I haven't played the rest of the SOCOM series but how did they ruin it? I heard Confrontation was terrible though
After Socom 2, they went into a whole new direction, trying to make the battles larger. So they decided to add large(like LARRRRRRGGGGGEEE) maps and they added vehicles. Now there was no tactical aspect to the game, and it became a mess. I mean the Socom 4 is good, just not good for a Socom game...