Sony's PlayStation 3 military shooter, SOCOM Confrontation, takes the series in a drastic new direction. Instead of including a single-player campaign with multiplayer options, it's strictly an online only affair. That'd be fine if it wasn't ruined by numerous glitches.
Like Warhawk before it, SOCOM Confrontation provides multiple options for PlayStation Network users including detailed maps, a mixture of five new North African-themed settings and classic SOCOM favorites from previous games. You also choose between various International Special Forces teams, multiple uniform types and other options, such as facial and physical features. From there, you can jump into an online match and work alongside others to complete missions. There's even leaderboard, tournament and clan ladder support, so you can see how you measure up against others.
Despite these modes, glitches ruin the fun. Constant freeze-ups force you to reset your PlayStation 3, and the long load times and slow menu navigation certainly don't help either. This results in tedious waiting just to get a match set up, if it ever occurs. It looks as if the problem regarding exiting a match and checking its time limit were remedied, but other issues still remain.
Developer Slant Six made some changes for the better, including a bigger emphasis on team play (you can't win a match by yourself) and removing vehicles. However, manual weapon switching sometimes leads to an early death in the heat of combat. For instance, if you have a rifle and need to throw a grenade, it's slightly more complex than just tossing it. This small delay takes just enough time to turn the tide in a battle, leaving you vulnerable to enemy attack. Furthermore, even something as simple as changing gun views takes a little longer than expected. This is one of those times in which realism should've taken a backseat to efficiency, even for SOCOM.
It's sad that these problems occur, because the rest of SOCOM Confrontation is superb. The visuals are surprisingly crisp, with a steady frame rate (even with 32 players at once), gorgeous map designs, smooth character models and realistic lighting effects. It all unfolds at 1280 X 720 resolution, so you've always got a clear view of what's ahead.
Sound quality is also unparalleled. Weapons go off in all directions and bullets whiz past. If you fork over the extra $20 for the bundle, you'll also get the excellent Bluetooth headset. This device works magnificently, not only delivering crystal-clear sound but also blocking out unnecessary background noise.
SOCOM Confrontation has a solid presentation, but the lobby options are severely broken, weapon switching is a chore and the lack of a campaign mode hurts. This is one tour of duty we'll decline until the proper patches are in place.
Reader Comments (48)
Thanks for releasing a review so quickly. I think its funny how its the same for any game series whether its socom or halo, you always have the die hard fans who take it personally when someone doesn't like their game. Bottomline, the game sucks right now and I won't waste my money until its fixed.
Thanks, kvhudson.
Who the heck cares about the details of this review, he at least got it right that there are serious problems and its not worth your time at this point. It really seems like some of you are going well out of your way to defend a game that is simply broken. It should have NEVER been released in this state and its a sad day in the video game community when so many of you are content to wait for a patch that will fix all of these issues. If anyone deserves to be bashed, its slant six.
This is easily one of the worst reviews I have ever read. Yes, there's problems with the game, anyone can see that. But you've made such horrible mistakes it's not even funny. -You can back out of games -There is a timer Just because you think the game should play like Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 doesn't mean it's the only way it should be. SOCOM always stressed realism, and there's more than enough people that liked that as you can tell from the prior series of the game. This realism is what makes SOCOM what it is. It's not meant to be water wings for people to get into shooters like Halo 3 or Call of Duty, it's a more hardcore of a shooter, requiring more thought, skill, and strategy. So if you think the game should give up realism because it's not like those other two noob games, then you don't belong on this review as you have no idea what SOCOM is and was about. And don't even think for a second that the 1up review solidifies your gamefaqs user review. They're coming from different angles obviously. One from someone WITH prior knowledge of the game and series and shows it, and knows that gameplay like S2 is what fans wanted, and it does hit it. Another sounds like some noob from other popular casual shooters. Which is which? I think it's obvious.
lol, you obviously must not since you keep coming back.
"The lack of a single-player campaign IS a knock against the title -- a severe one. If this was a series that launched with an online-only campaign right from the start, like Warhawk, it'd be a little more understandable." LMAO Your credibility is further flushing down the toilet. Are you really a video game journalist, or is that just what MS is paying you to be for them at the moment?
It's not a matter of foot in the grave. It's a matter of having better things to do.
Smart decision... you already have one foot in the grave. Keep going and you'll eventually get buried. Next time, bring some legitimate arguments. It'll go a lot smoother.
Ugh, done arguing.
wow... you don't waste time with editing your posts. glad to see you changed it before I could capture it. and I know what I said, but you obviously must not. You clearly stated, that the Warhawk series was online only, which it wasn't. Kudo's on making yourself look more desperate on making yourself look more intelligent.