PC Gamer Blog

Crysis Artificial Intelligence

2007-11-05T07:05:00.000-05:00

I've seen a bunch of mentions in previous reviews of the Crysis demo and the game in general, and I've seen it written that the AI in Crysis has issues, but that has not been my experience so far. I started off playing in Normal mode, but that proved to be a bit too easy. If a fight is too tough, run away and hide. So I cranked it up to Delta mode, and that made it a lot more realistic. The Koreans quickly came to the aid of a fallen comrade using cover and splitting up to surround me. It was the toughest battle I remember from a single-player game against the computer.

Another time I was on the beach watching one of those super deadly patrol boats offshore. I thought they had the same bad AI that all other games have, so I shot out the gunner from a distance and then forgot all about them to take on the other enemies near me on land. After I took those guys out, I turn around to start heading towards my objective again, only to find that patrol boat beached in front of me with the driver ducking behind a rock, poking out to take shots at my head! It scared the daylights out of me as it was completely unexpected from a game.

I have to admit, I have seen the drivers of those boats be pretty stupid, driving around after I shot out the gunner. I had only seen this happen when playing in Normal difficulty though. You would think that the driver wouldn't just sit there in the drivers seat, but switch to the gunner position and resume shooting at me. I'll have to test this out in Delta mode next time I play.

So far, I have to say, this game rocks! I'm honestly not looking forward to fighting aliens though later in the game. I'm always partial to human enemies. Hopefully it doesn't ruin the game.

Crysis Demo Hacked!

2007-11-02T09:26:00.000-04:00

It appears some very eager gamers with way more time on their hands than I have, have discovered "hidden" content included in the Crysis demo. I remember reading an interview with someone from Crytek and they mentioned that the demo would include the first playable level, the sandbox editor, and other surprises. I wonder if this is what they were referring to, knowing someone would tinker with it and discover the included content?

Over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun read an article about some of the hacks that have been uncovered in the demo. From enabling DirectX 10 only effects under XP and DirectX 9, discovering the full script for the entire game in the demo files, to being able to use the entire arsenal of weapons and vehicles from the full game, there appear to be all sorts of details about the full game that made its way into the demo.

If you don't mind spoilers, check out the details at Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

Also, preorder your copy of Crysis at Amazon.com today!

Crysis Goes Gold!

2007-10-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

It's official, as of October 29th, Crysis is on track to hit store shelves as scheduled on November 16th in the US.

I can't wait since I've already played through the demo level a number of times trying different tactics each time. There are so many approaches one can take through the level that the outcome is different every time. The artificial intelligence (AI) in Crysis is pretty impressive making it difficult to just run right in with guns blazing.

Want to know more? Check out the Crysis: Prima Official Game Guide

Crysis Demo First Impressions

2007-10-28T13:20:00.000-04:00

Once the kids went to bed I had a chance to spend some quality time with the Crysis demo. The computer I'm running it on is a Quad Core 2.66 Intel with a GeForce 880 GTX and 2 GB of RAM running Windows Vista Premium. So it's a fairly decent machine that I just bought in February of this year, in anticipation of this and other DirectX 10 games.

The first interaction with a game is always it's menu system. The menu system is never a reason you purchase a game, but if it's a horrible system, then it's definitely a reason to not buy one. The Crysis menu interface looked high tech and was very smooth and intuitive. Aside from having to confirm everything, it's a pretty good interface.

The game itself definitely lives up to the hype, from a graphics perspective. Initially, the game set the graphics based on my configuration to Medium settings, but I definitely didn't leave them set there and cranked most of them to Very High for starters. The game never slowed down at all. I'll check out the FPS I'm getting at a later time so I can give you hard numbers. But the game ran very well on my machine. I don't generally crank the resolution any higher than 1024 x 768 though, so that could explain why it ran so well.

The graphics are definitely the best I have seen to date in any game on any platform. Head over heals better than Half-life 2 and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. Coming over the hill onto the beach and seeing the sunrise was spectacular, more like a movie than a game. The jungle foliage, from a distance, looked very realistic and swayed in the breeze. Up close when walking through them, as you'd expect, they look a lot less than realistic and just like normal textures in most video games. Maybe my expectations were too high, but this definitely ruined the immersion a bit for me. The nice part though was that the brush and foliage would bend and move out of your way as you moved through them. A big firefight also ends up clearing a lot of the trees and brush fairly realistically. It's pretty cool to watch.

I still haven't quite made my mind up about the nanosuit yet. It's a pretty cool idea and it's implemented pretty well. I just am not so sure what it brings to the game play. The only thing I've seen so far that it adds to the game play is finding the balance between maximum armor, stealth, maximum strength, and maximum speed modes.

I love the fact that it's a fairly open ended game. You have objectives and checkpoints you have to get to, but you could decide to swim across a harbor to hopefully avoid the Korean army on land, or you can hoof it on foot and try to avoid the patrol boats and their heavy machine guns. There are many paths to your objectives, it will be fun keep trying different ones.

Overall, I did enjoy the demo immensely and will absolutely be eagerly awaiting the Crysis release on November 16th!

Leave me some comments and let me know what you thought of the demo and of the game overall.

Please support this blog and your gaming habit!
Pre-order your copy of Crysis today!

Crysis Demo downloading now...

2007-10-27T09:14:00.001-04:00

I have an automatic download manager that I use for downloading demos from Fileplanet. This morning, I turned on my computer to find the Crysis demo on it's way. All 1.77 GB worth!!! If this is just a single level and the sandbox editor, I can't imagine how big the full game will be and if it will all fit on a single DVD. We'll have to wait until November 17th to find out.

I will post my first impressions of the demo later this evening hopefully. I am watching both of my kids all night tonight so my gaming time might be a bit limited tonight. But check back tonight or tomorrow for my initial impressions.

Preorder Crysis today!

Crysis Demo pushed back until Saturday

2007-10-26T11:13:00.000-04:00

The latest news on the Crysis demo is that it will be released today at 1:00 pm (GMT+1) and will be available only to those who pre-ordered Crysis for about 24 hours using the EA Downloader. Tomorrow at around 1:00 pm (GMT+1) the demo will be made available for download across all public websites. Make sure to check it out!

Pre-order your copy of Crysis now!

Crysis Demo due out today

2007-10-26T07:02:00.000-04:00

Originally slated for release on September 25th I believe, the same day as Halo 3 was released, the single player demo for the eagerly anticipated first person shooter Crysis is due out today, according to Crytek. I've personally been eagerly awaiting this incredible looking game and can't wait to try out the Crysis demo to see if it lives up to all the hype.

The game does look like it could be a bit more difficult than the normal first person shooter, having the added abilities of modifying your weapons as well as yourself through the use of what they call the Nanosuit. It looks really sweet. I really don't know how this Nanosuit will play itself out in multiplayer battles since every player will have a nanosuit, it might be a bit like playing a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

One thing to note...there is currently a closed beta for Crysis currently in progress. There may be some more keys available but only to FilePlanet subscribers. I'm not sure how this will affect the release of the demo.

Release date set for November 16th in the US.

Pre-order your Crysis: Prima Official Game Guide now!

Long Time No Post

2007-10-24T07:25:00.000-04:00

It's been a really long time since I've posted and I apologize for that (just in case anyone is still checking out this blog). I've been keeping myself busy with my two kids and haven't been playing games as much. Here's what I have been up to when I have been gaming:

Back in March, I purchased a Playstation 3 and Call of Duty 3 and became wrapped up in playing the multiplayer games on makes like EderDam and Poisson against my brother-in-law and others. Call of Duty 3 became infested with cheaters and exploiters so I stopped playing that.

Had a brief stint playing Splinter Cell: Double Agent for a while on the PS3, but it just couldn't hold my attention to finish the game. It just wasn't an engaging enough game.

Off and on I've been playing Company of Heroes. Now this game is sweet! I've always had a bit of a tough time with real time strategy games as they can get very monotonous and difficult to manage at times. But this game rocks so far. The graphics are great (especially on my 7 month old Alienware rig complete with Geforce 8800 GTX and Quad Core 2.66 processor and DirectX 10!) and the gameplay really pulls you in. A big part of it is the dialog from the units. This is the first RTS game I've played that actually makes you care (ever so slightly) about the units. It makes them seem a bit more lifelike and gritty.

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Lock Picks

2006-04-17T07:30:00.000-04:00

**SPOILER WARNING**

I've noticed some traffic from search engines for people looking for information on where to find lock picks in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion so here's some quick information. First, join the Thieves Guild. You can do this one of two ways. First, you can read the various Wanted posters posted around the Imperial City. After reading one, ask a beggar about The Grey Fox (you'll have to make it worth his while). This will let you know about a midnight meeting in the Waterfront District where you can inquire about joining the Thieves Guild. This is by far the safest way to join. The other way you can find out about this meeting is by getting arrested and spending a night in jail. After you are released from jail you will be visited by someone (I haven't gone this route so I don't know the name) when you sleep again who will tell you about the midnight meeting.

Once you've completed the Thieves Guild trial and made it into the Guild, you can buy lockpicks for 5 gold pieces each from Armand Cristophe, the Thief you met in the garden in the Waterfront District, and from the various fences, the first you have access to which is Ongar in Bruma.

The other way of finding lock picks which is more random, is by adventuring in some ruins/dungeons as you often find lock picks as loot on the many enemies you can kill. Surprisingly, I've even found a lock pick on a Rat. Bandits almost always seem to have lock picks on them as well. Get as many as you can as they break often.

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Adventures

2006-04-11T08:19:00.000-04:00

So I've played a little bit more of the game, and I am really starting to enjoy it. I also wish that I had a more powerful machine as this game can look REALLY impressive in some areas. I have an Alienware P4 3.2 Ghz w/ 1 GB of ram and an ATI 9800 video card. Far from a slouch, but it's far from able to render this game in full detail in the outdoor areas. I'll be satisfied to play that game at 1024 x 768 with some of the details turned down so I can enjoy the absolutely huge and engrossing game world and story line.

Just this morning, I played for about 30 minutes and branched off from the main story now that Martin is safe in the Cloud Ruler Temple. I walked around the Imperial City a bit in the Elven District poking around in some shops and breaking into a few houses stealing a little bit of loot. I leveled up to level two after my battles in Oblivion and Kvatch after finding the Inn and getting some rest. Then, I bumped into a guard and he could tell I had been stealing (how?) and I had to pay a fine and hand over all my contraband.

Now realizing I have no more lock picks and wasn't doing a good job anyway, I ventured back along the path between Weynon Priory and Kvatch, which I had ridden rather than used fast travel and I had come across an old Fort that had a dungeon in it. So that's where I am now adventuring and will update you on my progress and what I find, if anything interesting.

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion First Impressions

2006-04-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

This weekend I picked up a copy of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and gave it a try. I loved how in depth and involved Morrowind was (although I never finished it or even got close to finishing it) so I thought this game would be that much and more. One of the big parts of Morrowind that I did not like was the alien environments. It was fairly cool and made you feel like you were in an alien world, but I like more believable environments so Oblivion really looked appealing to me.

So far, I've probably played only about 3 hours (having a 7 month old son I'm surprised I was able to play that much!) and once I got past the strange new console-focused interface, I love the game and the story. It really pulls you in and gives you the feeling that you are in a living and breathing world. So far, I followed the main story line bringing the Amulet of Kings to the monk at Weynon Priory and then went looking for the King's lost son, Martin, who I saved after closing the first gate to Oblivion. So far, it has been a bit difficult in some battles, but after I got the hang of dodging the fireballs and sneaking up so enemies don't see me and nailing them with a well placed arrow for 3 times the damage, I survived quite easily. I am playing a Wood Elf (as I always tend to) thief/ranger hybrid. I have healing spells and will be good with a bow, but you can't trust me or I'll rob you blind (at least that's the way I intend to play).

So far, I've stuck to the main story line, but now that Martin is safe and I'm in the Imperial City, I think I will branch off from the storyline and find my own things to do. Rather than using the fast travel option, I chose to walk/ride my way from Weynon Priory to Kvatch and found a bunch of interesting places along the way that I will definitely go back and check out. I am really excited to dig deeper into this game, but am also worried about the amount of time it's going to steal from me!
Anyway, I highly recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of Role Playing Games and/or the original Morrowind games. Purchase Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion at Amazon.com today.

Also, I highly recommend the Elder Scrolls IV Strategy Guide for this game as the world is literally huge and there will be lots of areas that you will miss without the guide.

New Games Keeping Me Busy

2006-02-24T12:09:00.000-05:00

Been a long time since my last posting. My 5 month old son, my wife, and a couple new computer games have been keeping me pretty busy lately.

A month or two ago, I started playing Swat 4. I was a big fan of all the original Police Quest games (a genre that I wish would come back properly, not with just FPS action like in this game) so I took to this game. Swat 4 is definitely enjoyable, but it really only captured my attention for a couple weeks. It became very repetitive very quickly.

I'd love to see someone remake the original Police Quest series where you live the life of a rookie cop and have to work your way up the ranks of the force. Making routine traffic stops, drug busts, etc would be great. It would combine strategy, RPG, driving, and FPS genres possibly. The game may really only work in 3rd person perspective though, but can you imagine cruising the streets of your neighborhood only to see someone run a stop sign, so you flip on the blues and take off after them. For this to work, it couldn't be scripted like the original games were.

This is the police game that I have been waiting for since the original Police Quest series was completely f'd up with the first Swat full motion video game. I just don't think there are enough gutsy development houses out there that would be willing to try something new.

Tell me what you think. What game have you wished forever that someone would make?

King's Quest is back...

2005-12-29T09:04:00.000-05:00

For all those retro gamers out there like me whole long for the old days of computer games when companies like Sierra and Infocom ruled the industry, check out this fan-based, and extremely well done so far, sequel to the King's Quest franchise. They were initially shutdown by Vivendi for copyright infringement, but after negotiations, and a slight name change, they agreed to allow the project to continue. So far, it looks really sweet.

New Games on the Horizon

2005-11-03T09:14:00.000-05:00

I figured I'd start to shift away from only discussing the game Battlefield 2, as my play time has been greatly diminished. I'm going to begin discussing more about games and gaming in general. Namely, new game releases and general gaming news that interests me and my readers. So be sure to let me know in the comments what you like and don't like and want to see more or less of.

For now, here's a link to a Civilization IV review from Gamespot, which I'm mulling over as my next game purchase. Not quite sure I'll enjoy it though. What do you think of the Civ series, and strategy games in general?

And for those of you who have already purchased the game, check out Civilization IV Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames))

Battlefield 2 1.03 patch has been released!

2005-10-05T09:51:00.000-04:00

EA has FINALLY released the 1.03 patch for Battlefield 2. This patch has been greatly anticipated after it was initially promised by the end of August. One month late, let's hope the wait was worth it. Here is a small list of some of the bug fixes/new features in this patch:

- Wake Island Map

Included a remade version of this popular BF1942 map.
Battlefield 2 version includes a 64 player layout and is
configured for multiplayer only.

- Nickname Prefix

You can add a 6-character prefix (such as a clan tag) to your
account nickname which will be displayed in-game next to your
nametag in the score menu, in game messages, and above your player
in the game world.

- Commanders no longer accrue a TK when artillery hits teammates.
- Only 1 player in a vehicle will get credit for or speed up capturing a flag at a CP. The other passengers must exit the vehicle to increase the speed of capture or receive capture score. (Shame, no more apache whoring)
- Auto team balance no longer moves players to the other team if they are a team commander or a squad leader.
- You now receive 1 support point for destroying an enemy commander's artillery, UAV or Radar station.
- Fixed physics of vehicles against soldiers so that soldiers are not killed so easily by moving vehicles.
- Fixed an issue allowing color changes in player name text.

Plus much more. Check it out and download the Battlefield 2 patch 1.03

Big News!

2005-09-30T08:15:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since my last post, and I apologize for that. But I've been a bit preoccupied. My wife and I just gave birth, two weeks ago today, to our first son, Alexander. I originally wanted to keep this blog and my personal life separate, but I can't contain this news and wanted to explain my absence.

I hope to start posting again soon. But as I'm sure most of you who have young kids probably know, my free time has diminished significantly.

Hardcore Gamer Survey

2005-08-25T07:05:00.000-04:00

A recent visitor to my site has a request of us hardcore gamers. He's a graduate student, who also happens to be a hardcore gamer himself, and wants to collect some information about us. It's a really quick survey and won't take more than 5 minutes to complete. Please take a minute to check it out and help out a fellow gamer.

*UPDATE 2-1-06* The survey was for a limited time. Thank you to those who participated. Please stick around and read some of my other postings and let me know your opinions.

Battlefield 2 Stats Site Tutorial

2005-08-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't actively posted anything new in a week or so. Things have been getting pretty hectic lately. I'm going to be a father some time in the next four and a half weeks! I hope to post new topics at least once a week going forward. In the meantime, check out this weeks:

Ever wanted to host your own Battlefield 2 stats site? Or just had questions about how those sites do it? Check out this tutorial on TotalBF2.com. DISCLAIMER: I haven't read it myself, so I make no claims about it. Take a look, it looks pretty thorough.

Battlefield 2 Stats down again

2005-08-05T17:45:00.000-04:00

Sadly, it seems my favorite stats site, bf2s.com, has been temporarily disconnected from EA stats servers. Read more information about the battlefield 2 stats shutdown. It seems that all stats sites have been disallowed access as well, not just this one. For now, stats will still be available, but they are only up to date from some time yesterday.

I'm not sure why, when confronted with the first major performance problems caused by stat sites, EA continued to allow some sites to have access. They should have just fixed the problem once and for all instead of continuously allowing access, then taking it away. It really seems like an oversight to me on EA's part to not be prepared for the onslaught of stats sites, or just create their own. It obviously wouldn't have taken that much more time seeing as how a bunch of these stats sites have popped up a few weeks after the game was released.

Anyway, it sounds like bf2s.com might be back in the next two weeks. Lets hope so. It's a great site. Jeff has done a great job with the site and I hope he is able to keep it going. And, he's recently taken on the additional site load of hosting the UBAR site with Award and Ribbon details, which I mentioned in another post. Keep up the great work Jeff!

Battlefield 2 special ops tip

2005-08-05T08:32:00.000-04:00

Here's a little tip I read in the forums on TotalBF2.com and it works pretty well. Playing as a special-ops, you can hide your C4 so the enemy can not see it at all. It's pretty sneaky, and some people may call it an exploit, but all's fair in love and war, I say! If you plant a C4 right on the cement base of the flag itself, the C4 will stick to it for a second, and then disappear inside it. Sneaky, yes. Exploiting a glitch in the game, yes. Cheating, no.

Here's an example of a time I used this tactic that turned out pretty funny. On the Sharqi Peninsula map, playing on the USMC team, I planted C4 on the base of the flag at the TV Station, hoping to defend against any flag takers who snuck past our front lines. I then advanced to the set of buildings on the street adjacent to the construction site and climbed the roof to survey the whole battlefield and watch for any of the enemy who made it through our lines. Behind me, I hear the sound of a chopper, so I turned around to see the enemy Hind hovering near the flag attempting to take it. I thought to myself, there's no way that C4 planted in the base of the flag would take out a chopper hovering above it. The chopper dropped in a little closer to the balcony, and BOOM! The C4 did it's job, taking out the chopper and it's two passengers. I have to say, that was really sweet, especially considering the view I had of it as well. Much more gratifying than just flipping the switch and not getting to see what happened.

Favorite Battlefield 2 Map

2005-08-02T07:40:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my newest subscribers. I'm astounded as to how much this blog has taken off in the past 2 weeks alone. I've gone from 1 Bloglines subscriber to 244 in the matter of a week! I'm glad you like what I write about, all I ask is that you leave more comments on the posts, good or bad. I welcome the feedback. So, today's post is about your favorite Battlefield 2 map and why it's your favorite. For me, it's a toss up between two. I love both Sharqi Peninsula and Battle of Karkand. I know, who doesn't love Karkand. When I'm in the mood for house to house, street to street urban warfare, that's the map I chose. I'd have to say it's the best urban combat map I've ever played, and I've played many.

If I were to have to chose between the two, I'd have to go with Sharqi Peninsula though. I can't exactly put my finger on why I love this map so much, but I do. It has a lot of different elements together in one map. There's always a few heated battles going on at once as the control points are all set up like miniature battlezones rather than part of a larger map. The hilltop CP and the TV Station are always the most heated and contested in my experience.

What is your favorite Battlefield 2 map and why? Tell us about some of your best battles/experiences on that map.

Mastering Battlefield 2

2005-08-02T07:19:00.000-04:00

A friend passed along an article from SomethingAwful.com about what it takes to master Battlefield 2. This is absolutely a must read for any Battlefield 2, both noob and 733t alike.

Mastering Battlefield 2

Battlefield 2 Bunny Hopping

2005-07-27T07:19:00.000-04:00

Some people swear by it, others hate it. Personally, I'll do whatever I can to avoid enemy fire. But, the one thing I don't do at all, is try to fire back while bunny hopping. I think that is the crucial point. So many people hop around like idiots while continueing to fire at you. This is the main point people are upset about. First of all, lets not even begin to discuss how, with full battle gear and carrying all those weapons, a person can jump 5 feet high. I know the game is not meant to be a super realistic simulation. But, why does the person's accuracy not seem to go out of whack while jumping madly around you? I always seem to get killed by these bunny-hopping idiots. I consider this the same as an exploit much like those stat whores we all know and love. Personally, I still love the game and am able to deal with these weenies. I just wanted to see if I could get a discussion going. What does everyone else think?

And, oh yeah. Don't forget to order your copy of the Battlefield 2 Strategy Guide. It's a really useful reference.

Battlefield 2 1.03 Patch Announced

2005-07-25T07:35:00.000-04:00

EA UK announced in their forums on Friday, that the 1.03 patch for Battlefield 2 is currently in the works. They are targeting the end of August for release of the Battlefield 2 1.03 patch. Here is an except from the posting describing some of the "improvements" they are making. For example, one of the more controversial changes, is adding points for the Special Ops class for destroying enemy artillery, radar, and UAV installations. Some people, namely Special Ops players, think this is a great thing and a long overdue change. Others think it will just lead to that many more people playing an already way over-played class. Personally, I say, just play the game and enjoy it. If you don't like playing with so many Special Ops players, then find another server. Or, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

Server and Client performance improvements
Improved Server Browser - added Favorites and History Lists.
Point-farming prevention - game will stop Support/Medic/Engineer point farming exploits.
Squads - locked squad leader will get a message if someone wants to join.
Many HUD improvements - see the names of others in your vehicle, zoom level changing depending on vehicle, map zoom depending on map setup (16, 32 or 64 player map) etc.
Teamkilling changes - the logic of how teamkills are tracked will be changed.
Gameplay tweaks - the way transport helicopters work will be tweaked.
Additional scoring changes - players who destroy an enemy commander's assets will be given points.

See the full Battlefield 2 1.03 patch announcement here.

Battlefield 2 Commander Tips

2005-07-22T07:30:00.000-04:00

Here are some tips and tricks for being a Battlefield 2 Commander that I've accumulated from other sites as well as from what I've learned myself for about 3 in game hours. I'm not an expert, just making some tips and suggestions for those having difficulty.

Persuade as many players as possible to form squads, preferably with at least 2-3 players per squad, no smaller (except possibly sniper + SpecOps squads)

I'd recommend playing as an Engineer and find a good hiding spot nearby your teams artillery, radar and UAV trailer installations so you can repair them yourself rather than wasting a supply crate.

Use VOIP! I can't stress this enough. It's much easier to give voice commands to all squads at once than using the in game command interface (but use them in conjunction if possible.

Commend your squads that obey your orders, or ones that are performing well.

Scan the map prior to deploying the UAV. Make sure there are enemy's where you are planning on deploying the UAV. Don't waste it.

Don't send your squads running all over the map. Send them to the nearest objective they can handle.

After a successful, heated battle for a flag, drop a supply crate for your squads to resupply and heal. Don't wait for them to ask for one!

I thought this one would go without saying, but in the past few games I've played, I guess not. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to be on the front lines and play the commander role. You will suck at both. Play one or the other. Period.

Do not drop artillery, under any circumstances, in the close proximity of your squads, unless they explicitly ask for it.

Don't waste artillery on snipers. Just point them out on the map to your squads, or order a smaller squad to their position to take them out.

When attempting to take a heavily fortified control point, try to have two squads come from multiple directions. Don't just direct them head on, they will usually lose.

Communicate, communicate, communicate!

Cheap, but sometimes effective trick: if no one on your team is in need of a resupply, you can order an artillery strike in the center of a populated enemy control point, then drop a supply crate immediately. Most of the time, the enemy will all jump on the supply crate right away, resulting in a number of artillery kills.