Are you looking to improve your aiming in Gears of War 2? Find out how to leave your opponents in the dust with as little effort as possible? Here are some Gears of War 2 Aiming Basics to get you started.

GET TO KNOW THE GOW2 CONTROLS

Face it, if you don’t know the controls you will not aim as good as possible in GOW2 (or any game, really). I break down the controllers into 3 areas…

1.Use a decent controller - choose a good controller that “feels good”. If the controller is awkward or moves too quickly or too slowly for you then you won’t get as much as possible from your aim. Case in point I own an original Xbox 360 Wireless controller and a Game Stop Xbox 360 wired controller. I love Game Stop for used games and affordable used accessories for my 360, but that controller (the least expensive I could find) just doesn’t “feel” good for me. Its too quirky, too quick. I *could* get used to it, but I’ve already trained myself on my Xbox 360 wireless controller and it has a natural feel for me.

2. Practice with your controller -Speaking of training myself on my Xbox 360 controller, you’ll want to spend hours getting used to the “feel” if your controller during gameplay. You want reload, take cover, evade, mantle, and reload to become second nature so that you are pressing the buttons without thinking. Expect to put over 10 hours into this if you are just starting the game, and much longer if you are also new to the Xbox 360.

3. Know the buttons on your controller – As stated in “Practice with your controller” you need to know the buttons on your controller… and not just shoot and move left and right.

  • Left Trigger – Aim
    This gives you a zoomed view of the battlefield and your opponents. The degree of zoom depends upon the weapon. When throwing a grenade use the Left Trigger to see where its going to go when you throw it.
  • Right Trigger – Fire/Throw
    Fire your weapon or throw your grenade
  • Right Bumper – Reload
    Reload your weapon, read Gears of War 2 Reloading for more info
  • Left Thumbstick – Move
    Move your character with the let thumbstick/joystick
  • Right Thumbstick – Look (click to zoom)
    Change your view and look around. Use in combination with the Left Thumbstick (Move) to get where you are going. Click the Right Thumbstick to zoom your weapon, if available (depends on weapon)
  • X – Use/Interact
    Context-specific actions pop up on-screen showing when you can pick up ammo, kick in doors, etc…
  • B – Melee/Tag
    Melee your opponent with your weapon (hit them with your weapon). A few weapons don’t have a melee attack, and a couple have special melee attacks. The Lancer Assault rifle’s “melee” is the chainsaw which is not as easy to pull off as it was in the original Gears of War. It seems everyone knows what that noise is now when your chainsaw engine revvs, and they don’t like it! The other melee attack is a “tag” with a grenade. In almost all cases if you can tag your opponent with a grenade you can write them off as expired.
  • A – Take Cover/Evade/Mantle
    Okay, first off to pull of evade you need to be away from any surface that you will “take cover” to. As you are walking you can just hit A and your character will do a dive roll. Use Left thumbstick along with A to control the direction of your evade move. Take cover will almost always happen when you press A if you are near a surface and not already in cover. Mantle is context-specific and requires that you are in cover already and you move your Left Thumbstick till the context-specific action you want is displayed (Mantle or jump over, Swat Turn from cover-to-cover, or Cover Slip away from your cover into a walk).

ADDITIONAL GEARS 2 AIMING TIPS
Tip: Gears of War 2 Aiming

ADDITIONAL GEARS 2 TIPS & LINKS
Tip: Intestinal Fortitude – Goal: Avoid Suffocating
Tip: Intestinal Fortituide – Goal: Avoid Jets & Acid Pools
Tip: Get Marcus and Dom Past Cranes
Info: Gears of War 2 Better Than The Original [plus Youtube Vid]
Info: Xbox Sales Tied to Gears Of War Again [plus Youtube Vid]
Info: Gears of War 2 Takes Aim at Used Game Sales
Link: Gears 2 Xbox Mini Site
Link: Official Gears of War 2 Site