Unreal Championship: Xbox Live Tactics 2

Unreal Championship Deathmatch is about as simple as it gets. You only have to look out for your own butt. Everything you do, good or bad, is because of you. The next time you join a team game like Capture the Flag (CTF), however, take a moment to ponder why your side is getting pummeled mercilessly. Aha! The key to success in team play is, not surprisingly, teamwork—a foreign concept for too many Deathmatch diehards. Read on to get the lowdown on how to transform your band of misfits into a deadly fighting machine.

It's All About the Team
Don't be tempted to lapse into Deathmatch-style play. It's hard to resist running around the map aimlessly fragging every opponent that crosses your path, but resist you must. The main ingredient for an unforgettable CTF match is a team that works together. But after a few blowout matches it's fairly obvious that not everyone likes teamwork. Finding gamers who want to play in a true cooperative sense can be a challenge in itself, but those people do exist. Pay attention to who is a team player, get to know them, and add them to your friends list—and when that list starts to get full, organize team matches. A sure-fire way of finding like-minded team players is by joining a clan. Message boards are full of clan recruitment threads: the Xbox Community Forums are a great place to start.

Know Thyself
Before the action starts, choose your role. No, nothing's set in stone—the best teams are able to adapt to different conditions—but it's wise to know who's on offense and defense from the get-go. That way your whole team isn't gunning for the opposing flag while yours is left sad and alone and about to be stolen. If the teams are large enough, keep a teammate back with an eye on the flag. And use that thing on your head. Yeah, your microphone. Alert defenders if unwelcome visitors are on the way so they can be properly greeted with a shower of rockets.

Red Herring
Sometimes you just find yourself matched up against insanely talented Unreal lunatics. This probably sounds familiar: You can't hack it on offense because you get fragged before the flag is even within sight; defense is frustrating because they snatch the flag while you're still figuring out what just happened. Sometimes you just have to accept that you are outmatched and use a more extreme strategy. Become the worm on the hook—draw enemies away from your comrades as a diversion. You'll probably get roasted, but your rivals' lack of focus is your squad's advantage. In the heat of battle gamers lose their heads. Even though your buddy eAt_mY_dUsT just ran by with the flag, your foes will have a hard time resisting the bulls-eye painted on your backside.

Fragging Is Bad?
Yes, sometimes it is. Why? If you are headed back to your base with the flag in tow, you want your enemies far, far away. So go ahead and frag because they'll respawn back at their homebase. But when heading into enemy territory, it doesn't always make sense to annihilate everyone in your path, since all it does is respawn them ahead of you will full health. It takes a master Unrealchamp to be able to toy with opponents—to blast them enough so they'll flee to scrounge for health—but not enough to outright kill them. You might not get the points for the kill, but you'll get the team victory.

Translocate This!
The translocator can be the most effective weapon in your arsenal. Seriously. Chuck a translocator disc deep inside enemy territory, or better yet, right next to their flag (before you swipe it, of course). After scoring a point the flag returns to its original position, which just happens to be next to your translocator disc. In an instant you can be standing right next to their flag again. Another way to employ this underrated weapon is to constantly throw a disc ahead of you, translocate, throw another disc, translocate, etc., etc., etc. It's incredibly hard to hit a target that keeps disappearing and reappearing. Use it to blow past a formidable defense on your way to the flag.

Take Your Vitamins
Know exactly where the adrenaline can be found in each level. It might be to your advantage to camp out at an adrenaline spawn point to max out before you go on the offensive. You'll be transformed into a fearsome opponent with either Berserk, Agility, Regeneration, or Invisibility at your disposal. Even worse for your enemies, teammates with max adrenaline who work together prove nearly unstoppable. Imagine one teammate with Regeneration becoming a shield for another teammate chalking up frag after frag in Berserk mode. Yup. Now we're talking.

I Have the Flag! Now What?
Now that you're the center of attention, the first thing to do is run for your @&!$% life. Second, equip the shield gun to deflect any incoming fire. That should increase your life expectancy, hopefully long enough to make it back to your camp. Have your adrenaline at max so you can activate either Agility or Regeneration bonuses on the dash back to your base. Somewhere between the trash-talking and the questioning of your opponents' lineage, notify your teammates of your intended escape route and ask for help. Better yet, attack in pairs—that way someone's always got your back. And if you get toasted, your mate's there to scoop the flag up and carry on. Don't make a beeline right back to your base. Unpredictable movements keep some weapons from hitting home. Just keep your fingers crossed that your flag is still there when you return.