FPS combat suggestions?

[SoloFlyer]

So I've more or less proceeded on the assumption that I'm going to suck at the FPS aspects of star citizen due to not having great reflexes. There is one flaw in this premise though...I don't think I've ever played a FPS game. I'm sure most of you developed your skills over years with variety of platforms and titles. Are there any PC titles that stick out as a "must see" for someone who wants to try it out and attempt to become good at it at some point? I don't think I'm ready to just jump into full on PVP in a sink or swim situation but I'd like to get my feet wet at least a little before I start doing it in SC or some of these other games coming out that you guys are talking about.

 

[August]

ARMA 3 campaigns on Veteran difficulty will give you a good run for your money.

 

[August]

Once you’re comfortable against the AI you can move on to PVP

 

[stockish]

ARMA, Titanfall, Battlefield would be good games to get a feel for different gun plat styles. If you want a small app that helps train reflexes, look into Aim Hero or FPSosu, they are used by professional FPS competitors to warm up and practice before games.

 

[glockjs]

why not play some of the classics? half life series, borderlands, bioshock, doom, metro etc etc

 

[maynard]

So I've more or less proceeded on the assumption that I'm going to suck at the FPS aspects of star citizen due to not having great reflexes. There is one flaw in this premise though...I don't think I've ever played a FPS game...

just nuke 'em all from orbit

and let God sort 'em out

 

[chX]

So my biased opinion (as a Counter-Strike player of the last 15 years) is that CS:GO is one of the best places to improve your point-and-click aim. It's recently become free to play!
There's Deathmatch servers and millions of offline training maps/AI (bots) to practice against. My aim in CS is decent and that tends to translate really well into other games, e.g. my aim in Battlefield, PUBG, Overwatch and other FPS titles is usually pretty good, once you get used to going from a hitscan game like CS to projectile games with bullet drop.

In terms of having slow reactions, my best advice is employ good crosshair placement. This is a common term in CS, but basically it means always have your aim in a spot where someone could come from, rather than looking at the ground or at a random wall. If your reaction time isn't great, but you don't have to move or adjust your aim to hit someone, you'll have a much easier time.

Here's a video which highlights what I'm talking about: Link

 

[Deroth]

just nuke 'em all from orbit

and let God sort 'em out

Nuke? A decent sized anvil dropped from orbit would have enough energy to take out most cities.

 

[Deroth]

So my biased opinion (as a Counter-Strike player of the last 15 years) is that CS:GO is one of the best places to improve your point-and-click aim. It's recently become free to play!
There's Deathmatch servers and millions of offline training maps/AI (bots) to practice against. My aim in CS is decent and that tends to translate really well into other games, e.g. my aim in Battlefield, PUBG, Overwatch and other FPS titles is usually pretty good, once you get used to going from a hitscan game like CS to projectile games with bullet drop.

In terms of having slow reactions, my best advice is employ good crosshair placement. This is a common term in CS, but basically it means always have your aim in a spot where someone could come from, rather than looking at the ground or at a random wall. If your reaction time isn't great, but you don't have to move or adjust your aim to hit someone, you'll have a much easier time.

Here's a video which highlights what I'm talking about: Link

Even in real life prediction is more important than reflexes.

 

[chX]

Even in real life prediction is more important than reflexes.

Exactly! Also look up the concept of "slicing the pie", which is used by tactical/military teams fairly often to clear rooms and corridors. You can easily employ that in FPS games to slowly peek sections and give yourself 1v1 fights, rather than peeking out from a corner really wide and exposing yourself to multiple enemies at the same time.

All these things help you aim better without actually improving your aim.

 

[Lorddarthvik]

Wow, what a load of extremely useful advice for those who are already pro lol

For starting out, I'd suggest playing the classics, like Doom,HalfLife,Quake,CS,Battlefield.
Also Destiny 2 is pretty much a shooting gallery, and while it's an online game, it's mostly single player content and gameplay actually, so there is no pressure there.
I'd say playing ARMA3 for a start will put you off of fps games for life lol.
Here's a link to a really fun complete doom thingy
https://www.moddb.com/mods/recurring-nightmare/downloads/brutal-doom-hell-on-earth-starter-pack
Give this a go at the easier difficulty levels, than jump up the difficulty to Realism mode. It's very hard to stay alive, but if your aim is good you can kill most tthings with 1-3 shots so it is immensely rewarding.
It's a complete free game, but you might need to turn on the reticle and change some of the keyboard layout in the options.

Situational awareness is the most important thing to have. Always know your surroundings. There is only one real way to improve this. Play. Play as much as you can. Some basic skills include :
Moving in the direction you want to while aiming in another direction
Strafing around corners and basically everything
Hugging walls and already aiming around the corner before coming around it
Reloading at the right moment, in cover preferably or on the move

Tldr: play the classic shooters (not serious tactical shooters like Arma) as much as you can, you will pick up the basic skills.

 

[August]

In ARMA’s defence, what it will do is teach you to slow down and pay attention. But perhaps it’s a game for once you already enjoy FPS style games.

 

[Lorddarthvik]

In ARMA’s defence, what it will do is teach you to slow down and pay attention. But perhaps it’s a game for once you already enjoy FPS style games.

True true! It's an awesome game!
I just think its way more enjoyable when you already have the generic fps competency on a level that you don't have to think about it anymore, and can use your brain for thinking about more complex tactics / issuing orders, and can take it more slowly.
It's a different kind of gameplay. While reflexes may not matter as much, I found on my first few missions that the ai is ruthlessly efficient at killing you and your seemingly incompetent ai teammates even on the lowest difficulty.
If you want to try something complex that requires twitch reflexes and a lot of thinking ahead, you can also try one of the older rainbow six titles like raven shield. Boy that was a fun game lol

 

[Bambooza]

So my biased opinion (as a Counter-Strike player of the last 15 years) is that CS:GO is one of the best places to improve your point-and-click aim. It's recently become free to play!
There's Deathmatch servers and millions of offline training maps/AI (bots) to practice against. My aim in CS is decent and that tends to translate really well into other games, e.g. my aim in Battlefield, PUBG, Overwatch and other FPS titles is usually pretty good, once you get used to going from a hitscan game like CS to projectile games with bullet drop.

In terms of having slow reactions, my best advice is employ good crosshair placement. This is a common term in CS, but basically it means always have your aim in a spot where someone could come from, rather than looking at the ground or at a random wall. If your reaction time isn't great, but you don't have to move or adjust your aim to hit someone, you'll have a much easier time.

Here's a video which highlights what I'm talking about: Link

I would normal agree but CS is brutal to new players and would recommend it to those looking to improve on their fps skills not starting out unless they are a masochist. Starting out I would recommend games that have kill cams so that you can see were they where in relation to you and help train you on map awareness and kill lanes. To start with I would recommend games like Battlefield 4 (Death Match, Gun Mastery), Call of Duty, Overwatch, Titanfall or Team Fortress, which have a fast pace death match with low spawn cycles so the cost of death is low and the action is constant. The goal is to work on muscle memory which simply takes lots of time keeping the cross hairs on your target and learning how to utilize the map to your advantage.

Games like Doom Half-Life and Quake are great and would recommend them as alternatives with the only downside is the lack of kill cam reduces the speed of learning situational awareness as you are not shown how you were killed.

Games like PubG, ARMA, and CS:GO have long lulls between fire fights and high costs to death with long respawn times, while a great place to hone your skills for FPS in Star Citizen its not a great way to improve your basic skills.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

I think TEST has some FPS groups with guys who would teach you how to do it right, rather than rely upon twitch skills. It is much more important to learn good habits than to twitch well. Odds are if you have tried it and gotten killed a lot, it is not because you weren't pointing and clicking correctly, but that you were pointing and clicking when you should have been finding concealment and cover. Good FPS is a lot more than clicking. It's mostly discipline, communication and teamwork. In my experience, the lone wolves always get their asses handed to them by disciplined teams.

Check out the TEST groups. I know last I looked, there was a guy who spent three years kicking in doors in Iraq, and that's the kind of guy you want teaching you.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

I'm going to have to go retro and say the original DOOM is a great game. I'd say start there and then play what looks fun.

 

[ShakyWater]

Rocket launchers and grenades, dude. This is day one stuff.

 

[Deroth]

The number one best SC FPS weapon is the Combine Ballistic Cannon.

 

[DarthMunkee]

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but Rainbow 6 Siege is a great shooter. It will get you thinking more tactically, such as reminding you to check corners and not just storm a room every time you come across a new one. Start with the scenarios to get a feel for how it all works and then move on to Terrorist Hunt or just Multiplayer against other people.

 

[SoloFlyer]

Ok, got a few suggestions for some older games I'll look around for. I realize that I may have misspoke, it's less my reflexes more like my reaction time, less of a physical thing more of a mental thing. I get into an unexpected situation in a game and it's suddenly "OH SHIT WHAT BUTTON DO I PRESS?!". I guess that can be resolved with just playing more often and getting used to rapidly fluctuating situations. That's why I was gravitating towards more sedate activities like mining and cargo running. But if I'm going to be playing an open world PVP game I need to broaden my horizons lol