*Makes note to avoid that one.* Are you sure you're not making your coffee 'Irish'?

Aww was I really that bad? I'll go on mute in future.

Don't be silly! It was nice to hear you that happy.
Not that you aren't normally.......*puts shovel down & steps out of hole*.

On the mic front, mine's gone belly up. Only had the wireless one for about 3 months. Now, it just won't even switch on. Completely dead.

I suspect however that it's my own fault. Whenever it needs recharging I just plug it into my PC via USB and leave it recharging overnight. My guess is that because it doesn't take that long to recharge, due to me doing it a fair few times I've ended up overloading it.

The wired one doesn't bother me apart from the fact that it's a lot quieter than the wireless one.

Drat, more expense!

A good night for me last night. After finally tearing myself away from GTA I resumed my mission of going through the sniper rifle classes. All done on the M21, also completed the expert levels on the Dragunov and am 2/3 of the way through the headshots. Hopefully, I'll do that before I get access to the next rifle up as I still need to go back and do the basic bog-standard rifle that you start with.

There was someone on Crossfire last night that was either incredibly determined, or just incredibly naive. He kept running through the shops down the side of the map coming from top to bottom, heading towards C. I was in the sniper building right at the bottom left corner of the map. Seriously, I must have picked him off 8/9 times in the end, and he just still kept coming. I think out of all the times he went for it, he got it once, but he must have died at my hands, and others, at least 30 times. It actually got to the point where I began to feel a bit sorry for him. Then I shot him in the back of the nut again as he tried it once more!

I'm trying to get all the challenges, as well - going through each class in the order you unlock.

Rather than just pick one gun & use it until I get the headshots what the map or game mode I just pick the gun type I would normally use, which is probably the wrong way to go about it, but I still like to win the games as well.

I think the snipers are going to take me the longest as I'm currently on 56 headshots with the M40A3 but have around 100 for the M16, AK47,MP5 & SAW.

I'm finding this much more rewarding than going Prestige again as every headshot feels like I've gained a level.

This is the first time that I may check myself when I get upto 55 again. I can see me getting the golden rifle fairly quickly. It didn't take me long to get all the achievements with the M21, and I'm practically burning through the Dragunov achievements. From memory, I don't like the next rifle up, but the Barrett is a quality weapon so I don't see that taking long.

I must admit, my experience is that I tend to pick the class to suit the map, unless someone's irritating me, then Ill just switch to cynical mode and nail them.

I've found, this time around, that the sniper rifle is suited to more maps than I've previously thought. It works an absolute treat on Backlot for example. Because there are so many walls and ledges for people to hide behind, most of the time when you spot someone you'll just see their head popping up. Bang. A kill and a headshot.

Nothing beats a gold cross NOW I'm going for my challenges!

I'm finding this too. I've been looking for some non-obviopus sniping positions as everyone looks at windows for snipers so there's no point in getting set up with Claymores only to get grenades flying in.

A good spot I've been using is at the top of the hill at the edge of the map on Strike - peeking out from behind the wall on the right (near A on Domination). It's impossible to be ambushed from behind & if you plant a claymore on the path on the right hand side you have plenty of warning for anyone on their way to get you. On Hardcore Deathmatches in can take a long time for people to work out where you are.

Also on Ambush - behind the yellow car at the back of the map overlooking the middle path. On the side of the map where C is. You have a clear shot of anyone on the middle building, by B, with the sandbags & it's pretty much a guarenteed headshot as that's all you can see. As long as your team is covering the left & right paths you can rack up a good amount kills with very few deaths.


P1ss off, you. . I'm happy with my silver flower - or whatever it is, not having a HDTV.

Well as long as you're happy

I just found it really tedious getting all those XP points and not being able to put them to good use. So my OH said would you just bloody rank up already and give my head peace (in words to that effect) and do your challenges at the end!

I have to say I'm glad I did, because I will feel I totally completed the multiplayer side of things. Pity theres no achievement.

On Strike, if I start as the Marines I always break right and head down towards C. When you get to the far right edge of the map you go around the corner of the last building and there's a set of steps leading up to the building. If you kneel there, and edge out you can overlook the narrow entrance to the courtyard where C is. The way that things are timed you tend to get there about 10/15 seconds before anyone from there team tries to come out of the courtyard. It's an easy few kills but I just wait there and as soon as any of them come through the narrow gateway I just blast them with a grenade launcher. The number of times that two/three of them try and come that way at the same time is great. You can easily end up killing 3/4 of them at the same time.



Again, if I start as the Marines just go straight for B and then cut left and up the steps on top of the building overlooking B. Again armed with the grenade launcher, just wait behind the oil tank and keep peeking around the side at B. As soon as they set foot on it, bang, take them out with the grenade launcher. The good thing here is that if they get snipers in position on the roof of the building opposite they're easily visible and can be picked off quite quickly.

Must admit though, my favourite tactic, as a team on Ambush is to take complete control of the road where B is. One man covering each of the three entrances to their side of the map, and then two/three keeping a watch on the enemy snipe points. We've used that tactic so many times. I can't remember the last time we actually lost on Ambush.

Re gold crosses, I just see that as a target. I like nothing better than going after the elite!

Thanks for the drive last night Monkey...or rather....letting me drive all over the place...

I did get to hear my song though

I think that I have got my use out of it now. Could you imagine me trying to drive for real!!

Minni driving? i bet the car was the safest place in LC,also what song was you listening out for?

Ok realised I made a mistake in the last post.

For "real" meant actually in a game like cops and robbers and so on..

I hope I turn out to be a bloody good driver when I finally learn

Jedi - it was Q Lazzarus:- Goodbye Horses. Liberty Rock. Love it. Turned TV WAY up last night when it came on and annoyed the neighbours hehe...well I imagine I did anyway even though it was only 3 mins long!! Was nice to hear it in a game though because it's a very random song.

So you're still not going to come and play with us in Liberty City then Minni?

I wouldn't be very much use

Who are you and what have you done with the real Minnimo?

I haven't played much multiplayer on GTA yet, but I'm not expecting to be all that good at it either, judging by the driving and shooting skills I've displayed in the single player game. Remember its not the playing its the taking part, so go put your backwards baseball cap on and come out to play

Ask Monkey, he saw me last night. Trust me. I cannot control anything in that game. Shame though. I want some achievements

You weren't that bad! About the same as me when I first played it.

It's not the easiest game to get achievements for, so it's one to play because you enjoy it rather than whore it for points.

Complete COD4 on Veteran. Now you're a Gold Cross it should be a breeze.

Hell no, just because I'm gold cross doesn't mean I'm any good at it!!

Everyone that wants Gold Cross will eventually become one, through time if not by skill and effort (ie me )

Don't be silly.

You normally finish above most us when we play. Just because you don't run around like Shadow getting masses of kills (none of us can, either!) doesn't mean you aren't any good.

Personally, I think the online CoD4 experience has spoiled me.

When Live was down a few weeks ago for maintenance I decided to kill some time by going back and completing a few single player missions. I found myself being quite disappointed. I loved it the first time around but now I'm used to the online side/capabilities, I just found the single player missions to be very underwhelming.

Should be interesting when it comes time to play CoD5.

what tips do you have for a totally new guy. My friend has just started, and is at level 4, but is pretty bad. He hasn't played much campaign either.

To your friend:

First of all, do not not rush around, unless you feel confident that you can make a few kills that way. Also, experiment with all of the guns and find out which one would fit with your style of gameplay e.g assault rifles, LMGs, snipers etc.

Start off in team deathmatch as it gives you the chance to get a feel for the game and give you a chance to play alongside people with the same or more experience and less attention is drawn to you.

Try to experiment with as many weapons and perks as best as you can for the best gaming experince.

But for starters, I would say that Assault class is a good starter as it has the noob tube and good for random firings and the 3 shot burst is rather accurate at med to long distances and kills players in 2 or 3 simple bursts.

I would also suggest Spec Ops as the starter MP5 is good for peppering your targets with automatic gunfire and the steady aim perk gives you better accuracy when firing from the hip. The C4 is handy if you want to catch opponents out.

From Russ

PS hope this gets your buddy started. As I say practice may not make perfect, but it sure is better that what you had to start with

Tell him to explore all the maps and find all the sniping spots,not only is this good for finding spots to snipe from but it's handy for knowing how to avoid being sniped yourself.

A perfect setup for a begginer
[LIST][*]Mp5 with red dot sights[*]3 Flash grenades[*]Any Pistol without silencer[*]Stopping power[*]Extreme Conditioning[/LIST](perfect for close to medium ranged combat)

Apart form anything already said,just practice,practice,practice.

Those are the best tips I've ever seen on these boards for a beginner guys. Nice one.

Some of them I need to take on board myself, e.g learning sniper positions. Because even now, I find myself being taken out within seconds of the game because of where they are lol.

The only REAL one I know is on top of the tanker on Countdown.

The only thing I'd say is, red dot can't be for a complete beginner as you have to use a certain weapon long enough to get it.

Other than that grand.

Though gotta ask, why a pistol withOUT silencer? All of mine (that can be) are used WITH a silencer because it's usually in CQ's that you use that particular weapon.