[X-Buster!]

Well I was sitting down last night after a round on Gears of War and I decided to write a guide for anyone who is just starting out on Gears of War on Xbox Live.

Glitching is for people who can’t play.
Due to the fact that Gears of War has been out for around 2 or 3 months, the game still possesses a few glitches. Some of these glitches are harmless but others could easily put you in a position to win a match.
For example Tyro Station has passable wall cover so you can hide inside the wall and avoid all fire, which is basically a cowards way out or fighting and while I’m at it there is also a chainsaw glitch which gives off a small explosion and skips the chainsaw animation.
Glitching is not cool and for those who are new to Gears, it is not fun to play against and bad reviews will be given and almost guaranteed if you exploit them in ranked matches.

Take cover!
For the life of me I can’t understand why people don’t use the cover provided. You give any half decent sniper, boomer or fragger a chance and you will be dead before you realise it.
A lot of new players don’t understand the whole concept of covering which is why I will always recommend playing the campaign before you embrace online. Cover is the most important tool in this game and if you don’t use it then you will be owned. Fact.

Active reload is god.
If you are good at active reload then by all means use it to your advantage. On the battlefield a perfect active reload could be the difference between living or dying but if you see a team mate in trouble then don’t stand there trying for active reload, just help him out because 9 times out of 10 you will panic, your gun shall jam and you will also be joining your team mate in the “dead list”.

Chainsaw and Frag tags don’t always work.
More and more people think that they can run up and chainsaw or frag tag someone, no matter what.
First off the chainsaw fully revved will deactivate if you are shot because your character will let go of the throttle and when this happens you will notice that it takes 1-2 seconds before it can be revved again.
Frag tagging is different but remember, if someone sees you and has a shotgun out and you decide to frag tag them 8/10 you will be left in pieces so only frag tag unsuspecting enemies or bad shots because constantly going for frag tags just gets you killed and wastes good grenades.

OMG t3h HAMMER 0F DAWN333!!11!
Yes the Hammer of Dawn is good. Yes its one of the best weapons if you can use it.
IF YOU CAN USE IT!
Hammer of Dawn does not work on enemies indoors for starters and it will always take 2-3 seconds to charge up and even then you have to keep the target in the laser so unless you can use it I advise you to leave the hammer well alone.

Spread out!
By all means stick together but don’t stick to each others arses like cheap toilet paper.
One frag or boomshot round will kill you and whoever is sticking to you so lets not throw away lives cheaply. I needn’t say anymore on this part.

Why do you insist on John Wayne heroics?
Gears is a team game. Enough said.

Achievement points mean nowt.
Just because someone doesn’t have every Gears of War achievement possible, doesn’t mean you can underestimate them. Treat every enemy as if it was your hardest opponent ever.

Overwhelming odds
If by some chance your three team mates have let the team down and you find yourself against four opponents, stay covered, watch all directions and carefully pick them off one by one.
The team with four will usually stick together but hiding is not the way to win, teams hunting one man become impatient and if you have used the area well then they will begin to split up to search areas which is the RIGHT thing to do.
Now if you are against four people and they are in one group, please for the love of god don’t fire your Lancer at them because not only have you wasted valuable ammo but you have also gave away your position.
Don’t hold up at spawn, you will be obliterated.
Boomshot would also be a good plan, if there is a group of four people then a well placed boom can take out at least 2 or 3 of them.
Don’t try and chainsaw people, it’ll get you killed.
And most of all, play it safe and go for active reloads whenever possible without giving your position away because active reloads could easily be the key to taking down a four man team. (I have done it with the sniper rifle)

Play the campaign
Campaign mode is valuable experience into the Gears world, especially on the higher difficulty levels.
If you play all of the campaign mode then you will find you will become far more aware of how online works.

Keep ya head down!
If the enemy team has a sniper then don’t trust small covers or weird looking covers, headshots come easy for good snipers.
Roadie run is a must and dives must always be used if the sniper is good. Some of the best snipers need only one glimpse of your head and its game over.
Running from side to side whilst roadie running will also make the snipers shot that much more harder but try not to get caught on any cover.

Master the default weapons
If you are just starting then don’t lay claim to the best weapons if you can’t use them.
Gears is a tactical game and if you have never used the sniper properly then you will loose your head to the enemy sniper.
For beginners I would recommend getting familiarised with the Lancer and Shotgun because they are MUSTS for close range combat and when you feel you have mastered then you can move to better weapons.
Not saying beginnings should steer away from them but if your in it for the win then leave it to the more experienced, especially in ranked matches.

And most of all, have fun!