The once bustling
marketplace was now an empty shell of its former self. Where a kindly old man
once sold fruit was an overturned table riddled haphazardly with bullets that
burned through the wood. Shells could be seen scattered throughout and the walls
surrounding the market are crumbling from a firefight that took place not too
long ago. The echo of gunfire in the distance can be heard as a group of U.S.
Navy SEALs scramble into place, knowing full well that the marketplace
definitely does not provide a lot of cover.
Since the Public Beta
introduced the first map – a massive environment that includes the Arabic
marketplace that should be familiar to SOCOM fans as the Crossroads map –
SOCOM: Confrontation for the PlayStation 3 gave fans of the series a
generous peek at just a few of the features we can come to expect from this
online multiplayer shooter. Even as a Beta, the online multiplayer features show
off many of the options multiplayer fans will experience when the game is
released in October. That includes leader boards, clan features and the ability
to customize your character whether it is a U.S. Navy SEAL or a mercenary.
Sony Computer
Entertainment and Slant Six Games has been releasing patches throughout the
Public Beta to address many of the issues that players have been experiencing
such as extremely lengthy load times, framerate problems and a few bugs that
result in some hilarious yet unrealistic situations. When the matches do work
well, they reveal the true potential of what is sure to be a great multiplayer
experience SOCOM fans have been use to since SOCOM 2 was released.
In other words, be prepared for one of the best online multiplayer games you’ll
find on the PlayStation 3.
The Public Beta does give
players plenty of options when it comes to your multiplayer game persona so you
can tweak a few options such as a character’s face, outfit and gear. The options
aren’t deep but it’s enough to create a persona that’s a tad different from
those you’ll be playing with or against during a match. You can also create your
own clan that will set your team apart from others and earn a name for
yourselves during ranked Tournament games. There’s also an encumbrance feature
that, depending on your load out equipment (armor type and heavy weapons) can
either slow you down or make you move faster.
Gamers can also customize
their own matches so you can have a 4 versus 4 match, an 8 versus 8 match or a
16 versus 16 match. The Public Beta didn’t feature all the maps, of course, but
the Crossroads map (making its return) and Fallen (which takes place in North
Africa) are downright huge. Luckily, the massive number of weapons was available
from Day One. That means you can try out everything from assault rifles,
shotguns, pistols, explosive weapons and even a knife for stealth kills. This is
very good news seeing as this time around your chosen weapons will play a part
in the role you will assume during matches. Like real military life, a squad
benefits from having a sniper or an explosive expert with a rocket launcher as a
member of the team.
While the Crossroads map
was heavily featured (in its Large and regular version) during the course of the
Public Beta but in the final days of September we’ve been treated to Fallen – a
map featuring the remains of a Roman temple in Northern Africa. While
Crossroad’s open market is a fantastic place from a Suppression match, Fallen’s
open spaces and ruins will surely make this a fan favorite. Playing through the
various game match types, Fallen seems to accommodate each game mode nicely.
Speaking of game match
types, Confrontation has some great ones whether you’re tasked with clearing a
map of an opposing team or Demolition where your mission is to take a satchel
charge and place it in a certain spot in enemy territory. Making a return is
Team Suppression and Breach and we have yet to see Escort and Control. You can
even set up a game that includes all of the game match types and remove any you
don’t like.
During the course of the
Public Beta, I was invited to one of the weekly Beta Battles, which shows up in
the events Calendar that will remind you of any event you just so happen to be
invited to by friends or fellow clan members. Major events are planned for when
the full version is released so you can expect player participation with or
without a clan. While the Beta Battle I participated in featured only the
available Crossroads map, competitions (ranked or unranked) can feature every
map available when the game’s retail version is released.
While there were a few
voice chat issues that are still being worked out, headset communication is a
necessity (the game is best played with the Official Bluetooth Headset for the
PS3 is coming soon but other headsets work just fine). Teamwork plays a huge
role in successfully completing a match type objective whether it’s wiping out
every member of the opposing team or completing a specific match objective. In
the marketplace scenario, for instance, the team leader announced he was going
to blow a bridge between buildings and a player who didn’t have a headset didn’t
hear the order and crossed it was immediately killed. You can also perform
Assists, which involves two or more players working together to kill an opponent
or two. For example, one player can toss a grenade in a location where an enemy
might be hiding to flush him out while the other player snipes the enemy when he
does run out of his or her hiding place. The player that tossed the grenade is
awarded an Assist while the player that killed the enemy gets a Kill.
Unfortunately, even after
the 1.40 patch, the match results weren’t very accurate and awarded me a kill
when I performed an Assist. Another player’s kill wasn’t even counted and there
are days when no results show up at all but hopefully this will be fixed when
the retail version becomes available. During the course of the Public Beta,
certain bugs have been improved such as grenades that should have gone
off instead of bouncing on a character’s head. At one point, a sniper shot
intended on hitting an opponent in the chest ended up in said opponent’s head
instead. Again, these issues don’t pop up as often now and it’s good too see
that they are being addressed. For example, you can run while firing your weapon
more accurately.
Control-wise, the game
takes advantage of the SIXAXIS tilt controls and this is evident in how you toss
a grenade or lean from left to right as well as crouch. The tilt control allows
you to toss a grenade underhand or overhand depending on how you tilt the
controller forward or back. Your soldier can also jump and, when near a ledge,
perform a quick leap for when you need to get out of a hotspot right away.
Visually speaking, Confrontation clearly looks better than the PS2 SOCOM
offerings. So far, it’s not a huge next-gen leap that takes advantage of the
PS3’s graphics capabilities but there are some gorgeous explosions effects,
bullets kick up dust when they hit the ground and blood spurts out when players
get shot to ribbons.
SOCOM: Confrontation’s
many online multiplayer features will certainly be one of the game’s biggest
highlights and – from the looks of it – this will make it a thoroughly enjoyable
multiplayer experience that PlayStation 3 owners will be playing for a long
time. The taste of things to come (such as playing as the German KSK Special
Forces and numerous new maps) is certainly enticing but we can expect the full
course meal to be positively scrumptious.
SOCOM: Confrontation for
the PlayStation 3 releases on October 14, 2008. It’ll be available in three
different versions such as the Bundle Version (that includes the new Bluetooth
headset), a Stand Alone Version (no headset) or downloaded via the PlayStation
Network.
