Starhawk 101 - Infantry Controls
If you think you've got things down as a ground troop in Warhawk, prepare to be surprised. Most of the face buttons and weapon switching remain intact; the rest has been completely reworked. Gone are the days of rifle jumping, knife-only fights, auto lock-on, and quick grenade tosses.
In Starhawk, the player will work with an off-center camera. When a player spawns into a game, they'll be equipped with the Kinetic Rifle (starting with 320 bullets, and can hold up to 480,) three grenades, and a knife.
We'll start with the very basics- movement. The standard shooter uses the Left Joystick for player movement and the Right Joystick for looking around or adjusting the player's aim. The X button allows the player to jump, the Circle button to crouch, the Square button to reload the weapon currently equipped, and the Triangle button to bring out the Build and Battle menu. The R2 shoulder button has now been incorporated for the player to sprint across the map.
Looking at the control setup on paper, it doesn't seem like much of an update, but since sprint is unlimited, the regular movement speed is slightly slower compared to Warhawk's ground troops. When making ground engagements, it is crucial to know when to sprint and/or dodge, and when to fire at the enemy; sprinting will prevent the player from firing their weapon. Dodging an enemy should be done for two reasons- to disrupt the enemy's aiming abilities, and to achieve the ability to get out of fire to line up a series of shots to take him down; since auto lock-on is no longer present from Warhawk, be prepared to use horizontal movement / strafing in stuttering steps to avoid as much fire as possible. Tapping the crouch button quickly enough will allow the player to get into a safe spot with little slow down.
Get acquainted with the other weapons- the knife and the grenade. The knife is no longer tied to the weapons wheel- press the right joystick in (otherwise known as R3) to get a quick knife swipe. A guarranteed knife kill is notified through the HUD, as a notification on the bottom of the screen will state 'R3 to Knife'. The grenade throw is akin to a football throw- the grenade currently looks and feels the size of one. The character heaves the grenade a lot higher and slower compared to Warhawk, but the detonation time (once the grenade hits the ground) is roughly the same at half a second. Changing the camera angle will adjust the throwing angle, a mechanic used in most shooters. The grenade no longer has an 'explode on contact' ability, so you have to lure your enemy towards them- backpeddaling and tossing two will do the trick.
Last but not least is the Kinetic Rifle. It's currently the most used weapon in the beta, since it's the first weapon everyone sees when they spawn. The R1 button will fire all primary weapons, and since the Kinetic Rifle is an automatic rifle, it'll spend its magazine until the player decides to let go of the 'trigger.' The only infantry weapon considered to have a Zoom feature in Warhawk was the Sniper Rifle; in Starhawk, all firearms have a Zoom feature, used by holding down L1. While in 'Run &s; Gun' mode, it is best to use burst fire to retain accuracy as much as possible; when holding down L1, accuracy is highly increased.
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