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SOCOM Confrontation
It’s good
to see the SOCOM franchise finally arriving on the PlayStation 3 that
once again offers gamers an in-depth online first person shooter. Unlike
the single player incarnations of this franchise, SOCOM Confrontation is
thoroughly focused on online play with two distinct sides for gamers to
play, either the militaristic commando’s or the materialistic
mercenaries.
The gameplay modes online are quite
diverse and different. Each of the
modes are dependent on a number of variables such as destroying military
points or just good old fashioned team Deathmatch. The game boasts seven
maps that are extremely large, however these can be downscaled for those
smaller gamers, ensuring that you do encounter one another. As this is
an online game, there are some patches available for the game which does
improve the gaming. This is the price of online gaming.
Before embarking on a multiplayer game,
players must select their preferred team, their character and also what
items they need on their missions. The attention to detail in terms of
equipment and weaponry is truly quite impressive, however if you suit
yourself up too much, your character will pay in terms of mobility and
speed. With that said, customising your character is a careful balance
in order to meet your needs. The choices of weapons are extremely
diverse that include everything from shotguns to assault rifles. Some of
the weapons can also have attachments added such as scopes and silencers
that is dependent on your personal preferences. Of course, what game
would be complete without a variety of different grenades and of course
some heavy duty claymores that are ideal for laying waste to your
enemies. Just be careful, because friendly fire hurts!
Another interesting feature which is
generally a standard feature these days is the ability to create or join
clans that allows you to play in tournament and ladder matches. For the
casual gamer, there are still plenty of servers where you can just join
in for a few hours or days if the need arises. However, Clans are quite
cool and truly gives the genre a sense of community and entertainment.
For those online junkies, the developers have also added a game calendar
so you know when your clans are meeting for important games.
Although Confrontation is your classic
first person shooter, SOCOM has always been a strong believer of realism
which means you cannot just run around like a Hollywood action hero. You
need to plan your attacks and moves and thankfully the control system is
perfectly mapped on the Sony controller with dualshock also being
available. Each of the weapons handle differently from each other,
whether it’s the close ranged shotgun or an assault rifle. The only
trick aspect of SOCOM is the SixAxis control system that when you tilt
the controller, your character will then lean in that direction. I’ve
never been a huge fan of SixAxis but it’s good to see that Sony is still
attempting to implement this interesting yet at times failed technology
advance in the gaming world.
Graphically, SOCOM Confrontation is a
little lackluster when compared to games such as Killzone, however it
still looks like a next generation console game, it’s just missing some
of the bells and whistles. The gaming environments are quite big and at
times detailed, however the stars of the game are the characters
themselves who interact well with the gaming environment and the special
effects such as gun flare or lighting. There are also some destructible
objects in the game which look quite impressive when you blow them to
Kingdom Come. The sound effects of the game are quite professional and
realistic, especially the sounds of the weapons and the game also
supports a Blue Tooth headset if you wish to speak with other players.
For the gaming experience, I would strong recommend a headset as it does
make the game more enjoyable.
In
conclusion, SOCOM Confrontation is a decent online multiplayer game set
in a realistic universe with sturdy gameplay, good graphics and some
great online moments. There are some nuisances for Australian users some
lag or dropouts, however Sony are addressing a variety of these issues
with patches and fixes. At the end of the day, SOCOM Confrontation is
aimed in the right direction! |
