9. SOCOM
The first two SOCOM games on the PS2 were game-changers, and made it clear what audiences wanted out of their consoles. The ambitious titles were among the first PS2 games to really harness the console's online capabilities, and though the PS2 was hardly the smoothest and slickest online experience of its period, the game's exceptional design and focus on team-play - through the use of microphones - made them two of the best multiplayer games of their era. In the present day, though, its aspirations as a tactical shooter above blind firing and Rambo-like tactics is somewhat lost; in a post-Call of Duty world, is there really an audience for such a deliberate approach? The mammoth sales of Activision's frantic shooter suggest otherwise, and SOCOM 4's attempt to go the more arcade-based route proved troublesome, resulting in negative reviews and a poor commercial turnout. Studio Zipper Interactive were essentially damned if they did and damned if they didn't; they would either alienate their core fanbase - as they did - or satisfy them but face potential financial ruin, which they seemingly did anyway, as the studio is now closed.