This article was pitched and submitted by Phillip Costigan (nemesisND1derboy).
For those of you who haven’t heard, SOCOM 4, or SOCOM: Special Forces in Europe, is the fourth main entry in Zipper Interactive’s third-person shooter series and is exclusive to the PlayStation 3. It features a new single-player campaign, 5 player co-op and 32 player online multiplayer, with PlayStation Move and 3D support as the icing on the cake. An enticing package to be sure, and it’s the 32 player multiplayer that is available for sampling right now.
Free to download now for all PlayStation Plus subscribers in Europe and to selected players across the pond, the SOCOM 4 multiplayer beta features a rotating set of game modes, depending on which day you are playing. These game modes are available to play on two maps, Port Authority and Assault & Battery.
[drop]The first thing that players of Zipper’s previous PlayStation 3 outing, MAG, will notice is how similar the two games look and that, for the most part, is a good thing. Everything is very functional and minimalist, sleek yet somewhat lacking in originality and flamboyance. SOCOM is clearly a more aesthetically pleasing game than MAG, however, and the game looks great. The environments are very well designed and pretty, with some great textures and scenery and Zipper seem to have done a great job in this regard.However, as fans of the series will no doubt agree, the beauty of SOCOM lies in its stellar third person action gameplay. The game feels great, the controls good if not somewhat floaty. It’s certainly not as twitchy as Call of Duty or as heavy as Killzone but it feels good to control. Action is fast-paced, with plenty of options for tactical gameplay which fans of the series will no doubt be happy to see. This, combined with great map design (with regards to the two maps available), means action is relentless, tactical and hugely satisfying.
SOCOM seems to follow in MAG’s footsteps with regards to the sheer amount of customization options available. Touted as having over 40 guns to unlock, combined with multiple attachments and equipment means that players will have no shortage of toys to play with. Players have a global ranking system through which they progress, unlocking more guns along the way. Each gun also has its own ranking system, with each “mod” you progress towards unlocking a new attachment for use with that gun. Players progress through the various “mod” levels by using a gun and earning kills with it.
The usual in-game medals, ever-present in modern-day shooters, are all here, which, along with the game’s trophies, should keep the player coming back for more. Persistent stat-tracking and leaderboards are present for comparison with your PSN friends.
[drop2]As mentioned earlier, SOCOM supports PlayStation Move and 3D also. I have tried out the move implementation for a while and, while clearly well implemented, doesn’t feel entirely suited to multiplayer. It takes a bit of getting used to and it’s been clear to me from playing it myself and with others that players using the regular Dualshock controller will certainly have the advantage. It feels decidedly different to Killzone’s fantastic Move implementation, however having played some of the single-player campaign using Move at the PlayStation Hub event in Dublin last year, it may be more suited to that aspect of the game.Overall, SOCOM: Special Forces is shaping up to be one of the finest multiplayer shooters this year, with great controls and visuals. It is a pity that the Move implementation is slightly lacking, however. Of course, this is all “beta” gameplay, but with the game fast approaching its April release, one would assume it is a fairly decent representation of the game’s multiplayer component, which is most definitely positive. I must admit, SOCOM had definitely dropped off my radar until the beta was announced, but it’s now firmly set to be one of my many day-one purchases in 2011. Let’s hope the single-player lives up to the great precedent the multiplayer is on course to set!
m61726b
Nice write-up Nemesis.
Looking forward to the released game even without trying the Beta.
Spotter5
You guys have no idea how excited my dad is to get this game :P
awesomenessx2
I’m really excited to get into the beta next week and play with my Sharpshooter. I’ve heard it’s really awesome, especially for SP and Co-op.
online4ntagonist
aww finally a single player mode, sheesh
SpikeyMikey23
Looking forward to trying this, was half way through the patch download and my internet failed so i’ll leave this to auto-downloading tomorrow
kivi95
i don’t think the auto-download will download the in-game download.
kivi95
ingame install
DR-DAVROS
Downloaded on day of release (glad i had my 30mb download speed) anyway first impressions were hmmm not bad not sure what im doing and I felt unsafe from behind. I then jumped on KZ3 which made me feel more at home. I then tried the next day and again felt the same that I have no idea of whats in my vacinity and behind me, too many campers. However I must note the controls seemed fine one the MOVE i’ve not gone back to the DS3 since the KZ3 implementation. The SHarpshooter on the other hand christ thats just annoying me now and just sits in its box waiting for an on rails shooter me thinks.
DR-DAVROS
DrNate86
I don’t understand your point about being unsafe from behind in SOCOM. Surely you are as vulnerable to being attacked from behind in any FPS or TPS, as you can’t see behind you in any of them? You will always get someone who sneaks around the edges of the map to get behind you (I should know, I do it all the time!).
zide
Didn’t care much about this either but after playing the beta im pretty sure this is going to be day one purchase to me.
kill_zide
NEED THIS GAME NOW great game campers don’t bother me much though but maybe i play too much of the standard game mode but the classic mode is truly boring for me simply because of how large the freaking map is that if you get killed you need to wait about 5 min before getting to play again and they just need to separate some parts of the map on classic to fix that problem the camera is really awkward I mean if they are going to stick with this camera mode then put a switch hands on the controls because its hard to aim on the left side its a really great beta way better than I expected
nemesisND1derboy
Gah?
iAvernus
Campers don’t bother you much cuz maybe you’re one of the many campers hiding around the corner, taking advantage of the third person view.
Origami Killer
got it running now, and i must say its ok, not a fan of third person shooters which play like FPS’s, bit wierd to get used to as its clunky and that, but i won the game i was in on my first go so quite good tbh
MaD dOctoR 79
great game so far but a lot of things need tweaking, Melee for example, while someone is capturing a point it seems like they can not be melee(‘d???) and then teleport from in front of you to behind you once they know you are there from your failed attempt.
also, why does it take so long to capture points in Last Defence, and yet on Bomb Squad it takes about 5-10 seconds to defuse a bomb? surely it would be a harder task to defuse a bomb than capture an area, as once you see the defuse alert you pretty much have no chance of stopping the bomb tech unless you are already at that point.
everything else seems to be fine so far, just one question…how do you do victory dances? or is that unlocked at a certain rank? seen some funny ones after being shot in the back of the head…nice…makes a change from tea bagging ;)