Mar 5, 2010 4:50 PM (Last edited by r_e_v on Nov 12, 2011 4:55 PM)
SOCOM: A Competitive Player's View
MAPS/ENVIRONMENTS
-Breaching/Opening Breaches = ( Death Trap - all fence breaches could opened from the inside and C4'd from the outside)
-Design
MUSIC/SOUNDTRACK
Zipper has chosen without a doubt the best way possible to handle their music in previous games. SOCOM is known for bringing a tear to your eye when hearing those memorable harmonies, sending chills down your spine and giving you a feeling you'll never experience in any other video game. The epic sensation that flows through your body when catching the pulsing, yet soothing, symphony is truly an undescribable feeling that we really can't explain, it's just that good! All they have to do is continue this same process and we'll have back a hell of a soundtrack.
So, how exactly did Zipper touch our inner souls time after time? Simple, seek out the best of the best, with expertise in the field. The following videos will show you exactly what we mean:
The Making of Socom's Muisic:
Zipper knew what they wanted, they set out a guideline, and they seeked out the best to give us something we'll never forget.
From what we've heard of Socom 4's theme music ( from the trailer ), it sounds as if they've done a GREAT job once again. I guess it's a sigh of releif after hearing a "Tribe Man" beat a drum for Confrontation's soundtrack.
WEAPONS/FIRING/AIMING/ETC
Finally, we arrive to the aspect of Socom that has changed up since the beginning of the series, sadly, for the worse, weapons. When we were first introduced to Socom 1, we had simple, balanced weapons, that were for the most part accurate. A bullet followed the exact path your crosshair lay upon, it was beautiful, almost like magic. Then along came Socom 2, the hit detection was seen as the "worst" of the series, it wasn't as perfect as Socom 1, nevertheless we enjoyed it very much. Then along came Socom 3 aka a casual gamer's paradise.
One thing we as a Socom community have always enjoyed about this game, was the constant struggle to become better. In Socom 1 and 2, you always felt as if your skill could improve, that your gun game could use work or practice. When Socom 3 hit, it was an obvious change, the learning curve had decreased down to that of the casual gamer, instead of staying true to the old "feel" of aiming and shooting your weapon.
The following are a mixture of issues having to do with multiple aspects of the weapon relm:
-Recoil ( Socom 3 and Confrontation really reduced recoil and therefore made the game easier, we think SOCOM should be skill)
-Crosshair Bounce ( somewhat related to recoil, but, Socom 1 and 2's crosshairs we're superb, the bounce needs to come back)
-Magnetic Headshots ( Zipper never had a problem with this, but don't make every other bullet a headshot (cough* slant 6) )
-Magnetic Bullets/Rails ( Again, Zipper never had a problem with this, but don't pull a Confrontation on us )
-Run/Shoot ( This is Socom, not real life, we'd like for the most part, to shoot somewhat accurate while running/strafing)
-Grenades ( Socom 1 got it perfect, hands down. from the throwing, to the meter, power, and amount of grenades allowed )
-Sniping ( This could go into deep deep detail, but to simplify = Take Socom 2's sniping system and upscale it for 2010 )
-Armor (Big NO NO. The playing field should be equal for everyone. If you include armor, make it for show and that's it )
-Perks ( This is not Call of Duty, while we understand the game needs to evolve in some ways, this should be left out )
-Knives ( Some hate them, Some love them, honestly we don't like them, but if you must include them, don't overpower them )
-Encumbrance ( Don't make this too realistic, that's all we ask, since we know it's going to be in the game )
-PMN Mines ( Regardless of how annoying these things can get, we miss them, Confrontation left them out, Zipper didn't )
-Gun Spray ( keep it to a minimum, we'd really like to see a Socom 1/2 syle system used here )
-Fire Rate ( We feel that with fire rate being reduced on most guns to simulate Socom 1 and 2's style, spray will reduce as well )
-Scopes ( Thermal scopes are fine, just don't overpower their power in terms of viewing distance, Socom 2 and 3 nailed it )
-Handguns ( All of Zipper's Socoms had great handguns and applied a good system to go along with it, keep it that way :P )
-Guns ( We like all of the classic weapons from past games, lots were missed in Confrontation! )
-Claymores ( Ideal in earlier iterations, but in Confrontation they rarely worked and detonator was a hassle to pull out )
-RPGS/M203s ( If you're going to include them, reduce their power and accuracy greatly from past games, no one likes um )
To sum everything up, weapons need BALANCE. Ensure the user that one side isn't overpowered with the better weapons, or even for that matter, that one weapon that's always going to be used due to it's ease to kill with. We'd like weapons to take skill to use, but at the same time are accurate when we've got our crosshairs on an enemies *******.
Gives us the goods Zipper...
GDC GAMEPLAY FEEDBACK
We understand the footage seen in the GDC videos are in the Pre-Alpha stages and also solely a demo from the Single Player, but, we'd like to strongly suggest and leave feedback from what we've seen gameplay wise. We'll be telling you guys what we liked, didn't like, and what we feel should not carry over into Multiplayer.
-First Person Secondary View
We've all made it clear we prefer the first person view for our secondary zoom over the OTS view. We see in the gameplay that sadly it's an OTS view. We're hoping this is solely a single player option and that we'll be able to use the beloved FPS secondary in the Multiplayer aspect ( or even optional for single player ).
Here is an example of why we find it more enjoyable and superior:
YES!
YES!
NO!
NO!
-3rd Person Perspective View
SOCOM 4
SOCOM 2
Again, here, we see the SOCOM 4 view being pushed up, closer to the body. It's more enjoyable being able to see the full body, not cut-off halfway. It'd be really nice to have this fixed, unless it was pushed up simply for the motion control demo. It's simply a turn-off, like mentioned earlier, to see our original 3rd person view "tortured".
-Cover System
We're not going to lie to you Zipper, just about every Loyal Socom Fan you've ever had just lost a lot of faith in this game. While we understand this is just single player, this cover system, if implemented in MP, could and more than likely will be the doom of Socom. It really seems like the core gameplay is becoming more "casual" and less like SOCOM. This element just seems to put us in a state where it's going to completely alter the feel we used to love from Socom 1, 2 and even 3. We're asking please not to implement this into MP.
-Visuals
For pre-alpha visuals are looking pretty good. We're not really worried about this aspect, as we know the graphics are going to be decent enough for us, because we're more for the actual gameplay!
-Movement Speed/Running
Like we've been preaching and preaching, and praying and praying, SPEED IT UP! Ever since Confrontation was released we've had to deal with slow/sluggish gameplay. With Zipper we are really hoping you guys can return to another element that made your Socom games so fun!
Take a look at your iterations of Socom Zipper, and realize that we really do prefer fast movements over the slow, sluggish tactical approach that you seem to be putting more "care" into:
WE LIKE THIS
WE DON'T WANT THIS
-Reloading
No complaints here, reload looks to be nice and speedy, which is a GOOD thing!
-Sprint
*Sigh*, well, looks like it's back and that's not good. Ultimately, the whole commnunity wants it gone. This is all i'm going to say on the matter, please consider taking this out ( and speeding up character movements in the non-sprint mode!)
-Firing
We're hoping that recoil animation was just a pre-alpa "thing", because the "slow-motion-like" firing in the "Zoom" with sloppy recoil just really scares us. To be honest, it seems like a single player only type fire-mode, so hopefully, again, this won't be in the final version, or multiplayer for that matter.
-Motion Controller
This has been confirmed optional, so no complaints here, as most of your hardcore fans here will use the Dualshock ( no offense )
SUMMARY
Alright Zipper, this is how we feel, we're being brutally honest, and we're not trying to put you down as a company, we're simply giving you feedback and we're sure you understand this.
What made Socom so great was it's unique style of gameplay that captivated us. Now, it seems like your drifting further and further away from that forumula and applying all the elements that have made other "shooter" games popluar in the recent years, and it's simply tearing the series apart and only brings it to a less unique feel, a normal generic shooter.
We are your loyal fans, who have given you 100% support, and it seems that the further down the road we go, the further Zipper pushes away from us, and Casual gamers, who are looking for a cool game to play, are the ones your aiding "MORE" to.
We know you want to expand the series to new people, but why take away elements that your loyal fans love from the series. Those casual gamers are going to play the game until the next good shooter comes out, while we wait, and wait,and wait for Zipper to give us what we've been wanting for so long, a great Socom game that implements a core feel, while still evolving a bit to please casuals, not evolve MORE to the casuals.
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