I think this thread has too many haters and flamers, many of whom have not even played (much of) SOCOM Confrontation and are over-blowing their complaints about the game.... similar to the unfair treatment Resistance 2 has received. I won't name names, but you trolls know who you are, most recently on pages 27-29.
There are definitely a good amount of legitimate flaws and I will name my personal complaints about this game:
- Random bullet spray is still in-game.
- Still laggy at times, but getting better.
- Party System/Quickmatch is useless at the moment, but no SOCOM game has had a party/matchmaking system, so I applaud Slant 6 for making a first attempt. Now they just need to make it work well.
- Trophies are ridiculously hard to obtain. I understand /6 wants the game to be for the "hardcore," and for the trophies to really mean something, but they've gone overboard with the requirements for trophies.
- Grenades can sometimes land directly on someone and not kill them, but other times, you're pretty far away and they somehow kill you.
- I wish they didn't exclude proximity mines and HE grenades from the game. Mines added A LOT of tactic in the first few SOCOM games, even though they were cheap because it was hard to spot them. That wouldn't be a problem in Confrontation with a HDTV, if done right.
- Suppression (only) rooms should be available for Ranked games and not only available in Medley rooms. Suppression (the team that has more players at the end of round, wins) is the closest thing to Team Deathmatch but was excluded in favor for Elimination mode, which encourages over-camping.
- Can't reload if falling down ANYTHING. Yes, this is a very legit and annoying flaw that's been brought up many, many times and should be fixed by now. Don't tell me it's unrealistic to be able to reload your gun when you're running down hills or jumping down steps.
- Bushes, shrubs, and trees look like crap.
- Hiding in the water is too "overpowered." It's nearly impossible to see anyone that submerges their head and hides correctly in water. There should be faint shadows or something so that people can't hide/camp in water as effectively as they can now.
- Over-camping (which results in cheap kills/deaths) is still a problem, but that's the case in all SOCOM games.
- You lose way too much health for fall damage, with the damage you take not being consistent to the height you fall from.
- Can't use "classic view" and can't run with nightvision on.
- Too big of a system (HDD) hog, even with the disc version of the game.
- NOT ENOUGH MAPS
There are other annoyances like not being able to save quick select weapons (you have to switch every game/round because it defaults to your handgun) and not being able to have your custom controller setting be default (you need to switch to your control setting the first game, every time you reboot the game). The blacked-out screen in the beginning of every round is also pointless and a very annoying aspect of the game.
I don't know why Slant 6 took out AT-4, RPG, and grenade launchers out of ranked games. I understand it can be cheap to use these weapons, but they've always been part of the SOCOM games. People who complain and whine should just use these themselves if they think it's so cheap and overpowered. Without these ranged explosives, it's even harder to flush out campers.
"Terrorists" need more "lovin'." Meaning, they need to be able to have more customization like "Commandos," such as more costumes, more weapon choices, and the ability to attach "Suppressor 2" to all of their guns. It's not unbalanced, but it's also not fair that "commandos" get more character customization and weapon options compared to "terrorists."
Yes, there are lots of things wrong about SOCOM Confrontation, but there's also a lot the game does right:
- Best attempt yet at emulating SOCOM II's legendary game mechanics, controls, and gameplay. Confrontation is not as "arcadey" and unrealistic as S2 was (can't wall-jump, can't run as fast, can't circle strafe, can't side strafe nearly as fast, etc.), but it's pretty damn close.
Also, people forget just how buggy and laggy the PS2 SOCOM was. Confrontation is not even close to the crap every legit gamers had to endure in S2. Glitchers and laggers plagued the PS2 SOCOM games. Confrontation is relatively bug/glitch-free now, with patch 1.3.
- IMO, very good graphics. Not great, but good enough and I like it a lot.
- Great sound effects and music.
- Amazing amount of character/weapon customization.
- Great hit detection, even with some lag, random bullet spray, and "lucky" headshots.
- Like S1 and S2, Confrontation takes a lot of true skill, wit, fast reaction time, and a bit of luck to be really good at this game. Still till this day, not many other modern-day shooting game requires as much out of the player to excel than SOCOM does.
- Great map layout. Even the new maps are really well-designed, while the classic maps were nicely redone.
- Clear voice-chat and unlike most other PS3 titles, the majority of players actually have and use mics, just like in all SOCOM games.
- Always people online to play with/against.
Is SOCOM Confrontation near-perfect? Heck no, not even close. Was it rushed? Most definitely. However, even with all the flaws and annoyances, this game is VERY fun and addictive. Slant 6 is also doing a good job patching (finishing) the game. In the end, that's the most important aspect to any game. To be considered a good game, they must answer "yes" to the simple question: "Is it fun and/or addictive?" To me, both SOCOM Confrontation and Resistance 2 answers "yes" to that question, regardless of the unfair and extreme bashing/criticism/hatred both games have received.