SOCOM HQ

[CIGARMAN1]

I'd first like to thank Zipper and the other 17 CD participants for a great time.  One fo the best parts of the trip if not THE best part was meeting some guys I've been playing Socom with for a while and building some camaraderie.  I can't say enough to this point.  If you're in a long-time clan, you should definitely plan some type of face to face get together because that part was truly a blast!

Now, onto Socom 4.  The other 18 have made lists and I would like to say that I stand behind VanilaGorila's thread, pretty much verbatum.  So, I'm going to give some thoughts on what I was thinking and what I'm thinking now, after some time to digest everything I saw.

The very first thing that jumped out at me was the SP demo that Travis Steiner took us through.  He played through a level that hadn't been previously seen before and one that had some pretty dynamic stealth built in.  You remember sneaking around the early Socoms and listening to enemies conversing to pick up intel and whatnot?  That's what was at play here.  I remember vividly the part where OpsCom bellied up a hill, when he crested it, you were looking down on an enemy base, absolutely gorgeous.  You can tell where the polish went for the past few months, that's certain.  I came away from the event somehow more anxious to play the SP, while before my trip, I wasn't sure it was for me.  Now, I can't wait.

Folks had previously stated that MP couldn't differ from SP.  Well, they were wrong.  Classic MP is a drastic departure from the SP campaign, when you figure that Classic features no blood splatter, no health regen, a health bar, a centered view, loss of airstrikes, etc. 

Classic MP was a blast to play and wait until you get to see Abandoned in it's HD glory, they did a phenomenal job there.  As far as Classic goes, the input I personally gave was the following:

- The camera needs to be backed off and lifted a hair.  There was also a bug that while in crouch mode, the camera would have collision issues and send the camera to your back and head, blocking out 75% of the screen.  Zipper was already aware of this issue and is fixing it, so hopefully it's resolved by the time the beta hits.

- I pointed out that demolition needed to be added in the feedback session.  This is obviously a must as everyone of the 18 pointed out. 

- I was miffed, after noticing that there was no d-pad lean in S4, that the d-pad buttons were open.  Zipper, this is a no brainer.  Seth, you should've known, after having to patch in d-pad lean to Confrontation, that it is wanted.  Zipper, for God's sake, install it before release. 

- PTT on d-pad up?  Please put it on circle so we don't have to stop moving to talk to our teammates.  Also, thank you for PTT!!  I was a big advocate of this.  Also, proxy chat is returning, which is nice.

- E-tags.  Anything but the e-tags.  Any other combo is better than that.  Hurts the strategy of the game, imo.  Please remove if possible.  I don't care if you put guns-hot back in or not, just no e-tag.  it was a good thought for a replacement of guns-hot and eliminating camping but there's too much downside.

If the above points are taken care of, and we get one or 2 more classic modes, S4's Classic mode will give the long time players an addictive experience that should last many months.

Some positives, random thoughts and this and that:

- Hit detection was absolutely perfect.  No issues of hitting railings, window sills or any of that crap.  If you wanted to shoot through a car you can knock the windows out and fit bulletts through the spaces with ease.

- I like the idea of leveling up to get mods added to your weapons like MAG.  This was a very addictive quality that MAG had for me and I think it's a great addition to Socom 4.  I always wanted 3 attachments for my AR and now I can finally slap the ACOG, suppressor and grip on my AR.

- The overall speed of the game is faster than Conf now, they just need to speed up strafe movements and we'll be there.  Fwiw, this is something that I have no doubt will be changed by the time we get into the beta.

- Thank God I can pick nades up again. 

- I brought up the crosshair question and requested that they at least put a dot in the middle of the reticle, like the Move reticle has.  We'll see.  They're kind of happy with their crosshairs but I think they leave something to be desired.

- 2 out of the 4 maps I played were super.  Collision and Abandoned.  I can't get a beat on them if they're symmetrical or not because I just didn't have enough time to explore and see how they play. 

- The way they explained it, the clan match system is brilliant.  Cant wait for this.

- No pistols?  really?  The dual primaries does grow on you as you play but at least get us the Model 18 and D.E. please.

- I also wanted to speak on the nades.  They are accurate to a fault.  As you know they removed the arch.  I learned a trick though while playing and had no problems launching nades from there on out.  The key is that your nade will "land" where your reticle is aimed.  So, if I wanted to throw a nade through a window or tight spot, I just imagined where the floor of that room was, put the reticle there, let go of the nade and it would fly right through the window.  if you put your reticle on the window itself, the nade would always hit the top of the window frame.  They are dead on from side to side and can be thrown from the sides of cover with perfect accuracy.  if they brought back the arch, I wouldn't mind either way.  After figuring it out, I'd rather just have them keep the arch out.  As I think it's now more skill based to throw the nades.

- The Cover System.  To me, it's almost a Socom-style cover system.  What I mean is it's almost an enhancement for camping areas.  It's very easy to get in/out of cover from and I like the fact that you have to be real close to a wall or vehicle before you can activate it.  Also, the nade throwing from cover is spot-on.  Imo, they did a nice job with it. 

- Another thing that's an improvement is the xp system.  It's an objective based system meaning if you kill an enemy within proximity of an objective or while defending a teammate who's completing an objective, you will get 2 or 4x the xp amount.  15xp for a kill, 60 xp for a kill that helps with the objectives.  Nice to be rewarded fro objectives and not just kills for a change.

Overall, the Classic Mode has a very very solid foundation to it.  It does have a Socom feel and reminds me of Socom 1 in so many ways.  From the leaderboards to the gun play.  They are not far away from making Classic mode into classic Socom.  If they just make those 5 popular suggestions into reality, we'll have a hell of a game.  Also, the respawn versions and modes reminded me alot of MAG for obvious reasons.  But please don't mistake this game for MAG, it isn't.  Imo, Zipper didn't do itself any favors by showing trailers with a free-floating cam with the same lettering prose that they used on MAG vids.  You'll see when you get your hands on the beta. 

Zipper, thanks again for the oppurtunity.  I implore you to make the suggestions and feedback that we gave into reality.  Afterall, you didn't spend all of that money to bring us out there for just our benefit.  Make the game better, you're almost there.

[born2destroy]

Thanks so much for your review/ opinion some good answers to our questions there. Hope you enjoyed yourself and thanks for taking you time to post this

[Ruption_-]

Thanks for the review fella , much appreciated. Sounds good and will be great if they listen and respond to those changes, as after reading a few reviews there is deffinately small changes that need to be made. But im glad to see it at minor changes and tweaking stage just before the Beta. Cant wait to play Abandoned! ha

[P-Siddy]

Hi there, Good review.

After reading so many people being pessimistic about the game yu have cleared up any doubt in my mind that this is still going to be a great game and still has the possibilities to be an awesome game.

One thing i do want to ask tho. About all these minor tweaks that you and the other 17 have put forward. did they say they would keep in touch with you guys for progress at all? or say whether they will make official announcements saying we have changed this due to what the 18 that visited said.

Because it'd be a real gutter if on beta/release day all them minor improvements still aren't there.

[Lewis87_Ni]

I have just looked at ur post and I can tell you that you have made things a lot clearer for me and I thank you,I have been so worried that the socom feel is all but over , but you have given me hope with great info of the classic mp, and the things you picked up on that need to be put back into classic mode couldn't be more right,

its good to know that someone else cares for socom as much as me.

see u on s4.(classic mode )

[SlickShoes]

I just wish they had lobbies, even in classic mode only. Lobbies are a must or the community dies, the amount of friends i made in SOCOM 1 and 2 lobbies far outwieghs what i have made on any other game, even MMOs.

Without lobbies i will play with a small group of friends or alone and probably never see the same people more than once.

Also we cant make any of the classic rooms such as >X< Elite MOTD rooms where we watch match of the day and have some banter.

Lobbies were the main thing i wanted and they are missing, i will probably buy the game but i doubt it will have the same longevity socom 1 and 2 had.

[I_SCAR_I]

I've read and heard quite a few reviews and opinions of the 18 who were lucky enough to go to Zipper and not one of them has come away really pleased or happy with what they saw and played at the community day. They've thanked Zipper for their hospitality and say they had a great time meeting their fellow SOCOMers, but when they start talking about the game, it's all a little flat.

These guys have been playing SOCOM for close to a decade, they've been flown Zipper, they've met some of the faces behind the game an no doubt come back with a little swag too. Yet their reviews are still mediocre. That speaks volumes to me.

They've basically come away saying that the SOCOM feeling is kinda there in classic mode, but, X, Y and Z need fixing.

Well it's highly unlikely they're going to make any drastic changes to the game before launch. The game is going to launch in pretty much the state the beta launches in and anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. They may take player feedback into consideration and implement some of the smaller changes requested by the community at a later date, but we're talking atleast 6 months and that's if everything else goes smoothly with the launch.

And even if some of these things requested are implemented. Grenade arc, PTT button moved etc. We're still a million miles away from the SOCOM we know and love.

I don't write this for negativities sake. I write this because it is the truth and us "vets" need to acknowledge that this game isn't SOCOM and stop kidding ourselves that we can salvage any sort of SOCOM from this monstrosity. It will save both ourselves, Yaster and Shijima a lot of headache. This game is for the COD kids. Let it be.

[ShaDeX]

I totally agree with scar. Changes need to be made in the classic mode to ensure that it still feels classic.

[I_SCAR_I]

---

ShaDeX wrote:

I totally agree with scar. Changes need to be made in the classic mode to ensure that it still feels classic.

---

You're either winding me up or you missed the point of my reply.

You should accept the game as it is now and acknowledge that this isn't SOCOM and that your feedback isn't going to be taken seriously.

Or, you can continue to post glaringly obvious oversights in the traditions of SOCOM and have them ignored. It's up to you.

[SlickShoes]

---

I_SCAR_I wrote:

---

ShaDeX wrote:

I totally agree with scar. Changes need to be made in the classic mode to ensure that it still feels classic.

---

You're either winding me up or you missed the point of my reply.

You should accept the game as it is now and acknowledge that this isn't SOCOM and that your feedback isn't going to be taken seriously.

Or, you can continue to post glaringly obvious oversights in the traditions of SOCOM and have them ignored. It's up to you.

---

Aye OK i'm with you.

So scar are you getting this SPECIAL FORCES game thats out soon? I heard its like a cross between MAG/SOCOM and Full Spectrum Warrior!

I kind of wish they had just killed the franchise off after SOCOM 3/CA then they could realease this as a new franchise and SOCOM fans would wet themselves and buy it because its remotely like SOCOM and COD noobs would buy it because its called SPECIAL FORCES and has respawn.