Movement & Stunts

If you've played Half-Life, the basic movement keys of TS will be very familiar to you. As usual, all keys are fully customisable and can be changed to your needs. However, you will require the usage of some extra controls that you may not be used to in order to fully enjoy the game.

Performing stunts in The Specialists is very important, both from a style and score perspective(but more about that later). Luckily for those new to TS, the movement system is also very intuitive, and much easier to use than it is to explain. Therefore the best way to learn it is to do it. However, for those who want a more in-depth look at the moves available to you, read on.

The various stunts that can be performed are all dependent on the gauge to the left of your crosshair. You will notice that when you move the mouse up and down, the dot in the gauge will move up and down as well, depending on where you look. The position of this dot when you perform a move dictates the kind of stunt you can do. Because the gauge is split into 3 categories, we will call them high, medium and low moves. Sounds complicated? In a way it is, but all of the following soon becomes second nature.

The main stunts fall into these categories:

Flips

These are performed by tapping the jump key twice in quick succession. They will cause the player jump forward or sideways(depending on the direction of movement) and perform a flip in mid air.

High: Full flip, lands on feet.

Medium: Forward jumping flip, lands on back.

Low: Short flip, lands on back and slides forward.

The player can also do a standing backflip by remaining stationary and double tapping jump, this flip can be used to disarm nearby opponents and also causes enemies damage. After performing one of the moves which results in you laying on the floor, press jump or the stunt key to get up again. You can also perform a backflip by moving backwards and double-tapping Jump, this is only available if you have 60 or more slots free.

Dives

A dive is performed by pressing the stunt key. Pressing the key once will launch the player forwards, sideways or backwards, depending on which way you are moving. The player will then land on the ground and stay prone until either jump or the stunt button is pressed again, at which point the player will rise to their feet. If the stunt button is held down when the player hits the ground after a dive, a forward roll will be performed and the player will rise straight to their feet, allowing much more freedom of movement.

High: Long dive capable of clearing obstacles.

Medium: Straight forward dive.

Low: Short dive which causes the player to slide along the ground.

Rolls

Rolls are mainly used as an evasive maneuver, they can be performed by Double Tapping the duck key, when you do this you will roll in the direction you are currently moving. As previously mentioned, after a dive a roll may also be performed by holding the stunt key as you hit floor. Rolls can be performed regardless of free slots.

Climbing

You can climb up most walls for a short distance and even move along them. To do this stand next to a wall and double tap jump key you will pull yourself a short distance up the wall, holding down jump will cause you do do this again. If you have 60 or more slots free, this move can be performed three times in succession. If you have less slots free, the maximum number of climbs is two. To climb an object successfully you must be looking at the object with your crosshair. If the object is lower in your field of view than the crosshair then you will perform a flip instead of climbing

Other Moves

Bullet Dodge

When stationary, in either Slow Motion or Slow Pause, tapping the stunt key will make you perform a bullet dodging move. A very useful move, however, you cannot fire while performing it and after doing so you will be on lying prone on the floor.

Wallflip

It is possible to perform wallflips simply by running into a wall and pressing the stunt key, your character will run up the wall and flip backwards off it, as well as looking very stylish, this can be a useful escape move.

Weight and Slots

Weight is a very important part of The Specialists. As it determines a large part of how you can play the game. Those who enjoy carrying vast amounts of firepower around with them will be very limited in the number of stunts that they can perform and the speed at which they can move. Whereas armed with only knives or a pistol will been able to move very quickly and perform more stunts.

When you join a game, will be given to you a random configuration that occupies some slots. If all weapons are removed from your configuration (press 4), you will have 81 free slots. From this weight and down to 60 slots, you can perform all available moves. When you have weaponry that reduces you to under 60 slots, you can only perform moves in the medium and low category only. If you have less than 40 slots available, only low moves can be performed. If you want to know the kind of stunts that are available to you with your current configuration, just glance at the stunt gauge for the answer. You will notice that it will be either all white, or portions of it will be shaded red, to indicate in which area stunts are unavailable.

As an example; a typical pistol will take up between 10 & 15 slots, an SMG between 15 & 30, an assault rifle between 35 & 40 and a shotgun will start at 40. As you can see, an effective combination of weapons is very important, some prefer being lightly armed, some heavily, others; a mixture. The best way is to experiment and find which method of playing suits you best.