socom

The last SOCOM game I played was SOCOM 2 on the PS2. On that, you got exp, but all it got you was a ranking, which went up and down to keep you alongside other players of your approximate skill. No idea what it's like now.

But yeah, very different game to CoD and so on. It's supposed to be a lot more tactical, and in single player you definately had to rely on stealth and strategy to win. Multiplayer, as always, was just shooting things however.

I always find that a bit annoying with multiplayer. I love the lying in wait, telescopic sight at max...BOOM. I know a lot of people don't like campers but provided there are enough players on the server, I think it's perfectly legit to do. Instead of the "ZOMG CAMPER HERE" signs that appear on some games I look forward to the day they add a lens flash if there is a camper in the sun, or the tell tale little mist cloud above them in the cold when they breath, or the directional sound of the crack of their rifle.......

No offence taken, I camp from time to time, I move from time to time. It's good to unpredictable.

I try to be tactical, but it's a game, so the things I learnt in real life don't quite apply. I was in the Cadets, was pretty handy with a rifle, so I was instructed to "lay up" somewhere. The Para's who were teaching me at the time gave me a set of do's and don'ts... Like do not have a nice shiny watch, if the sun is out, watch for lens flare, don't have your body as part of the horizon/ridge line, do have an exit point, don't have a pack of mud/dust in front of you because every time you fire "poof", nice little dust cloud giving your position away. All of that, or most of it, is kind of an irrelevance in a game.

Do you really want it to be realistic though?

I did play one game which was "realistic", ie, one shot, dead, start again. Operation Flashpoint. God I hated that game.

I think for the most part you don't play games so that it seems like real life, it's more of an escapism and entertainment thing, so actually 'dying' straight away rather than having a specific amount of lives or being able to start from a save point would as far as I'm concerned just be extremely irritating! Realism in terms of graphics - yes, realism in terms of simulating the real world and how things work - not so much. Imagine a game where you play a police man - a great fun game chasing down criminals in high speed chases right?? Maybe that once in your lifetime, but most of the time spent on the game is actually filling out paperwork and investigating stolen bikes etc... Not so much fun really.