Rope Dart. Simple as that. You don’t have to be above an enemy to use the Rope Dart, although that does give a cool assassination. You can use the rope dart in the same way you would use your pistol. The advantage to the rope dart is that it causes any enemy to drop their weapon, thus giving you an immediate advantage. The second thing it does, if you hold on long enough, is to pull them over. Then you can quickly dispatch them with a sword, tomahawk, or hidden blade while they are on the ground.

So here are the steps:

1. Select your rope dart from the Tools menu

2. Press Y (or the corresponding button for your system) to thrown the rope dart at your desired enemy

3. Hold Y until your enemy has fallen over

4. Walk/Run to your downed enemy and switch to any melee weapon.

5. Attack your enemy while they are on the ground for a quick and easy kill

There you have it! You can beat any enemy in the game with this method. It’s a little cheap, but sometimes you just get tired of an enemy countering every attack you have. If fighting more than one enemy, use the rope dart to disarm/pull down the toughest opponent there. Then dispatch the rest however you see fit.

Good luck, have fun!

Assassin’s Creed 3 Main Page:

Image Credit: Ubisoft

Gamestop servers are currently experiencing technical difficulties printing preorder bonus codes. You will still receive your preorder bonus but you will need to contact Gamestop in a day or two when their servers have been fixed.

With the launch of Halo 4, there is a slew of exclusive content available from multiple retailers.  Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, GameStop, and the Microsoft store all are offering exclusive content for pre-ordering the game at their stores.  The total amount of bonus content is available here.  To redeem this awesome new stuff, follow the guide below.

Step 1: Acquiring Your Code

Each piece of content is accessed through an Xbox Live redeemable code.  Depending on the retailer, the code can be found in several locations.  Some retailers will print the code directly onto the receipt.  This will be separate from your purchase, likely at the bottom.  Other retailers will send out an e-mail within 24 hours of your purchase with the code inside.  There may also be a special card with the code within the actual packaging of your game, so be sure to check out everything that comes inside the box.

Step 2: Getting Your Content

These codes are 15-character Xbox Live redeemable codes.  They are specifically for Xbox Live, and are redeemed most easily through the Xbox Guide.  From the main screen, simply push the Guide button (the one in the middle of the controller with the Xbox logo on it) and scroll to the far left pane.  This has the option “Redeem Code,” and you should select it.  This will bring up a window to enter your code in.  Don’t worry about dashes or spaces, it will apply those automatically.  Just enter the characters in order.  You should throw caps lock on to be safe, since all the codes are in capital letters.  Don’t enter these codes while playing Halo 4, since you will have to restart the game anyway for them to take effect.

Step 3: Using Your Stuff

Once you have redeemed your code through the Xbox Guide, it will begin to download.  All of the exclusive content for Halo 4 is made up of very small file sizes, so the download will be very fast.  To make sure that everything works, wait for the download to complete before entering another code.  Once all codes have been entered and all content has downloaded, throw in your Halo 4 disc and get ready to get pwned by the OMFGN staff.  We’ll be on all night, so we’ll see you online!

Loadout Guide

Weapons Guides

Vehicles Guides

Map Guides

Halo 4 Main Page

At what level should I set my controller sensitivity?  I’ve been asked this question quite a few times over the years, dating back to Halo: CE.  The answer will always depend on the player’s personal preference.  However, with a few simple considerations it should be easy for any player to decide what is best for them.  So let’s get to it.

Choosing sensitivity only has two considerations that need to be balanced.  The first is the ability to aim accurately and put bullets on target.  This deals with the players ability to hit an enemy with bullets consistently, in the location they desire.  A controller that is too sensitive will cause the player to miss because the reticle will move faster than they are able to control.  The second consideration deals with movement and turning.  As a player, your sensitivity must be high enough that you can turn around quickly if there is an enemy behind you.  It also must be high enough so that when other players are trying to dodge your bullets that you can aim fast enough to keep up with them.

I often hear the argument that you should set your sensitivity as high as possible.  This is a poorly thought-out argument that has more to do with saying you are the coolest because you play on a high sensitivity, and less to do with gameplay performance.  Think of it this way: For the first consideration you want a low sensitivity so you are never over-correcting, and always hitting your target.  For the second consideration you want your sensitivity as high as possible so that you can spin around quickly to engage enemies around corners and behind you.  Let’s think about it by simply looking at the amount of time you spend in either situation.  Do you spend more time shooting someone in front of you, or turning around to fight people behind you?

I hope that most people say they spend more time fighting enemies in front of them.  If you spend more time turning around, you might want to rethink your gameplay strategy.  Because most fighting in recent Halo games has been mid to long range, it is better to have a lower sensitivity.  In Halo 2, where the levels were much smaller and the auto aim was more pronounced, you could get away with a sensitivity of #10.  In current games the auto-aim has been greatly reduced.

Recommendations:

Given what we have already discussed, I recommend a sensitivity no higher than 6, but no less than 3.  Personally, I played on #4-5 sensitivity for Halo 3 and use a #3 sensitivity for Halo: Reach.  Anything less than #3 and you start to become too slow to turn effectively.  Anything higher than #6 and you need considerable skill to control the quickness of your movements.  Not to say it can’t be done, I simply don’t think it makes as much sense.  For reference, Charles uses a #5 sensitivity in Reach.

Disclaimer, I am not a pro gamer, and this article isn’t written for pro gamers.  This article is for new-to-high level players.  If you’re a pro gamer, why do you need advice on Halo?  If you are curious to see how this has worked out for Charles and I, feel free to look up our stats (gamertag: OMFGN Crage, OMFGN Mandalor).

 Halo 4 Main Page:

Return to Ravnica Draft Video #1

Drafting

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Drafting

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

So which one to choose?  There are seven options shown below, all based around common layouts.  Why you can’t fully customize a controller layout in 2012 is beyond me, and the subject of a rant I will not force you to read at this point.  The biggest thing is to go with the layout that is most comfortable.  This, in my mind, means whatever type of layout is most closely linked to the game you have been playing lately.  Wrongly pushed buttons are much worse than any fine-tuning errors that come from sub-par layouts.

The Default option in Halo 4 changes one important aspect from past games; clicking left stick now results in sprinting instead of crouching, while crouching is relegated to the B button.

OMFG Network has two layouts we prefer, the Boxer and Recon variants.  Personally I will be using the Boxer, while Charles spews profanity at me for choosing a layout that doesn’t use left trigger for throwing grenades.  Charles prefers the Recon (Editor’s Note: Correct) variant because he always switches his layouts to have melee be on the B button.  Hey man, whatever works.

I like the Boxer because it allows for flawless movement at all times.  With melee on left trigger you can strafe, jump, turn, and melee all in one fluid movement.  If you have melee on, say, B button, you have to take your thumb off the right stick to beat someone down, this split-second of being disengaged from the right stick can cause you to miss or fail to keep up full rotation on the mid-jump turn that I was just talking about.  This scheme focuses on more close-range combat.

Charles prefers the Recon scheme because it is very close to “traditional” Halo layouts.  This is a very solid layout and those who have played Halo in the past will fit into this scheme easily.  The main feature is the ability to easily reload.  This is more important to ranged players than players who prefer to be up close and personal.

The key for both in my mind is that they keep the movement and crouch on left stick.  This allows the player to move in and out of crouch without a momentary lack of connection to right stick.  Both layouts have the traditional look/zoom on right stick, which I prefer.

Let’s say you are coming off of a game like Modern Warfare or Borderlands 2, then what?  I strongly encourage using the Fishstick variant.  This will allow you to integrate into Halo 4 with the least amount of down-time.  I still don’t like the B to crouch, but that’s way better than throwing grenades all the time because you meant to zoom in.

Lastly, the age old question of inverted or not.  If you are an old Playstation person, you most likely are used to controls being inverted.  Let me first say WELCOME to the Light side, we have Halo.  And second, don’t worry about it, you are able to switch between regular and inverted for all layouts at any time.  This is completely personal preference.  Even if we all know that regular non-inverted is better, hence it being regular.

Boxer

Bumper Jumper

Default

Fishstick

Green Thumb

Recon

Also known as the “correct” way by some.

Southpaw

 Halo 4 Main Page:

1. You can’t check it from within the Animus. I know that it seems like you could, since it alerts you in the Animus, but you can’t. You have to exit the Animus to check your email. Warning: you will lose any unsaved data, so be aware of that.

2. Once you exit the Animus, you need to find your email-checking computer. This is a computer station right next to the Animus. If you’re facing away from the glowing blue hologram/door thing, the computer is on your right. Walk up to the computer and press B (Xbox 360) or whatever activation key your console/computer uses. (Make sure you’re by the computer and you see that it is prompting you to activate it. Otherwise, you will re-enter the Animus and have to start over.)

So there it is, your quick an easy guide to checking your email in Assassin’s Creed 3.

Hope it helps and have fun!

Assassin’s Creed 3 Main Page:

Image Credit: Ubisoft

• To avoid damage from a firing line, run diagonally towards the firing line. They will often times miss and you can run past them or engage them in close quarters combat. Either way, you will likely win.

• If there is one or two enemies shooting at you, run diagonally towards them or away from them. They are not great marksmen unless you are standing still or running right at them.

• Moral of the story: Do not stand still or run directly at someone when they are shooting at you. You will get shot!

• You can always get behind cover if the enemy soldiers aren’t coming to fight you in close quarters combat. Usually they stay put if they are on a roof. They are extremely easy to shoot off the roof, but you will get shot if you try to climb up to fight them. Shoot them off the roof if at all possible.

Assassin’s Creed 3 Main Page:

Image Credit: Ubisoft

So how do we do this? Well, we swim. Get to the waterfront without raising your suspicion level at all. You can walk, take the roofs, however you get there just get there without raising an alarm. Ok, now let’s go through it step by step.

1. Swim to the first cargo stack dock on your right. There is a boat right beside it and 2 patrolling guards. Wait for the guards to turn their backs and then make your move. Climb over the boat and onto the dock. Take the powder keg and detonate it by the cargo stack. You have 5 seconds to escape, so swan dive your way back into the safety of the water.

2. Next, swim again to your right and there is a cargo stack guarded by 3 patrolling guards. One of these guards will walk all the way down onto the dock you’re going to use. I suggest popping up and assassinating him with the hidden blade, but that’s just my preference. If you choose to let him live, just be careful. These three guards are keeping a sharp eye, which is why I prefer to quietly dispatch them. Just remember, no firearms! And if they shoot, all hell will break loose. Best to do it one at a time. If you kill the first guard, one other guard will come over to check it out. Kill him the same way. Kill the 3rd guard the same way. They are predictable: use that against them. Then it’s just like before: use the powder keg to the side to detonate the second cargo stack. Again, you have 5 seconds to retreat to the safety of the water.

3. Ok, no we’re swimming all the way across the harbor to the third and final stack. There are a few guards but if you play your cards right and are patient, you don’t have to kill a single one of them. Just wait for the right time, when they’re all away. If you’re impatient or like me, then you’ll want to kill them. That’s OK, you’re an assassin. Just kill them one at a time like the last guards. Remember, the water is your friend. If you’re in danger of being seen, get in the water and swim behind a dock or a boat. The guards will stop looking. Then continue with your mission. Grab the powder keg and blow up the last cargo stack. Again you have 5 seconds to get back into the water. Then you can swim to wherever you can get ashore safely.

There are lots of ways to do this mission, but if you’re having trouble, give this a shot. It can take a few times to get right, but the skills you use on this mission can apply to a lot of other missions you will have to perform.

Good luck, have fun!

Assassin’s Creed 3 Main Page:

Image Credit: Ubisoft