SOCOM finally comes to the PS3, but does it have what it takes to be a worthy soldier? Read to find out.
Platform: Playstation 3
Release Date: October 14, 2008
Developer: Slant Six
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Note: I did NOT want to review this game till all the features that were promised were in it.
When I first heard that finally SOCOM was coming to the Playstation 3, my first reaction was, "Finally I can put SOCOM 2 back on the shelf." Actually, I think a lot of SOCOMers felt the same way. Little that we knew, SOCOM: Confrontation turned out a lot differently than expected.
SOCOM: Confrontation follows the footsteps of Warhawk; you can buy a disc version at retail stores or you can download it from the Playstation Store. The retail version is a way better buy because for $59.99 you get the game and the official Playstation headset which is $49.99 anyways. The retail version comes with a few "Behind The Scenes" movies. Once you finally decide what version to get, there is a pretty long and obnoxious install period. The install period takes a good 20-30 minutes and eats over 2.5 GB of your hardrive. After that, you will need to download the most recent update which will be over 500 MB.
SOCOM: Confrontation is a lot different from its predecessors. The biggest difference is that there is absolutely no single player. This game is online only. You can't even access the menu without being online which is ridiculous. If you want to watch those movies, you need to be online. Also, Slant Six really tried to push the new "Over The Shoulder" (OTS) view. Well, the new view is very hard to get used to and you can't see nearly as much as the "Classic" view, and you can only use Night Vision in OTS. Slant Six took out the very useful "First Person" view. Now when you are camping in a bush and you zoom all the way in with the D-Pad, all you see if a close up on the bush you are hiding in.
The gameplay to SOCOM: Confrontation is pretty much the same as previous games in the series. Every game mode is Commandos vs Mercenaries. Every gametype in the game are all from past SOCOM games. You have your classic Suppression, Elimination, Demolition, Breach, Control, Escort, and Extraction. Past SOCOM games had 11 rounds per game. In SOCOM: Confrontation, they removed three rounds and half way through the game, your team switches sides. There is no tie breaker round anymore so if the game lasts all eight rounds, whichever team has the most number of kills wins. The best additions to the series are the Special Forces. There are five Special Forces that you can pick from. Each Special Forces have their own unique weapon. For example, if you choose to be the SAS, your clan will have access to the IW-80A2 or if you choose to be the KSK, your clan will have access to the GMP. There are a ton of weapons in the game spanning from Assault Rifles, SMGs, MGs, Sniper Rifles, and Handguns. Every weapon you choose, you can have up to two attachments on that gun. Attachments include suppressors, scopes, bipods, and lasers. Another cool addition to the game is the proxy chat. The proxy chat is basically when you are close to a teammate, they can hear you without pushing L2, but be careful because the enemy can hear you too. You will hear your teammates whispering through the mic "I can hear the enemy through my proxy chat." The proxy chat feature really brings the intensity up to the game.
SOCOM: Confrontation has a built in Clan Ladder system which comes in very handy. The clan leader can go to the in-game calendar, pick a day on when the match will be and challenge a clan to whatever time he wants. A lot of clans don't like using third party sites and the in-game ladder feature is very easy to use.
There are quite a bit of downfalls to the gameplay. Probably the biggest one is shooting over railings or windows. The game has a hard time figuring out what your are trying to do. For example, if you are trying to shoot over a railing, the game thinks that the railing is either too high or it is a wall. Another annoyance is getting stuck on ledges and pebbles. This happens a lot. You would think that your highly trained soldier could walk up on a curb or walk through some little rocks. Well, your soldier will get stuck and you will need to jump over the curb to get on top of it. The last big gripe about the gameplay is the reloading. Sometimes when you try to reload, you won't. You will see your soldier reload, but he will stop halfway through the animation and you will still have a half empty clip in your gun.
The graphics to the game are pretty decent. They do not look like Call of Duty or Resistance, but they look like a SOCOM game. If you never seen SOCOM: Confrontation before, but you have played all the other SOCOM games, you will know it is a SOCOM game. The car explosions look really top notch. You can see all the debris from the car splatter in every direction. All the animations are dead on. The only real issue I have with the graphics are the pop in textures. This is only an issue when you are spectating players. When scrolling through alive players you will notice walls missing for a few seconds or players not holding their weapons. This can be a pretty big issue because the player that is watching the alive players can see through the map, making it easier to spot enemies and message it to their fellow clan mates.
The one thing that SOCOM: Confrontation really nails is the sound. At the beginning of each round HQ tell you what your mission is. On the Commando side, you can tell HQ is talking through a headset while on the Mercenary side, HQ seems to be there in the game with you. Every soldier has taunts and insults you can say. Depending on what Special Forces you pick, you can hear their accents perfectly. The gun sounds are spot on. You can tell what gun everyone is using by just listening to it. Slant Six did an incredible job on muffling gun sounds from room to room or if you hear a sniper shot on the other side of the map.
SOCOM: Confrontation isn't for everyone. If you love respawn fast pace shooting games, SOCOM is not the game for you. However, if you can overlook some of the annoyances and love modern day team oriented slow paced shooters, SOCOM: Confrontation might be something you want to check out.
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Gameplay- 7.5… Classic SOCOM. Little annoyance hurt the game a lot.
Sound- 9… From gun sounds to proxy chat. Feels like you are in a real war.
Graphics- 7.5… Looks like a SOCOM game. Pop in textures.
Replay- 8… If you overlook the majority of the problems and join an active clan, you will easily put 100+ hours in the game.
Overall (Not Average)- 8/10