Class Weapon Combos

One of the many strengths of Project: Snowblindas a multiplayer frag-fest is its use of player classes. Each class of soldier comes with a specific set of weapons, gear, and bio-augmentations. When the fighting starts, you need to combine these offensive and defensive abilities to get the most bang for your buck. Unless you're playing with the option of claiming any weapon from an opponent you killed, you have to work exclusively with the standard load-outs for each class, and each class's arsenal is capable of doing serious damage.

Welcome to your own personal minefield.

Grunt
The basic soldier comes equipped with the carbine, mine launcher, gas and flashbang grenades, and the ballistic shield augmentation. The carbine is adequate on its own, especially when you use both its automatic fire and secondary grenade launcher, but it can't go toe-to-toe with heavy hitters like the rocket launcher or rail laser. When face-to-face with superior firepower, retreat backwards and lay down a batch of mines—if you're pursued, detonate the mines when they'll do the most damage. If you miss or the enemy just keeps coming, toss a gas grenade behind them, activate your shield, and open fire with the carbine. Your shield protects you if they advance through your hail of bullets, so strafe and keep the pressure on; if they retreat, keep firing so they take damage from your guns and the gas cloud alike.

Heavy
The biggest gun in multiplayer belongs to the Heavy, who uses a rocket launcher, pistol, gas grenades, riot wall, and the ballistic shield augmentation. The rocket launcher is formidable, capable of one-shot kills, and it packs 20 rockets per clip. To maximize the rocket's impact on your enemies, use it with the riot wall—throw the wall generator in your enemy's path and then blast him before he gets around it. You can use the wall to bring someone to a short stop or block the only exit from an area, and then it's almost like shooting fish in a barrel (only this is more fun and earns you points). You can also aim for the riot wall (or any other convenient solid surface) to catch a nimble enemy with the rocket's splash damage.

Put their backs to the wall.

Scout
The Scout's load-out sets up an even nastier trap-them-and-kill-them combo than the Heavy's. The shotgun, mine launcher, riot wall, and reflex boot augmentation are just begging to be combined—but make sure you warn your teammates to keep clear of your kill zone. All you have to do is find a tight spot in a high-traffic area. Lay down some mines, get your riot wall ready, and wait. As soon as the victim enters the mine field, set the mines off, toss the riot wall behind them, and activate your boosted reflexes. Even if he survives the mine blast intact, you've got him cornered with a significant speed advantage and the deadliest short-range weapon in the game. Run up close and blast him before the riot wall drops, gloat a bit, and then lay down more mines and get ready to start again.

Sniper
The Sniper has two things I've always loved in shooters: a one-shot kill weapon with a long range, and an invisibility cloak. There's something about brazenly taking careful aim from an exposed position and getting away with it that gives me a warm feeling inside. The Sniper's H.E.R.F electric blaster and frag grenades can get you out of a tight situation if you're spotted and attacked, but the best way to use the Sniper's arsenal is simply to hang back and wait—most multiplayer matches are so frantic that it won't be long before someone fires on someone else. When you see a battle to exploit, activate your cloak and take whatever angle you need to get off a perfect head shot. If you're good at this trick you can turn someone else's three-way battle-to-the-death into three more kills for you.

Can't hide from the rail laser.

Agent
Like the Sniper, the Agent comes with a bio-augmentation that's tailor-made for his primary weapon. The rail laser takes time to charge fully, but it can punch through walls when you invest the time. Combine that with the Agent's vision-enhancing augmentation that lets him see through walls ... well, you can do the math. Agents are especially good at clearing out rooms that house a game-specific objective (like the flag in CTF or the bomb site in Demolition), because they can do it from outside without facing any gunfire from the room's doomed inhabitants.

Berserker
The final class of soldier is built for crowded, close-quarters combat. Packing the flechette and the H.E.R.F. (both of which work well on tightly-packed groups of foes), the Berserker also uses the Electric Storm augmentation, which sends out a destructive ball of energy that tracks nearby enemies. Soften up the opposition with your EMP grenades (which short out the victim's normal vision as well as temporarily frying any bio-augmentations), and then contain them with the riot wall until you close in for the kill. Remember that the H.E.R.F.'s secondary fire launches a plasma ball that sticks until it explodes, so after you plant one, back off so you don't get caught in the blast.

Project: Snowblind gives you plenty of tools to work with when it comes to mowing down the opposition. The vehicles and terrain dictate your battle strategy almost as much as your class's weapons set, so experiment until you find the right combinations for you.

By Luke Judge