War: depending on which video game you draw your real life principles from, it either has changed or never changes. Scholars often question what it is good for, with some concluding that the answer to that is absolutely nothing, good god y’all. Whatever one thinks, it’s clear that a great many people enjoy playing games based around war. Recently, the flavor of war that has been most popular is the modern variation, something which I am sure is in no way connected to what Activision’s Call of Duty series has been doing. Frontline Commando 2 (Free) takes the familiar series gameplay and brings it into the Black Ops era, with the results being more or less as expected. Some people love it, others hate it, but everyone likes to save a few bucks, so here are ten tips and hints for playing Frontline Commando 2 without needing the financial backing of a PMC.
Spend your gold on items. Gold is a premium currency, but you’ll earn it here and there for finishing certain missions, leveling up, and so forth. Realistically, you’ll almost never earn enough to buy one of the premium weapons, so you’re better off spending it on items that can help you get past tough battles. You can also earn some extra gold by watching ads, but unless you’re incredibly persistent and stick with it regularly, it’s really only good for topping off your next item purchase.
Always keep a sniper rifle with you. You can carry two weapons into battle, and one of them should always be a sniper rifle, even if you have something more powerful. There are always going to be distant enemies, and if you’re not packing a sniper rifle, you’ll have to depend on your squad to take them out. Your squad is helpful, but believe me, you never want to be relying on them.
Shotguns complement sniper rifles well. So, with the sniper rifle in tow, you can choose your other weapon from an assault rifle, a machine gun, or a shotgun. Naturally, if there’s a big power disparity, you should go for your strongest gun, but if they’re more or less the same, you’ll probably want to bring the shotgun with you. Its extreme power at close range, amazing effectiveness at headshots, and vehicle/cover destroying properties all add up to make it a very useful tool for things that can’t be sniped.
Until you’ve got something really good, don’t bother upgrading your weapons all the way. While cash isn’t a huge problem in this game, upgrading a weapon fully is quite expensive, and not really worth it if you’re going to be upgrading to something better soon. Unless you’re waiting to reach a higher level to unlock new weapons, you really should be saving up to earn better guns rather than throwing too much cash into something you’re going to discard. Upgrade them about halfway, or as needed.
Upgrading your squad is money well-spent. The squad is the main new element in Frontline Commando 2, and you’d be wise to keep your buddies in mind. Often, using your money to level your team up can prove more useful than maxing out your weapon. Again, though, you’ll want to be careful about getting too invested in any of your one-star members, since you might end up replacing them. It’s good to keep one of each type in your leveling loop so that you’re never left without the squad you want at the level you need.
Pick your team according to your needs. There are four types of teammates, but you can only bring three. Someone has to be left on the bench. You should almost always have your medic with you for obvious reasons. Besides the medic, the other roles have situational uses. If you’ve got sniper troubles or aerial vehicles causing you problems, you’ll want to bring someone who can use RPGs. If you’re going to be facing up against land vehicles, grenades are extremely useful. Finally, if you’re dealing with overwhelming numbers, the drone can provide an excellent distraction while you whittle down the pack. In PVP matches, a grenade-user is a must. Grenades can solve all kinds of problems, and if you’re playing against another player’s team, you don’t have to worry about aerial vehicles.
Don’t be afraid to use your items if you think it’ll help you secure the win. Basically, getting access to guns requires you to level up. PVP doesn’t give you much experience points, and repeating campaign missions isn’t a whole lot better. Getting a higher level and gaining access to better gear is best achieved by progressing in the single player campaign. You can’t do that if you get blocked at a boss fight or a particularly tough mission. So if you have to toss a couple grenades or use a health kit to get past and reach the potentially less-taxing stages that follow, go for it. They’re not so rare that you need to hoard them.
Make sure you login each day to get your daily bonus, at least for the first 20 days. Yes, this is tool-tip level stuff, but it’s important. Sometimes the daily bonus will give you something of limited use, like a PVP power-up, but you can also get items and cash, and if you manage to log in for 20 consecutive days, you’ll get an awesome shotgun. The consecutive login rewards fall off pretty badly after that, but if you can spare a minute each day when you’re not actively playing, it’ll make things easier for you when you do.
Go for the team captain in PVP matches. They’re almost always carrying the most dangerous weapon, so take them out first. You can see each character’s name underneath them, so you just have to go after the one with the same name as the player you challenged. After that, you’ll probably want to take care of the medic if they’re using one, followed by snipers, then cleaning up whatever’s left. Be especially careful if the team captain is using a sniper or shotgun, since either one can wreck you quickly.
Take advantage of both PVP and campaign modes. PVP requires stamina, so whenever you sit down to play the game a little, you should start by having a PVP match, just to get the timer going on recovering a stamina point. PVP matches are a good source of extra money and, occasionally, items, though as mentioned before, they don’t give much in the way of experience points. Ranking up in PVP can get you access to some cool squad members and items that will prove useful. Campaign mode has no stamina bar, but there are some hard challenge-walls. Play as far as you can, then go back and try to get three skulls on earlier challenges to squeeze out every reward. Finish up your session by using your remaining PVP stamina. You’ll progress more quickly all around by bouncing between the two modes.
Until war changes yet again, the tips in this guide should help you play Frontline Commando 2 as effectively as possible without actually tossing any money at it. Besides, what fun is it to just use your pocketbook to buy your way to victory? It’s much sweeter if you actually earn it, even if it does take a while. If you’ve got any other good advice or fresh comedy, please feel free to post it in the comments below.
