SOCOM: Special Forces - Move Compatible (PS3)

Gameplay is smooth and graphics are like what you would expect, but nothing more. The story is average, very foreseeable but really doesn't matter too much. Fans of the PS2-SOCOM-Series might be a little disappointed.

SOCOM Special Forces is a third person shooter that follows the different missions of a group of special forces operatives working with NATO against pirates and mercenaries in South East Asia. Its an enjoyable game but the third person view introduces numerous problems with aiming and movement that can make it frustrating at times.

I should point out that I have never played any other SOCOM game so I'm reviewing this as a one off rather than part of a series. As a newcomer to the brand there was some back story which wasn't clear but the plot never really affected gameplay where missions are clearly explained in a briefing, and cut scenes develop the characters back story.

There are two main characters in SOCOM and I was surprised and pleased to find the commander is British for a change, not very common in this type of game but you can even see a Union Flag on his sleeve. The other main character is a female soldier from Korea who specialises in stealth and recon. The support characters are also either British or Korean, a nice change in a game genre dominated by Team America.

The gameplay uses a now familiar cover and shoot approach that has been so succesful in other games and is now taken to its extreme with a game focusing entirely on combat. I've always been a fan of the third person view because you get to see your character in the world and see what they look like and what they are carrying. Ducking behind cover and popping up to fire at advancing enemies is all about the timing as well as aiming, and can make for some very cinematic fight scenes. However SOCOM struggles with this at times, especially in the larger more chaotic fights where you need the controls to be friendly. For example you need to be directly facing a piece of cover in order to "attach" yourself to it, being at an angle you will not always get the option. Also it seems very selective about what is or is not cover and you may find yourself stranded out in the open if it does not let you use a particular wall or other detail as cover.

There are also some problems with aiming and firing on occasion, leading to times when you pop up from behind cover but can only aim in a certain direction - forcing you to duck down again and reverse your facing. Or when you are aiming at a target with a clear line of sight but when you fire you hit the cover right next to you. While this might be forgiven in some other games, in SOCOM where combat is the main focus I would have expected bugs like this to have been cleared up.

I also found it frustrating that the same buttons are used for too many different actions which could lead to confusion in the gameplay. For example wanting to resupply from an ammo crate I would press the square button only to pick up a nearby weapon, an action that uses the same button. Or alternatively I might try and stab someone with a knife using R3, only to find its switched to a zoom view on my rifle which uses the same command if you have it ready.

As well as the all out combat missions, which generally consist of go to location x and kill everyone, there are also some stealth missions in SOCOM. These generally involve sneaking about and going from point to point without being detected. If you do get spotted you will soon find yourself surrounded by guards and will be dead within seconds. These missions are good fun, and a nice bit of variety from the usual gameplay and you sometimes get to return to the same location with the rest of your team and take out all those troublesome guards in a straight fight.

There is a team command mechanism that is purposely left simple and basically involves ordering two different teams of two onto waypoints where they can support your main character. In general this works very well with the different teams having enough intelligence to fire, move and heal themselves without having to micro manage them. However there are times when they will wander off from where you placed them, or open fire on an enemy while you are still setting up. Its a problem common to AI controlled allies in games like these.

Once you have finished the single player campaign ( which is surprisingly short ) there is a multiplayer game on SOCOM. This includes the usual type of scenario like capture the flag, annialate the enemy and that sort of thing. You can however choose between competetive and cooperative online play, the cooperative mode pitting you against computer controlled AI opponents. As you progress you gain access to new weapons and add ons just like a lot of FPS games and there are a lot of weapons to choose from in SOCOM. My main problem with the multiplayer is there are only a few different maps and the fact they are so small. Even after just a few hours play I got pretty bored of the same maps and the same routine.

SOCOM then is a mixed bag, it can be fun to play but it could also have been a lot better. The graphics are first class and it looks great as you fight your way through armies of bad guys, but problems with the controls interrupt the game play and can lead to frustrating deaths. It does however make a nice change to the standard FPS gaming experience and I hope in future to see further improved versions of this format.

Right off the bat this is no ordinary SOCOM title, and those familiar with the others such as the NAVY SEALS on PS2 will be disappointed. THe game takes a more action heavy approach rather than being all about stealth and tactics.

You still have control of team mates and can order them to do a variety of things, no where near as in-depth as in previous games, but more simply just "blue team over there", "gold team over there", "target enemies", "attack" and "return to me" all done using the D-Pad to make life easier.

The gameplay as mentioned before is far more action heavy than what we usually expect from SOCOM titles. There is some stealth missions and you can TRY to avoid detection on nearly all of them but i use the word TRY sparingly. This is because most levels have no way of remaning un-detected and no matter how careful you are, either you will have to get spotted to progress or your team will wonder out of cover and get you spotted. Another silly thing i encountered on almost all the levels is when your detected in one area, kill the enemies and move round the corner, the enemies are oblivious to the massive gun fight that just occured. Surely they would hear the gun fire? Plus, due to the intended realism of the game, you die very easily whilst your team members take a beating. Seriously, three to four lucky shots and your down whereas your team can survive direct rocket hits.

The camera is over the shoulder but more like on the shoulder as it is ridiculously close to your character. Even without using the sights (which is really cool) your character often drifts down off the screen especially when entering cover or spriting around, the camera overtakes the character.

The graphics are beautiful and the terrain, especially in the jungle levels looks incredibly real. But with short gameplay, only 14 missions (no spoiler, it tells you on the box how many there are)with each mission taking around half an hour with there really isnt much to come back for. To combat this there is a custom mission mode where you choose your map, gametype either espionage and take-down, difficulty and number of enemies. There is however only a few levels, that change depending on the game type varying from different parts of the level to just making it dark. But again, not much to come back for.

The weapons in the game however is the most genius ive seen in a while. Before each mission you choose a maain, secondary and throwables with attachments such as sights, silences etc. To unlock more weapons all you ahve to do is find them in-game and pick them up, simple. And to unlock further attachments just requires use of the weapon to level up the MOD bar, when filled, you earn a mod. To mix things up, out of the five catagories; Snipers, Shotguns, SMG's, LMG's and Assault rfles, the mods vary. By this i mean not all assault rifles have the same attachments. Plus the stats for each weapon is different, some a louder than others etc. And the sheer amoung of weapins is crazy, as a guess i estimate around 50, more than most other shooters.

Overall it is a fun game to play but once finished there really isnt much to come back for. Part of the fun for me was the custom missions with a friend to see who could do it without being spotted.

4/5