For the longest time I didn't care about kill ratios in multiplayer shooters. I think I developed a complex from my counterstrike days in college where I was mercilessly slaughtered by, judging from the amount of genital jokes, pre-pubescent children. At some point I think I started to consider myself a human bullet detector for skilled players on my team. But now I realize that games like counterstrike were enablers for my low shooting self-esteem. Quick round times and fast re-spawns let me get away with a lot of crud and still have fun.

Americas Army changed all that for me. AA is an abusive, abusive, abusive, drill sergeant for new players. You die fast and you stay dead for a long time. You probably won't even have fun, but for some inconceivable reason, you will desire in the height of your agony, to be the guy who is shooting you, to seek revenge and make sure he's the guy sitting there twiddling his thumbs on the sideline while you make the rest of his team your bi-hatch. It is a painful journey in which you will end up, thanks to indistinct looking friends and foes, shooting your own team in the back and loosing hours of progress before making progress. When you finally get to the point where you have the luxury of having fun in this game, you will be a better shooter for it. Here is what I learned so you don't have to.

Top ten lessons of a Newb shooter: other than don't join the Army unless you enjoy boredom and getting shot.

10) If you're loosing every round change games or you'll keep loosing every round.

9) Keep moving or someone will shoot you in the back, seriously.

8 ) Know your effective range. If you don't have a scope, don't get into long range sniping battles, you'll loose.

7) Never be where they think you are. If someone spots you, anticipate how they are going to come at you and be somewhere better.

6) Shoot from the dark recesses of a building, never be in a window, corner, or on an open roof position where your outline is easy to spot.

Know when you're about to loose a ranged gunfight and disengage, then follow lesson seven.

6) Move smart, don't get caught out in the open period. If you have to cross out in the open, scan the area first, then run like hell. (You'll still die but less often.)

5 ) Aim low and to the left with machine guns because they kick up and to the right.

4) If someone gets the drop on you, duck, turn fire. It works on a really lucky day and if they're holding a machine gun it will be kicking up and away from you.

3) If you find yourself in an inferior position, i.e. shot and survived, maneuver to a better position before re-engaging, don't just go back to the same corner and get shot again. If you need to go back, wait at least ten to fifteen seconds to make your opponent think you've moved on.

2) If you are unfamiliar with a map, spend an entire night going one direction until you learn it, then spend another entire night going another direction until you learn it.

1) Hold your fire until you know you can make a kill so as not to give away an inferior position. Don't shoot at everything that moves.