How to Become Better at First Person Shooter Video Games

Last Updated: February 4, 2023

Do you love first person shooters? This article explains a few tips, tricks, and techniques that will hopefully improve your FPS gaming ability.

Steps

1
Be patient. Most likely people who are more experienced will kill you more frequently, but that's all normal. Make sure to execute order 66 in any situation. Take time to get used to how they play, get used to your surroundings as that can be crucial if you are going to survive in any FPS games. Get to know your weapons and how each will fire, what rate they will, and the distance it's best used at.^{[1]
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- Play the single-player campaign. This will help familiarize yourself with the guns, environment, etc.
- Play online. You will only get better if you play with real opponents, as opposed to AI's. The more you practice, the better you will become. Remember, it's okay to be "bad", as long as you know you're improving, that's the key!
2
Master the controls. This is very important. Shooting, crouching, reloading, etc. Knowing these inside and out is imperative.

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3
Learn the maps. Familiarize yourself with the surroundings, vantage points, chokepoints, and other features (depending on the game). It's very helpful to have the know-how on these maps as when you can navigate them easily, you can get the drop on the enemy. Additionally, experiment with different routes that will help familiarize yourself. You'll know where you're going, which is always to your advantage.^{[2]
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4
Find your playing style. Different players have different playing styles, and some find them more quicker than others. Find yours as quick as possible, whether it be going defensive or offensive, and you'll more than likely have fun, killing others.
5
Try a plethora of weapons and determine which suits you and your playing style the best.
- Sometimes, however, you will need to vary your weapon usage, e.g if your weapon runs out of ammunition and you must pick up an enemies... so it's good to be familiarized generally with different weapons.
- Additionally, in most FPS games usage of a weapon (x amount of kills, x amount of headshot kills) will reward you with extra XP points, so it is a good tactic for quick leveling up!
6
Have the correct perks which suit your gameplay. Certain roles demand different qualities... if you play with an SMG (Submachine gun) you may want to employ a perk which allows extended running times (Marathon, Extreme Conditioning, Lightweight), for example. Knowing what suits you will really help your ability! Experiment with different classes, weapons, and explosives, depending on what's available.
7
Use your equipment wisely. Grenades are great for picking up kills and clearing objectives, especially in game modes where the enemy is capturing somewhere, throwing a grenade in can get you a nice amount of kills! Stun/Flashbang grenades are also great for incapacitating the enemy, creating an easy kill, especially if somebody is 'camping' (staying in a certain given area).
8
Reload! The best times to reload is when you find cover. If you're in the middle of a battlefield and you're low on ammo while your opponent has full ammo, use your secondary, run to the nearest cover you can find, and reload there. It could be the difference between life and death!
9
Remember that KDR isn't everything. KDR (Kill/Death Ratio) is only a minor part of an FPS match. Always stay with the team, and you can be able to ambush the opposing team. The best tactics are that you always have an attacking section and a defensive section. Even if you're either one of them, always try to communicate with others. It could save your team, and yourself.
10
Learn from your deaths. Learn about where you were killed and why. Was it because you were in open space and was shot by a sniper? Next time, walk in an irregular pattern so that your movements are unpredictable and makes it harder for the sniper to kill you. This is one of the best ways to improving your FPS skills.
- When you're killed, or do something that gets you in to a bad situation, reflect upon it. 'What could I have done to have averted this?' Then put that into action. Learn from your mistakes and do not blame others for them.
11
Consider adjusting the layout or sensitivity of the controls. You can often adjust the buttons on your controller to suit your play style. After you are more comfortable, you may want to change the sensitivity so that you can turn quicker.^{[3]
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12
Aim for killstreaks. If you manage to get a certain amount of kills without dying, in some FPS games there are rewards. Within the gaming realm of Call of Duty, these are 'Killstreaks'. Try to use team-helping killstreaks such as an enemy locator (UAV/Spy Plane).

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Community Q&A

Question

Does SMG stand for sub-machine gun?

Community Answer

Yes. They're generally CQB weapons that deal less damage per shot, but fire much faster at the cost of accuracy.
Question

At what point in your gaming experience with a certain game should you join the game's leagues/tournaments/esports?

Community Answer

When you reach the best competitive rank in the game, start trying for competitions.
Question

How do I drop shoot better?

Aidan Cruse

Community Answer

First you need to know when to do it. Don't drop shoot every time you see a foe. First use your prone key and hold it down. You need to do this very quickly, because if you don't, you could find yourself at the respawn screen in no time. Right before you drop down, aim up a little bit. When you're finally prone, aiming up before you dropped gave you an advantage since you don't need to aim up while in the prone state. And the last step is obvious, unleash a bullet storm. Do not spray though, since drop shooting shootouts last only about a second or less. Be accurate.

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Warnings

Don't let trolls and hackers get to you. As soon as you become negative, your in-game performance becomes negative and we already have enough ragers in the world.

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Don't let your teammates' performance affect your attitude. Just because your team is doing better than you doesn't mean you are letting them down. Remember, someone has to have the lowest amount of kills.

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Helpful 3 Not Helpful 1

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Things You'll Need

A good PC or games console and relevant items (controller, mouse, keyboard etc.)
A copy of the game in question

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References

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 30 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 152,235 times.

16 votes - 70%

Co-authors: 30

Updated: February 4, 2023

Views: 152,235

Categories: Electronic Game Strategies

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