Socom 4 Controversial Features

I just want to comment on some of the features that have the community buzzing.

PTT: Is in Classic Mode.  Right now it is UP on the D-pad.  That is terrible because you must remove your thumb from the left analog stick, so effectively you cant move and talk at the same time.  It needs to be remapped to Circle, since circle is not used in classic mode.  This seems like an easy fix and I hope zipper listens to this because it will destroy communication otherwise.

Dual Primaries:  It wasnt a problem when we played because most people used the assault rifles.  The only time I see it being a problem is when snipers have an assault rifle as a secondary.  It sucks when you sneak up on a sniper only to have them switch to an assault rifle and kill you.  I will say that I tried to snipe about 6 rounds and I didnt get a kill with it, so I dont see a lot of people choosing to be snipers.  Also the assault rifles with scopes are very deadly, so a sniper would only be effective on a very large map.  I dont remember there being any scope wobble though.

No UCRR:  There will be User Suggested rooms that zipper will add.  This is fine with me.  I like playing the game with all the weapons and maps the way they are meant to be.  But with these we will be able to add some rooms, like "no boom" or maybe a certain list of maps.  But I like that there is a standard game that everyone will play instead of every room being different. I wont miss UCRR.


No Lobby System:  I would like there to be lobbies for unranked rooms.  I dont need them for ranked rooms because the match making works well and you can join a friends rooms, or invite them to your room.  But if you create an unranked room the only people who can join are people on your friends list.  There is no other way to find it.  But again I dont see myself ever playing an unranked game.  I like the standard setup, and dont want to modify a game much, if at all.


Enemy Tags at 2 mintues:  First off let me say that there was 5 or 6 minutes before the 2 minute warning, and all but one round we played was over before the two minutes.  I preferred the gun hot, but I wouldn't mind this feature if instead of showing the enemy name the entire time, I would like it to just show for 2 seconds every 10 seconds.  Another possibility (maybe the best and easiest) is if a red dot just showed up on the radar showing the enemy position. That way once you get to them and you are in a fire fight, you wont know exactly where they are unless you overt your eyes to the radar, which I know I would never do if I was in a fire fight.

Grenade Arc:  It seems as though they could put it in, but chose not to.  I would like to see it, at least in classic mode.  You could still get grenade kills, I had plenty.  But you had to throw the nade at the ground next to the enemy or at a wall behind the enemy.  It was extremely difficult to toss a nade over an object accurately or through a window.  I had far more team kills than I usually do, and suicides.

Camera:  This is the number one concern for me.  Its not unplayable, but it takes some of the enjoyment out of the game.  The camera is far too tight up against the character.  It feels claustrophobic and you loose where you are sometimes.  I am not looking for it to be pulled back to "classic view," but if they made it like Confrontation I would be EXTREMELY happy.  Also the ability to switch shoulders in OTS zoomed view would be a nice addition. 

Demo/Classic Modes:  Suppression IS NOT the staple of Socom.  Demolition is.  And I really hope it returns, at least in DLC.  Other classic modes would be cool too, but demo is a must and a priority.

Teamate Names:  Your teammate's names/diamonds, need to be closer to their head and always showing.  Sometimes is seemed like their names would not pop up until they were closer to the center of your view. This resulted in me shooting a few bullets into a lot of my teammates.  Also since they were so high above the heads it was sometimes hard to tell if it was over your teammate's or the enemies head.  Also I want to suggest that the clan tags do not show up over the heads, only the PSN name, just to reduce clutter.


Most Urgent Fixes in Order of Priority:
1.) Move back camera
2.) PTT remapped to Circle in Classic Mode
3.) Enemy Tag at 2 Minutes changed to red dot on Radar or Flash every 10 seconds.
4.) Teammate's names closer to head and always showing.
5.) Demolition returns to Socom
6.) Grenade Arc
7.) Lobby system for Unranked games.
8.) Pistols replace dual primaries in Classic mode.
9.) UCRR added with lobby system (not a priority for me)



Now on a positive note, here are some of my favorite things about Socom 4, mainly Classic Mode:

1.) Weapon Accuracy:  The guns are deadly accurate up to a three round burst, but become very inaccurate when you hold down the trigger.  At first I admit it was very frusterating because I was use to laying down on the trigger in Con even at mid range.  But if you go fully auto and are not withing 25 feet of the enemy you have a slim chance of hitting them.  By the end of the day I absolutely loved this.  It required skill to kill (that is a staple of Socom).  You need to control your fire at mid to long range. I felt this was more realistic and now realize how messed up Con was in this respect.

2.) The grenades worked: They may have been a little bit overpowered, but they worked.  I never saw anyone run through a nade and survive.

3.) Abandoned was absolutely amazing and the overall graphics were awesome: I also really like the map Collision.

4.)You could vote in the Lobby (and in game).

5.) They listened to us and made classic mode with: No blood splatter, No snap to cover, No health Regen, No respawn, No ranged explosives (i dont believe), Push To Talk (needs to be Circle though).


6.) Classic mode got my heart pumping like Socom use to.

7.) The number of hits to kill an enemy was Perfect:  A few less than Con I think.


8.) Clan matching system: You can create a clan party and then find another clan ready to battle with the same number of members as you.  I might just play in this all the time instead of random rooms.  I think this is brilliant because it keeps clans from taking over a room, because they can just always play wars.  At least in theory. I still dont know all the details on this, but I am very excited for it.


I know this is long but I want to talk about a couple other things that I thought I would hate but dont really mind that much:


-Weapon Upgrades using XP:  The basic weapons are still extremely effective, it does not seem like any attachments would make it much better. Also it wont take very long to get the upgrades (assuming its the same as we tested).  But I was able to get three out of the five upgrades on one gun and I didnt even use that gun the whole time.  So baiscally in one day you could easily fully upgrade a gun or three, so it is like they are all already unlocked. But it still gives you a little something to play for.

-No character customization: I wanted character customization, but I do like the characters they created, and I like the classic feel they bring to the game.  Some of the insurgent characters were actually kind intimidating. I would still support character customization.

-Snap to Cover:  If you play the respawn, which I dont think I will much, but if you are a person that enjoys respawn, the snap to cover was very well done.  I never felt stuck to the cover.  Hitting circle will unsnap you, but if you simply run away from the cover it will automatically unsnap you, so you are not really stuck to it. Since we kept jumping back and forth between respawn and round based games I found myself hitting the circle button trying to snap to cover in classic mode.  There were certain situations where I felt like snap to cover would benefit me, but it was rare.  I never felt like the opponent had an advantage when they were snapped to cover.

-Knifing: The knifing was a little easier than Con but not as easy as COD.  I liked it.


Overall I am quite excited for Socom 4.  I hope they tweak some of these things before the release.  It is a good game now and really has the potential to be a great game if they would just make some little adjustments.  I will be getting this game, and want to play it so bad right now.

Community Day Impression

I want to start you off with the answer you all want to know.  Does it feel like Socom?  And its not a straight forward answer but I will say this.  You will find Socom in Socom 4.

Basically Socom 4 has two game types.  Standard and Classic.  Standard has all the features we feared (I will go into more detail later.) and Classic is classic Socom setup (to some extent)

They really didn't show us as much as I thought they would so I believe we wont be able to answer a lot of your questions. But I will answer all that I can.  I have a list of features I wanted to investigate going in, but as you will see some of them I could not find the answers to.  But here it is.

Community Day Questions and Focus.

Options Menu (look speed, controls, 3D, etc)

-In game you could adjust the look speed (up and down and left and right). 
-There will be 5 preset control layouts at launch

               -Standard MP setup

                         -L analog: move/strafe

                         -R analog: look/turn

                         -X: Jump

                         -Square: reload

                         -Circle: Snap to cover

                         -Triangle: Change Stance

                         -R1: Fire

                         -R2: Accessories (grenades, mines, etc.)

                         -L1: Zoom (OTS) If you hold L3 with L1 it will go into scoped view.
                         -L2: Weapon quick switch. Hold: screen pops where you can switch nades.

                         -L3: Sprint

                         -R3: Knife
                         -Dpad Up: PTT (we suggested it be circle for classic mode)

-Socom is 3D compatible but we had no experience with it.

Weapons Menu (weapons, customization, #of attachments, how attachments effect weapon statistics)

-You cannot chose your weapon until you enter into the game.  I believe you have like 20ish seconds before the first round to chose your load out.  It is very quick so its not like you are rushing to get your loadout set.  You can change your load out between rounds.  Not sure you can do it after the round is over, as the features to select weapons between rounds was not actually in the Classic mode in the build we were playing.  But they have confirmed that it is in there.

-I believe all or most of the weapons were unlocked, but you gain XP in both standard and classic modes, that unlock upgrades and attachments (mostly attachments).  The basic weapons were still very effective.

-You can attach as many attachments as you have unlocked to your weapon at any one time.  But not all attachments will be available on every weapon ("no grenade launcher on shotguns")

-I was only able to unlock a few upgrades, but I really couldnt tell how they effected the gun.  Zipper confirmed that front grips will reduce the recoil (spray).  So attachments do effect the weapons but I cannot go into detail on how.

User Interface (is it fluid, easy, fast)

-You can choose Standard or Classic and then what map and game mode you want to play.  Its all matchmaking.  You can create your own unranked game but must invite people to join your game. It was very fast and simple.  No lag time like in confrontation

Game Lobby System (Ways to find/enter game, matchmaking, lobbies, UCR, Party System)

-All matchmaking, not lobbies.  You can create Parties, we did not get to use it so all I can say is that it is in there.

-Can you leave game without having to remake party system?

     -could not confirm.

In Game Lobby (PTT, Open Mic, Text Chat, Team Mixup?, How to set weapons, Preset classes?)

-I believe it was open mic in every lobby (may have been PTT in classic mode, dont remember). 

-There is no text chat in lobbies

-You cannot choose your weapons in the lobby. You do it before the first round of the game (no classes or saved setups)

-You can send friend/clan invites in the lobby by selecting a players name

-You can vote people out of the lobby (AWESOME)

-Can you set weapons for both sides without switching sides?

    -No, but there is no sideswitching so it doesnt matter. (cannot select weapons in lobby)

 

Maps and Game Modes (respawn and round-based)

-The game will release with 9 maps + Abandoned (they haven't announced how people will get abandoned, other than by pre-order)

-Standard games are respawn.  

       -They have snap to cover, health regeneration, resupply pools.

       -Airstrikes (based on kill streaks and objectives completed)

       -There are rocket launchers than can be found laying around the map.

       -Multiple spawn points (can choose between spawn points between respawns)

-Classic games are round based

       -No snap to cover, no health regen, no resupply pools, no airstrikes

       -No ranged explosives

       -I think you only have one spawn point, but im not sure on that.

-Game Modes:

       -Suppression: Suppression

       -Uplink: Capture the flag type game (did not get to play)

       -Last Defense: I believe this was the MAG type game.  Very similar to sabatoge. 

       -??????- they gave us the name but I forgot it.  I we didnt get to play it.

       -Classified: There is one classified game mode that they would not tell us.

                        -Is there a difference between respawn and round based game modes?

                             -No i believe you can play each on respawn and round based.

Ranking System (How it works, XP/Skill Based)

-XP based ranking system for standard and classic game types.

Unlockables

-Mostly attachments and weapon upgrades.  

-Character unlocks in SP carry over the MP

-Weapon unlocks in SP do not carry over to MP

-No character customization. 

-There are 12 Characters per side, including the unlockable ones

-Spec-Ops and Insurgents were the two sides (ie: seals/mercs)

Clan System

-Did not get to use it, but its there.  Also there is a clan match making system where you get your clan in a party and then you say you are ready to war. Once you are ready to war you can search through a list of other clans that are ready to war.  It will say what game type they want to play and how many people they have to war with.  You then challange them to a war.  They can accept or decline.  

-I have no idea if there is a Clan Ranking system.

My opinion on controversial features (does it kill the “SOCOM feel”?)

            -Cover System:  

                  -Not in Classic mode so it doesnt bother me at all.  It works well when I used it in respawn.

                  -It did not seem like an unfair advantage.

                  -You cannot snap to everything.

            -Health Regen (in MP or not?)

                  -Standard MP games Yes, Classic games No. So it doesn't bother me. 

-OTS View (Options in MP/SP)

      -The L1 zoomed view is OTS.  I actually used it for mid to long ranged shots.  The developers said it does not give you more accuracy it simply is more zoomed in.  I will say that it slows you character speed down, which in turn makes your gun more accurate.  But if you move slower in centered (hip fire) view you will have the same accuracy.  

      -I used the L1+R3 scoped view with my assualt rifle that went into a red dot site.  It works fine but I dont see myself using it that much.  You must also do this for sniper rifle scopes, so its not instant, so I dont see quick sniping (quick scoping) returning to socom.

            -No Grenade Arc

                    -This is one feature that I want back.  I found it extrememly difficult to throw accurate grenades. I found myself overthrowing grenades a lot.  Im not sure if you can lightly toss a nade over something or not.  I believe if you aim below the waste when you throw a nade it will throw it underhand.  I did it once and I think that is what happened. 

           

-Playstation Move (how does it feel, better/worse than DS3, Separate Rooms on MP?)

        -I played a little of the SP mission with the move and found it incredible difficult to use the Move.  I will not be playing with the move and no longer think players using the move have an advantage.  It may just take some getting use to, but I did not like it. 

        -The Move and DS3 will be combined in MP rooms.

Single Player Co-Op (AI movement/reaction, Stealth Missions?, Difficulty, Chose your own path?)

-We only got to see a portion of one level. But I really blew me away.  It looks awesome.  If you buy games for their single player then I think you will love socom SP.  I got a little time on it with the move and didnt like the move.  But some of the others who played it commented that it was hard (and it was on the easy mode, lol).  It was not on god mode so we were dying.  (still takes quite a few hits to die though)  Really need to use your squad because you will die if you try to do it alone.

-You can target specific enemies for your blue or gold team to take out. (thought that was cool)

Details:
            -Free Lean: We asked for it in the Q/A
            -Side Switching: No Side Switching
            -Number of Rounds: Varies, but it was like first to 3 wins I think.  I was a little confused about it.
            -Tiebreaker: Either there was a tiebreaker or they were figuring out what to do. I forget.
            -Accuracy Shooting from the Hip: The same as everything else, but character movement really effects your accuracy (bullet spray)
            -Speed: Confrontation slow in standard games, but should be (will be) faster in Classic modes.
            -Proximity Chat: Yes
            -Was the Centered View “Classic View”: Centered View, yes. It was NOT classic view. We emphasized that we want it tweaked (pushed back) in the Q/A so hopefully they do something with that.
            -How to pick up ammo/nades off dead bodies: Run over the bodies (only pick up whats in you loadout)
            -Describe Scoreboard: Shows combined K/D from all rounds.
            -How many hits to kill: Not sure how to explain this but I thought it was perfect.  Confrontation-esk, maybe a few less hits.
            -Vote System: Can vote in game and in lobby. We did not have access to it though.
            -Is there time after the round to choose your weapon (alive/dead?): Not sure.
            -What is the difference between the factions: No factions
            -How many MP maps will release with the game: 9+Abandoned.

            -Sprint: Good speed, can sprint sideways (strafe sprint, which is nice)
            -Shoot while jumping: I believe I did it once but I did not hit the enemy, and I forgot to test it out more so I dont know how accurate it is, but I believe that you can fire while jumping/falling.  Unless I was imagining things.

           

Questions to Zipper:

            -Beta: Havent decided yet (or cant tell us)

            -Release Date: (April, 19th 2011)

            -DLC: didnt ask, dont think they would have answered.

Questions for the 18:
            -Scale of 1-10 does it feel like “classic socom?”:   7
            -Scale of 1-10 is it a sweet game?:  9

The Good:

-Weapon Accuracy

-Hit detection

-Number of hits to kill

-Classic options are what we want and we can live there.

-Graphics (AWESOME)

-Abandoned

The Bad:

-Grenade throwing (no arc, doesnt seem to be pressure sensitive)

-Jump (goofy looking and excessive (like MAG))

-Camera in too zoomed in.  It feels claustrophobic sometimes. and you lose where you are going sometimes.

-No demo mode (still one classified mode though)

Overall the game is a mixtures of MAG, SOCOM, and COD.  I believe it will appeal to anyone who likes one of those games.  Basically no matter what type of gamer you are, you will find a home somewhere in Socom 4. 

My favorite part is when I was the last guy left and I killed the last player on their team.  I did it a couple times and I was shaking after, my heart was pumping, and I had to catch my breath.  As soon as I felt that I knew SOCOM was back.  (that was only on classic games.  I did not feel that at all on the respawn.)

Basically I will say this.  It is a departure from Socom.  I thought it would be more like classic Socom than it is.  But even though it is different, it is very good, and very addictive.  I think it is going to be a big game in 2011.

I am sure you have a bunch of questions and I will try to answer them on the forums.  There are probably things I am forgetting, that I will remember later and update you on them.  I hope you enjoy my community day review, and I cant wait to get Socom 4 on April 19th.

Thank you so much Zipper for the opportunity and the amazing trip.  I hope you continue to do community days in the future. Its a real treat for the fans.  I will also be posting pictures and maybe some more info about the whole day and what went on over there.

P.S. Thanks for the shirt zipper.  And the other presents. ;^)

Trip to Zipper Interactive

I'm packed and ready to go.  I'm anxiously nervous and excited about meeting my fellow Socomers, Zipper Interactive, and to play Socom 4 multiplayer before the rest of the world.  This is a great honor and trust me, none of us will take this opportunity and responsibility lightly.  Im sure Zipper will release general MP info after or along with us, but it is up to the Community Day Participants to get all the details that the Socom Community truly want to know.  We have a large pile of questions, and are always accepting more.  I hope we will be able to release some form of info as soon as we get it because I know your itching as much as I am from SoCrack withdrawals.  I will be tweeting the details of the entire trip from the moment I leave my house tomorrow morning, so follow along and hopefully it will feel like your right there with us.  I really hope zipper blows us away with Socom 4.  

Movie Review

Disclaimer: [I dont claim to be a movie expert or even think that anyone should listen to my opinion.  I simply watch a lot of movies and thought I would give my opinion on them.  So you can take it or leave it but here it is,  I will not go into much detail in my reviews because, as I said, I am not an expert and don't want to pretend to be by feeding you some character analysis BS.]

Today's Movie Review:  Tron: Legacy (2010)

I had little idea what this movie was about going into it, and had no idea what was going on until close to halfway through when it was explained in a long discussion and some flashbacks by the main characters.  The acting is good, but its a weird movie so I guess its not that hard to act weird.  The story was kind of dumb.  The story is fairly simple but they try to make it seem complex by simply not telling you what is going on until after the fact. 

Going in my expectations for this movie were fairly high because of the copious amounts of advertising, but I was thoroughly disappointed.  And (kind of a spoiler here) it ends with one of those "and they lived happily ever after" without showing you what the happily ever after was like.

Overall Rating:  B-  (rent it if you're bored)

Harpoon Beer Factory

This weekend I took a drive up to Boston to tour the Harpoon Beer Factory.  It was pretty damn sweet.  You walk upstairs and pay $5 for a tour.  They start you off with a 5 ounce tasting glass (that you get to keep).  The tour starts by filling up your tasting glass with one of their beers.  The tour guide talks about the three big tanks on the top floor for a bit.  You then walk down a level to the fermentation tanks and get another sample of the beer directly from the tank.  It is not carbonated but nice and cold and very good.  The guide talks about the tanks and then you walk past the tanks to where they put the beer in barrels.  The guide talks for a while, then invites everyone to go back upstairs where there is a small bar with about ten beers on tap and you can taste as many as you want for about a half hour.  It was well worth the $5 and, if you were determined, you could get good and drunk.  They also sell "Growlers" which are 64 ounce jugs that you can fill with any beer you want and carry it out with you. Those are only $7 and well worth it.  My friends an I walked out with a growler each, hit up a few bars, and ended the night drinking the Growlers.  If you ever take a trip up to Boston I would suggest taking this tour.  The whole thing takes about an hour.

Movie Review

Disclaimer: [I dont claim to be a movie expert or even think that anyone should listen to my opinion.  I simply watch a lot of movies and thought I would give my opinion on them.  So you can take it or leave it but here it is,  I will not go into much detail in my reviews because, as I said, I am not an expert and don't want to pretend to be by feeding you some character analysis BS.]


Today's Movie Review:  True Grit (2010)

I never saw the original True Grit so I cant compare the two.

This is your classic lawless western where killing another man is just a part of life.  If you ever played Red Dead Redemption, this movie feels just like it.  The main character is a young, smart, independent girl, who's father was murdered.  Her mission is to find the man who killed her father.  She hires a one eyed, past his prime, drunk, headhunter (Jeff Bridges) to help here find him.  A pompous Texas Ranger (Matt Damon) is already hunting the murderer for a separate crime and joins them on their quest.  Killing, arguing, drinking, and more killing ensues. 

This movie was awesome.  I'm not a big fan of westerns but I loved this movie from start to finish. 

I would rate True Grit: A (A Must See)

Im all set up for Socom 4

Here, in this bad picture, you can see my 32 inch plasma on the right and my 93 inch projector screen on the left.  I like my SOCOM life size.  Cant wait for SOCOM 4.  i also bought a nice screen since this picture was taken so its no longer projecting on a bed sheet.

Movie Review

I dont claim to be a movie expert or even think that anyone should listen to my opinion.  I simply watch a lot of movies and thought I would give my opinion on them.  So you can take it or leave it but here it is,  I will not go into much detail in my reviews because, as I said, I am not an expert and don't want to pretend to be by feeding you some character analysis BS.


Todays Movie Review:  The Green Hornet.

This is an action comedy that isn't all that funny and doesn't have all that much action.  The banter between Seth Rogen (green hornet) and Jay Chou (kato) is humorous at times. Jay Chou is actually quite funny in a Jackie Chan, I dont speak english very well, kind of way. Rogen is just annoying at times.

It was entertaining but a pretty straight forward good guy bad guy kind of movie.  No real twists or turns.  Overall a very OK movie.

Overall I would give it a B (worth renting)

If you have a movie you want me to review let me know....

Zipper Community Day for Socom 4

As you may have heard, Zipper has chosen 18 lucky forum "dwellers" to fly out to their studio in Redmond, WA to play Socom 4 and tell everyone on the socom.com forums our opinions of the game.  I have been chosen and am quite excited about the event.  I will be posting my review of Socom 4 on my blog here and will link to it on the forums.  You can also follow me on http://twitter.com/kingGILLEY from Wed 26 - Friday 28 where I will be posting my current activities.  Everything from the plane ride, to meeting the fellow participants, to meeting developers and even some gameplay details (if they let us).  I will be posting any video I take at http://www.youtube.com/user/KiNgGiLlEy.

Cant wait till Thursday and some SOCOM 4 MP INFO.  Be sure to follow along...

Sincerely, Your Fellow Socomer

kingGILLEY

Movie Review

 I dont claim to be a movie expert or even think that anyone should listen to my opinion.  I simply watch a lot of movies and thought I would give my opinion on them.  So you can take it or leave it but here it is,  I will not go into much detail in my reviews because, as I said, I am not an expert and don't want to pretend to be by feeding you some character analysis BS.

Todays Movie Review:  The Fighter

Let me start off by saying that this is not a boxing movie.  It is a movie about a boxer's life.  Mark Wahlberg is his usually self and does a good job as the main character.  His boxing skills lead you to believe he could be a boxer. Christain Bale really steals the show with his award winning acting as the druggie ex-boxer brother of Mark Wahlberg.

The movie is basically about a boxer trying to make it out of Lowell and become a star fighter, but his loyalties to is family hold him back.

I felt the movie dragged on in the middle a bit when there was little boxing and a lot of arguing, but I quickly forgot about it when the boxing began again.

Overall I liked the movie a lot and wanted to watch it again the next day.

Overall Score A-  (You should see this movie)