Multiplayer

Although many recent first-person games have been shipping with single-player or multiplayer modes, but rarely both, Call of Duty bucks the trend by including a surprisingly robust suite of online game modes right out of the box. Whether you're a traditionalist who simply enjoys going online and shooting people, or a strategist who prefers joining teammates in completing an objective, you'll find something to enjoy when you hop online.

Multiplayer Tips

• Don't be afraid to use your melee attack. While not quite as useful as in single-player, you can still put the hurt down on someone if you both get caught reloading at the same time.
• As you play online, make an effort to distinguish the sounds of the different weaponry in the game. Any Axis player can hear an M1 Garand and lock on to the location of an Allied foe, but it takes effort to learn the difference between the sounds of the various submachine guns. If you can begin recognizing each weapon by the sound that it makes, you'll be able to tilt the signal-to-noise ratio in chaotic multiplayer games in your favor.
• The smaller a game is, the more important it becomes to move silently. When there are thirty players tromping around, the sound of an individual pair of footsteps is unlikely to be distinct amidst the noise, but as you drift down towards games with a dozen players or less, the player who can remain silent as often as possible will have a huge advantage.
• Grenades are used so often in online games that, for most players, listening for and moving away from the distinctive clinking sound of a grenade hitting the ground becomes second nature. You can attempt to make this impossible through what's known as "cooking" the grenade: if you hold the attack button for a few seconds before launching it, you'll let the timer run down, which means that the grenade will explode much sooner after it hits the ground. Just be sure you don't hold on for too long, or the grenade will explode in your hand, killing you instantly. The timer for a grenade is around five seconds.
• Aim down the sights! While it may be difficult to adjust to the notion that all weapons, instead of just sniper rifles, possess a zoom feature, aiming down the sights increases the accuracy of every weapon you wield by a huge amount. For automatic weapons, in particular, the difference between aiming and firing from the hip is usually the difference between surviving a gunfight and waiting for the next round to begin.


If you're using a submachine gun, you might as well not bother firing if you don't aim. These weapons are too inaccurate to fire from the hip except at extremely close range.

• If you wish to gain familiarity with a certain map, or learn where the retrieval or search and destroy objectives are, it's a simple matter to load a gametype and map as a private server. Playing by yourself will help you get a feel for routes, sniping spots, and good ambush spots. This is especially true of the Carentan, Depot, and Harbor maps, none of which possess an analogous level in the single-player game.
• As soon as the gunfire begins, you should begin looking for a weapon to supplement your primary choice. If you have a submachine gun, you'll want a rifle, and vice-versa. You have to manually pick up a weapon with your use key, but this is a relatively simple procedure, even when running at full speed, and the versatility you gain will greatly increase your chances of survival.
• Although moving from place to place in a straight line is the quickest mode of travel, it also makes it much easier for opponents to get a clean shot. When crossing open territory, strafe side to side as you make your way over the terrain; being unpredictable is often the difference between taking a headshot and hearing a bullet impact the ground behind you.