and plenty of them) players can still enter this vast world of political espionage, massive battles, and hypercapitalism for free.

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4. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Some argue that Knights of the Old Republic is the definitive Star Wars game, and it’s easy to see why. The game acts as a prequel to the movies, letting players explore the galaxy as it was when the Jedi and Sith were at the height of their powers.

It’s an incredibly in-depth RPG, allowing players to follow their character from young Padawan all the way to a full-fledged Jedi Knight. The world and characters are utterly immersive, and the game also features a stellar soundtrack by Jeremy Soule, who some gamers may know as the musician behind the sounds of Skyrim. KOTOR isn’t just a great sci-fi game or a great Star Wars game, it’s perhaps one of the best games of all time.

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3. Dead Space

When the term “survival horror” is uttered, the Dead Space franchise is probably the first thing that comes to mind.

Though many look to the stars and see possibilities for hope and exploration, others look at that vast expanse and wonder what horrors might lurk in the inky blackness. The Dead Space series answers that question.

As engineer Isaac Clarke, players are tasked with investigating a distress call from the USG Ishimura, a massive planetary mining vessel. What follows is a living nightmare, as twisted alien creatures known as Necromorphs have turned the ship into a vision of true horror.

As Isaac, players will use a variety of engineering and maintenance tools as weapons to try to stay alive. Though the combat and scares are both top-tier, the game’s setting can be easy to overlook. In-game technology is sleek and creative, from the actual in-game holographic pause menus to the interfaces on doors to the health bar on Isaac’s armor. The rich lore that lurks in the background only serves to heighten the terror.

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2. Halo

Halo is the definitive sci-fi first-person shooter. Players take on the role of super-soldier Master Chief as he fends off an invasion at the hands of hostile aliens. It may sound like a derivative plot, but it’s done to perfection, and it’s hard not to get wrapped up in Master Chief’s story.

The gameplay is a gold standard for the genre, blending staple weapons like pistols and rifles with more… creative weapons such as the Needler and iconic Energy Sword.

Single-player aside, the multiplayer is a recipe for endless hours of fun, whether experienced online or on the couch with friends. Players can even look outside the games for even more content, such as popular Halo machinimas like Rooster Teeth’s classic web series Red vs. Blue.

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Which Halo weapon should you use?

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1. The Mass Effect Trilogy

There are role-playing games, and then there’s Mass Effect. Rather than merely taking on a role, you will take on an entire universe of possibilities.

Another Bioware classic, the Mass Effect trilogy is the quintessential gaming experience for any sci-fi fan. Hundreds of years in the future, humanity has used mysterious Mass Relay technology to join a host of other alien species in the universe at large.

As humanity struggles to find its place in an already close-knit galactic community, another threat appears in the form of the mysterious and powerful Reapers, bent on wiping out all life in the galaxy. That’s where Commander Shepard comes in. Players will control almost every aspect of Shepard’s journey, from combat style, to appearance, to personality.

Even the smallest choices might have repercussions that shape the fate of the galaxy. It’s a long and emotional journey and one that players will want to take over and over again. Mass Effect is everything good about science fiction and role-playing done to absolute perfection.

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Wrapping up

Were there any titles that we may have overlooked? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back with Softonic for more lists and other gaming-related news, guides, and updates.

Which Halo weapon should you use? (Quiz)

Which weapon is your best choice in Halo?

At its core, Halo is a shooter game, and you couldn’t have a successful shooter game without a bunch of awesome weapons. Whether you’re lining up a headshot from across Sandtrap, unloading a Needler on Alpine, or dominating the competition with a DMR on Powerhouse, every player has a preference and a talent for a particular style of fighting. What’s yours? Take our quiz below to find out!

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Halo has some of the most intuitive, colorful, and tactical weapons you’ll find in a shooter game, so there’s really no wrong answer. Still, if someone swiped your shotgun before you could get to it, take the quiz again and see what you spawn with!

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Microsoft announces next Xbox console, shows more Halo: Infinite footage

Microsoft teased a new console and gave us more info on Halo: Infinite. But was it enough?

Today, the new Xbox codenamed “Project Scarlett” is merely built on promises. Project Scarlett has the same promises you see from other new consoles. It’s going to have more memory, better graphics, and higher resolution.

However, in the E3 announcement for Project Scarlett, Microsoft did have two major promises that grabbed our attention. The first was, of course, the new Halo game – Halo Infinite:

Halo Infinite

Halo Infinite takes place after the events of Halo 5: Guardians. In the trailer, a passerby finds Master Chief floating through the vastness of space. After being revived, Master Chief learns that the humans lost everything. He is then shown what appears to be a destroyed Earth with a Halo ring around it.

Master Chief doesn’t even have a chance to mourn the loss of the Earth. The ship is attacked, and Master Chief has to lock and load.

As the trailer comes to a close, we see Master Chief walking toward a projection of a broken Halo ring. As he gets closer, we hear Cortana in the background, teasing that she will be returning.

Halo Infinite will be a launch title for Project Scarlett when it is released in later 2020.

We didn’t get to see any gameplay, which is a big let down. Last year, we got a teaser for Halo Infinite, so the fact that all Microsoft could only give us another teaser in a year gives us reason to worry. At the end of the day, it’s Halo. They’re probably not going to mess it up. However, if you want people to buy your shiny new console, you need to entice them a bit more.

Say goodbye to load screens

The second major promise from Microsoft was that Project Scarlett will have little-to-no load screens.

If Microsoft keeps their promise, this is HUGE. As soon as video games made their jump to discs, we had to deal with longer and longer load screens.

Removing load screens altogether would be a giant leap in the right direction. Nowadays, games try to masque load screens with hints, tips, and even jokes. However, when these load screens take a few minutes, they can really take us away from the experience.

Think about it, how much nicer would a game like Skyrim be if you didn’t have to worry about those pesky load screens?

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Just a rumor

In the announcement, Microsoft said that Project Scarlett would feature thousands of games across four console generations. Some took this as a hint that Project Scarlett will be backward-compatible with every Xbox game. As cool as that would be, we can’t say for sure if it’s true.

New controller

Although Project Scarlett is coming out until next year, you can get a new Xbox controller in just a few months.

Microsoft unveiled a new controller with Bluetooth capabilities as well as a 40-hour battery life.

The controller is pretty high-priced at $179.99. Heck, you can get the entire Google Stadia for that.

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However, the new controller does come with a bunch of cool things for that price:

Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2
Carrying case
Set of six thumbsticks: Standard (two), Classic (two), Tall (one), Wide Dome (one)
Set of four paddles: Medium (two), Mini (two)
Set of two D-pads: Standard, Faceted
Thumbstick-adjustment tool
Charging dock
USB-C cable

Is Xbox bouncing back?

Many fans argue that Microsoft hasn’t been very competitive in recent years. Nintendo has been releasing exclusive titles like Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey and Sony has had great titles like God of War and Marvel’s Spider-Man. Xbox simply hasn’t had the same number of great exclusive titles in recent years. Sure, the new Gears of War was fun, but it’s no The Last of Us.

We still need more info before we can recommend setting some money aside for Project Scarlett. We don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a machine that basically just plays Halo.

Maybe next year, Microsoft should put more Keanu Reeves in your presentation.

Top 10 Halo weapons

Which Halo weapons bring us the most joy and inflict the most pain? Read on.

While Halo had incredible music, a memorable narrative, immense replayability, and famous characters like Master Chief and Cortana, the heart of any shooter game is the combat, and the heart of that combat is the game’s weapons. While the Call of Duty franchise went for a more realistic approach in their weapons, the Halo series went for a more arcade style, favoring colorful visuals and a much different approach to gameplay.

The weapons of Halo attributed to much of the game’s color and longevity, being both fun and tactical. While every weapon has its place in Halo, here are 10 that especially stood out:

10. Halo 1 Shotgun

Halo CE shotgun — The Halo: CE shotgun was a complete powerhouse.

The shotgun from the original Halo: CE didn’t show up in the campaign until nearly halfway through the game. Fittingly, this is right around when the series first introduces the hideous mutated abominations, the Flood. Zombies, meet shotgun. Suddenly you’ve turned a futuristic FPS game into a horror survival shooter racing through an abandoned alien library. For a game that came out in 2001, it scored some extra points for creativity and versatility.

Halo CE shotgun Flood 343 Guilty Spark — Health bar? Not looking good. Shotgun in hand? The silver lining.

The shotgun became a staple in every installment in the franchise from that point on, and has been the bane of sword-wielding CQC players ever since. While the weapon has received buffs and nerfs in every subsequent game, we’ll never forget the OG death stick that could knock Banshees out of the sky in a single shot.

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9. Halo 2 Scarab Gun

Disclaimer: This gun was put in as an easter egg, and has never (and hopefully will never) be seen in a multiplayer environment. The gun looks like a harmless plasma rifle, and you hold it like one too, but it fires like the main cannon on a Covenant Scarab tank. That bright green-blue beam of obliteration that one-shots everything it touches? It’s in your hand now. Have fun.

While the gun has unmatched firepower, that’s not why it made the list: Half the fun of the scarab gun is the journey to acquiring it. Something of an initiation rite for Halo fans, hunting for this superweapon is to embark on a grueling journey: Luring a Banshee, breaking its wings, carefully bumping it along a narrow corridor only to board it as quickly as possible or it’ll disappear before your eyes, negating all your hard work and time spent. When you reach the summit of that bridge and see the gun floating there, though – you’ll feel truly accomplished.

8. Plasma Pistol

Halo CE plasma pistol — Say goodbye to your shields.

There’s a reason we didn’t specify which game we like this weapon best: It’s great in every game, and changes quite a bit from title to title. In the original Halo, you could rapid-fire as quickly as you could pull the trigger, while in Halo 2 the homing capabilities were increased. This led to some really creative options for dual-wield combos in Halo 2 and Halo 3. In Halo 2 (where it was infamously paired with the battle rifle) and Reach, the pistol could also be used to briefly EMP vehicles and turrets, which made it even a (albeit poor) contender for anti-vehicle combat.

We love the plasma pistol because it’s the underdog of weapons. When a team of enemy players comes barreling after you in a Warthog and you sidestep and hit the jeep with a well-aimed plasma shot only to follow it up with a sticky grenade to the tire? Congrats, you demolished a vehicle with a Grunt weapon. You’ll have to turn your headset volume down because you just made three players very angry.

7. Plasma Grenade

Here’s another one where we couldn’t list a specific title, and that’s because this weapon is iconic, a staple in every Halo game. The sticky grenades have long separated noob players from the pros, and in the hands of the latter, these guys can work absolute magic. The plasma grenade is the ‘fling and forget’ that sits in your back pocket, and was so beloved by the community and dev team that it even earned a place in the Halo 3 Believe ad.

Halo 3 suicide grunt — That’s one way to make Grunts scary again.

That no heart-sinking moment quite on par with the “oh, s**t” when you see the blue flare and hear the whistling hiss of a plasma grenade stuck to your helmet. The grenades were so popular in the first couple Halo games that Bungie added spike grenades to the lineup in Halo 3. The great thing about any sticky grenade was that even if you ended up with a worthless weapon on spawn, you still had one last trick up your sleeve.

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6. Halo 1 Assault Rifle

Halo Silent Cartographer assault rifle — The clip size of this thing in Halo: CE was crazy.

“The assault rifle works really well with the golden three things of Halo,” explained Multiplayer Designer Lars Bakken in an interview, “which are weapons, grenades, and melee.” When two players face off and both have the assault rifle, the deciding factor ends up being skill – how well you control burst fire, how well you can strafe and shoot, how well you can aim your melee or grenade throw.

Halo 3 poster — Master Chief’s weapon of choice

“The assault rifle’s design language works really well with the Master Chief,” said Weapon Modeler Tom Doyle of the weapon’s iconic silhouette and appearance. Doyle’s was the vision that saw the assault rifle returned to Halo after its absence in Halo 2. “There’s this thing we didn’t really identify in Halo 2,” said Bungie’s Software Design Engineer Adrian Perez in an interview, “that if you spawn everybody with a dual-wieldable weapon like the SMG it changed the game.” Since its triumphant return, the assault rifle has become a mainstay of the series.

5. Sniper Rifle

Halo 3 sniper rifle Tsavo Highway — One headshot to kill, or two body shots.

Sniper Rifles are a popular addition to many FPS games, but the one in Halo holds a special place. Maybe its because you can’t choose to spawn with it, so it becomes a coveted item, maybe it’s because the design and layout of Halo maps so often make the weapon advantageous, maybe it’s because the gun looks freaking sweet and can score you kills from across the map. Whatever the reason, this is one weapon that we couldn’t do without.

Halo 3 sniper rifle Sandtrap — As Bungie and 343 brought in larger maps, the weapon became more and more useful.

We’re not alone in thinking this, either; the weapon was popular enough that in later games more varieties of sniper rifle were added: The beam rifle, and later the binary rifle in Halo 4. Additionally, Team Snipers became a popular game type in multiplayer matches, pitting sharpshooter players in 4v4 matches across large maps like Valhalla and Blood Gulch.

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4. Needler

The Needler is a wacky Covenant weapon that, like the plasma pistol, underwent some series mutations over the series. Whichever Halo game you’re playing, the Needler will be present, though aspects like fire speed, bloom, reload speed, and homing all change drastically from title to title. Halo 2 players will remember dual-wielding Needlers for instant kills.

Halo 1 Truth and Reconciliation Keyes Needler — Worried this weapon makes you less manly? Doesn’t bother Keyes!

Any way you spin it, the Needler is a grenade on a stick. Hit a player with seven of these sharp pink projectiles and they’ll coalesce into a detonation akin to a plasma grenade. Get the angle and distance right, and you can ambush and eliminate players before they even know what hit them.

3. Halo 2 battle rifle

Halo 3 battle rifle — DMR? Carbine? Light Rifle? The Battle Rifle did it first.

While Halo 2 sadly lacked the assault rifle, it made up for it with the introduction of the battle rifle: A rare burst-fire weapon that FPS players actually like. The battle rifle encouraged mid-long engagements with other players in multiplayer mode, as well as rewarded players who could more consistently land headshots.

Halo 4 battle rifle — Stopping power, accuracy, and versatility all in one package.

While the gun was present in several Halo games, there’s a reason we specifically cited the one from Halo 2: Expert players could exploit a double fire glitch that allowed them to fire two consecutive bursts in a row. If you quickly press fire, then immediately follow up with a held trigger pull, the controller registers the start of the holding and pressing ‘X’ fires both bursts at the same time or in rapid sequence.

2. Halo 2 Energy Sword

Arbiter Halo 2 — Energy Sword and Active Camo at the start? It’s good to be the Arbiter.

One of the most iconic weapon in the series, the energy sword is one of the coolest weapons ever designed. It’s the closest you’ll get to bringing a lightsaber into Halo, and as you might expect it feels about as epic. While the enemy AI could use the energy sword in Halo: CE, the player didn’t get to use it until the sequel … and Bungie went pretty overboard to make it worthwhile. The weapon had a very long reach, and could one-hit kill as soon as the targeting reticle turned red.

Halo: Reach energy sword Elite — “I didn’t mean it!”

In Halo 3 the combat mechanics to the energy sword were reworked to make the weapon a little more fair, and better rewarded more skilled gameplay. A quick pull of the trigger would perform a slow lunge from the maximum distance, while hitting with the melee button hit faster for less distance. Entire sword-based game modes were introduced in Halo 3 and Reach, and sparring against multiple opponents got really cinematic.

1. Halo 1 Magnum

Veteran Halo players, you already knew this was going at the top of the list. From the first time you get to use Captain Keyes’ handgun at the start of Halo 1, all the way into wrecking entire teams with this in the remastered multiplayer, this is the sidearm that you’ll probably use more frequently than your main gun.

Halo CE Blood Gulch magnum — On maps like Blood Gulch, it may as well be a sniper rifle.

The magnum underwent some serious changes throughout the series, receiving a massive downgrade in Halo 2, then buffed damage but no zoom in Halo 3, to a really neat silenced version in Halo 3: ODST. By Halo: Reach, the magnum had made a triumphant return as a preferred weapon in SWAT matches, sacrificing the range of the DMR for faster fire and better handling. Pro players in Halo 1 were able to use the gun’s recoil to empty the clip, ending the barrage with a headshot once the enemy shields pop. It wasn’t unusual for pro players to put down a sniper rifle or rocket launcher in favor of this pistol, and for good reason.

Halo 3 Guardian multiplayer — Rumble Pit got pretty crazy back on Guardian

Honorable mentions go out to the grenade launcher from Halo: Reach, the elite sentinel beam of Halo 2, and Gravity Hammer from Halo 3, but what’s your favorite Halo weapon? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned with us for more information on the upcoming Master Chief Collection on PC!

Best exclusive games for each console

Some people like Nintendo, some like Sony. But when it comes to the big three consoles, who has the best exclusives?

The grass is greener on the other side… or is it?

Some people buy consoles for the tech specs. They want the PS4 because the graphics look crisper They want the Xbox because the user interface works like a charm. They want the Switch because it’s portable and versatile.

When it comes down to it, tech specs aren’t always the game changer. In the end, whatever console you choose comes down to one thing — preferences.

This may be controversial, but we believe exclusive games are the real difference between consoles! In fact, they’re so important we almost find ourselves annoyed by the disparity. PS4 players are clearly hogging God of War and Spider-Man. Thank goodness Xbox has Halo and Forza!

So, to see where the grass grows greenest, we compiled each main consoles’ three best exclusives in one place.

Best exclusive console games

PlayStation 4

Sony’s PlayStation 4 appears to have some of the biggest exclusives by far. We were hard-pressed to sort through honorable mentions like Horizon: Zero Dawn and Bloodborne to choose the greatest among them.

We should note: these exclusives are suspiciously only single-player, story-driven games. It seems the best multiplayer exclusives lie elsewhere…

Okay, we’re just trying to be fair to the others; this lineup rocks!

god of war 4

God of War 4 received universal acclaim for its storyline, gameplay, graphics, and more. It was voted Game Award’s Game of the Year, a coveted title.

If you’re unaware, the story goes a little something like this: After the death of his wife, Faye, the god-killing Spartan warrior Kratos journeys with his son Atreus to the “highest peak of the nine realms.” From there, they plan to spread her ashes and complete her last wish.

On the way, they get into a bit of a tussle; the world serpent Jörmungandr shows up, Norse gods stop by to party, it’s a whole thing.

Kratos swings around his mighty ax, making you feel like Thor swinging around Mjolnir. If action games are your jam, this is the game for you.

This one is well worth the price, and you will not be disappointed.

10 best action games for your bucket list

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marvel’s spider-man

We loved Spider-Man games ever since we tried our first on the GameCube! Swinging through New York City, fighting bad guys, and inevitably jumping off the Empire State Building was a blast!

If you haven’t jumped off the ESB, have you really played Spider-Man?

Fast forward 16 years: in the midst of the MCU adventure, Insomniac Games creates a PS4 exclusive with all the majestic charm of the MCU. Swing through the streets of a Manhattan and fight bad guys!

This time, Peter Parker is dealing with a convoluted conspiracy that centers around the bioweapon Devil’s Breath. Naturally, everyone wants it: from Kingpin to Osborne to Doc Ock. Good luck with all that, Parker!

Marvel’s Spider-Man gives you all the tools you need for your web-slinging experience.

uncharted 4: A Thief’s end

Nathan Drake, the infamous thief, goes on one last journey.

Metal Gear games are known for being cinematic experiences that play out like a James Bond flick, where the player gets to be the spy. Uncharted thrusts the player into a similarly movie-like experience, However, rather than venturing into a military melodrama, you go on an adventure with all the swashbuckling excitement of Indiana Jones!

Drake’s brother, Sam, reappears after years of imprisonment and asks Nate for help. They must retrieve the treasure of the pirate captain Henry Avery or he will be killed by a drug lord. Together, they race to find the loot against their former financier and the cause of Sam’s imprisonment.

The epic end to a legendary story doesn’t disappoint! The story is thrilling, the combat is fluid is fast-paced, and the exploration has never been better!

honorable mentions

Horizon: Zero Dawn
Bloodborne
Shadow of the Colossus

Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch doesn’t have as many exclusive titles as we’d like. However, we are excited for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, coming out later this year.

5 things Game Freak must add to Pokémon Sword and Shield

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The Switch is unlike anything on the market. Players can play games from home or on the go all on the same console. If you want, you can play something like the L.A. Noire remake or Saints Row: The Third remake at home, or race against friends in Mario Kart on the go!

The Legend of zelda: breath of the wild

Throughout time, many heroes by the name of Link fought to defend Hyrule and its princess, Zelda, from the evil Ganondorf. Each of them succeeded in warding off the darkness after a great journey…

Until now.

After 10,000 years of safety, Calamity Ganon reappears and turns Hyrule’s ancient, advanced robotics against them. Link falls in battle, and their heroes are killed. As a result, Zelda has to use the power of the gods to hold Ganon at bay for a long, long time…

Then Link wakes after 100 years of recuperation in a stasis chamber and begins his quest anew. Monsters roam the land, the robotics still control Hyrule’s capital, and Zelda’s power won’t hold much longer.

He failed once, but the hero is back in the game.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a massive open world game. The developers allow the player to play the game however they want to. Players can complete dungeons in whatever order they want in this very non-linear game. If you want, you can grab the Master Sword and all of the best armor you can find. However, you can also collect all the tree branches and rusty swords you can find and challenge Ganon in your undies.

The choice is yours.

super mario odyssey

Yep: Mario loses Peach again.

In order to save her this time, he joins a sentient hat named Cappy, whose sister has been stolen by Bowser for use as Peach’s wedding tiara!

However, Cappy has a few tricks up his sleeve… if hats had sleeves.

Cappy has the ability to let Mario take control of nearby creatures. When under Mario’s control, you have full access to their abilities. You can become a T-Rex and destroy everything in your path. You can become a Hammer Bro and throw an onslaught of hammers at enemies. The choices seem nearly endless.

There are a ton of worlds to choose from and a ton of things to do. Cappy’s introduction adds a fresh level to the game, and the new worlds and enemies all have the familiar Nintendo charm.

This addition to the Mario Bros world holds up so well. In fact, many would argue it belongs higher than Breath of the Wild. If you agree or disagree, let us know in the comments!

Will Mario games ever go out of style? We hope not.

super smash bros: ultimate

This is the definitive party multiplayer. Got an argument? “Settle it in Smash.”

Oddly enough, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate performs double-duty here. Not only does it reach the top 3 for Nintendo exclusives, it champions every single one of their other characters and games.

You can play as characters from Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox, Xenoblade Chronicles, Pokémon, Kirby, Animal Crossing, and more!

Smash Bros. players range from the pros who compete in huge tournaments, to newbies who mash buttons and hope for the best.

The game now also features customizable stages. However, those are another story…

The best custom stages in Smash Ultimate so far

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All of these characters blend perfectly in one of the greatest titles of our favorite fighting game series! (No offense to Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter fans.)

Honorable Mentions

Octopath Traveler
Splatoon 2
Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Xbox One

Xbox has some of the most surprising games. These are titles you wouldn’t immediately think of when someone says “exclusives.”

Except Halo. Everyone would think of Halo.

Xbox is a bit tricky. Most of their exclusive titles aren’t necessary console exclusive. They are exclusive to Microsoft but can be played on both home console and with Windows 10.

halo 5

Oh yeah.

When the super-soldier Master Chief, goes rogue in pursuit of his AI friend Cortana, an elite team called Spartan Locke goes on a mission to track him down. Through their collective adventures, we gain insight into the mysterious happenings surrounding the Guardians, huge beasts controlled by an artificial intelligence network known as the Domain.

Aside from quick-moving, futuristic, first-person shooter gameplay, you can find one of the greatest video game storylines here. We even like the book series, which continues to release novels yearly!

The world still feels great, and we’re excited for Infinite!

gears of war 4

Years after the defeat of the Locust, a new aggressor arrives: The Swarm.

Gears of War 4’s oddly emotional storyline shouldn’t mesh so well with the violent, chainsaw-borne violence. Somehow, it does, and it does really well.

This time, the Lancer falls in the hands of Marcus Fenix‘s son, J.D. The only appropriate response to a new invasion is to buckle down, crouch behind the ubiquitous shoulder-high walls, and keep firing!

forza: horizon 4

This is one of those games that your grandfather will confuse with a movie or real-life sporting event. In all honesty, it has tricked us, too.

Forza has long been lauded as an excellent, realistic driving simulator with all the safety benefits of being a video game. This basically means if you’re still too much of a kid at heart to drive between the lines, you can crash some of the nicest cars known to man!

Forza Horizon 4 Download now ►

honorable mentions

Rare Replay
Sea of Thieves
Crackdown 3

Wrapping Up

“Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” Or, in this case, exclusives lead to jealousy, jealousy leads to hate, and hate leads to the console wars! Don’t be a console crusader, friend.

When it comes down to it, we wish every one of these titles were available for every console, even though such a move wouldn’t make any sense from a business standpoint for developers. Still, could you imagine playing Breath of the Wild with the controls and graphics the PS4 can offer?

Exclusives bring business. To play them all, you’ll just have to buy more consoles or borrow from friends. While you’re at it, whoop their butts at Smash Bros. real quick.

Halo is coming to PC

If you ever wanted to play Halo on your PC… your day is coming.

After years of lobbying from fans, Microsoft and 343 Industries are finally bringing the fan-favorite Halo series to PC gamers. Long-time fans of the series may remember tackling the Covenant and Flood back in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 on Windows.

Halo: Combat Evolved Download

Get the game that started it all!

Unfortunately, every title from Halo 3 on (excluding Halo Wars) was only available on Xbox. Fans who wanted to drop back into fray as Master Chief had to cough up the cash for a new gaming console. The series has been a big name for Microsoft, and was one of the major titles that helped to launch the Xbox platform in the first place. Last week on their official Twitter account, Halo announced that it would finally be returning to its roots:

Halo: The Master Chief Collection – with the addition of Halo: Reach – is coming to PC later this year on @windowsstore & @steam_games. Learn more about our journey to bring these legendary Halo experiences to your computer: https://t.co/hES6PG2Z7n pic.twitter.com/5bc8uXu6KV

— Halo (@Halo) March 12, 2019

PC gamers will be able to dive back into the series via Halo: The Master Chief Collection (coming soon to Steam!), a catalog of Halo games that was re-released for the Xbox back in 2014. From that point, 343 is going to springboard into adding more Halo games to PC, moving forward chronologically: They’re going to be starting with the prequel Halo: Reach and ending with Halo 4. Microsoft has said all the games will be available in the Master Chief Collection bundle, but will also be sold individually.

Halo Reach multiplayer — Halo: Reach introduced popular series mechanics such as the jetpack, assassinations, Invasion mode, and the DMR.

Microsoft and 343 Industries hinted that further information would be given at SXSW in Austin this past weekend at the Halo Invitational championship finals. While the info was not expressly about PC inclusion, they did reveal the launch of a new Halo Insider program, a community-based closed beta where fans can sign up for early access to the Halo Master Chief Collection on PC.

Halo Insider — Get an Insider account to provide feedback, get exclusive opportunities, and talk with the dev team!

343’s Community Manager Brian Jarrard said in a statement that “this is our way to bring the community on-board with this journey with us, to have a chance to get early access and play these titles on PC on Steam with us, and give feedback right to the development team.” For any Halo fans who want their voice to be heard during this period of time before Halo’s return to PC, speak now and speak often; the dev team is listening for feedback and bugs. “Fans want more than just a port,” says Jarrard, “and that’s really important.”

Halo 3 Bungie testing — Bungie employees hard at work on Halo 3’s multiplayer

Halo is one of the most popular shooter series for the gaming industry, and has been going strong even since their decision to market solely to the console crowd, selling over 65 million units and grossing more than $3 billion in sales. Microsoft is hopeful that by bringing the PC crowd back into the Halo fandom that they’ll be able to spur some community momentum towards the upcoming Halo: Infinite, which the company revealed back in June (no release date has been given yet, either).

Microsoft has not yet revealed when the upcoming games are set to launch on PC, but the company did promise it’s availability both on the Microsoft Store and on Steam. Which installment in the series are you most excited to play on PC? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned for more Halo updates!