Confrontation is a dissappointing experiance this coming from a long time series fan.
The "SOCOM" series is one of my favorite military based games to grace the Playstation 2. The trilogy was a shining example of solid single player squad tactics as well as a rounded multiplayer aspect. "SOCOM 2" was the pinnacle of this series and most die hard fans like me, left when the third installment tried to become like "Halo". Sony noticed the loss of this huge base of talented players and has fired Zipper Interactive and hired Slant Six to create a new game. Does "Confrontation" help revive the "SOCOM" series or does it place the final nail in the coffin?
Story:
There is no story to this multiplayer only game. This is where this game fails in epic fashion. The older games always had a short but entertaining single player campaign. Completing these story missions on certain difficulties unlocked different player skins which on certain maps helped to blend into the environment. They also touched on real world events and conflicts by cleverly renaming counties and factions. Overall the stories were a great addition to the overall package; you got your money's worth when buying the game.
This game is on a Blu-ray disc, there is zero excuse to not have a single player campaign. If they could fit a robust single player on a DVD as well an amazing multiplayer experience in past games what happened? Sony made a huge mistake by firing Zipper Interactive and now there paying for it with a sub-standard game.
Gameplay:
Now since this game is multiplayer only it's placing all its eggs into one basket. The team at Slant Six hired several of the top players from "SOCOM 3" to the team and the end result is a game that plays like a mix between 2 and 3. Instead of one team getting to play as SEALS and the other Terrorists for the whole match, you switch after 4 rounds.
This switch balances out the advantages the map has for one side or the other, but most maps are pretty balanced to begin with. The gunplay takes away the run and gun aspect of current military shooters of this generation of consoles. Being sneaking and staying behind cover is the key to surviving. Needless to say having firefights from one building to another is thrilling and nerve racking.
Unlike the other games, snipers have become necessary in most maps, but there devastating power has been dampened by the body armor system. There are three different types of armor, but most maps don't require speed to be an effective player. Since taking a high powered rifle bullet is an instant death in other games, now snipers have to have excellent accuracy to down a player from distance. Normally snipers will be the players with a negative kill/death ratio unless they excel at using a pistol. The worst person to take down is a cornered player as they have the advantage with there back to the wall. Even if the team knows where they are, players still have to be bottlenecked into the area in most cases.
The game modes are your standard modes such as elimination, demolition and control. Escort is a series favorite that has butchered in the 3rd game and has been killed yet again in "Confrontation". The SEALS are forced to extract the VIPs instead of being able the running down the clock. Though this seems like a cheap tactic, the VIPs run standing up and wear bright blue helmets so Terrorists automatically can easily ambush the convey. Extraction is the other version of this where the Terrorists hold the VIPs and it's the SEALS job to rescue them. This game mode still holds up and works on all maps. You can also play any game type on the maps provided. Players can play the classic 8v8 or you can play the new 16v16 mode, but the game plays better during smaller matches.
The game really stumbles when it comes to its friend's list and clan system. Gamers can join clans and play with them, but good luck finding them. The menus don't tell users what game they are in, this forces a player to use the PS3 friends list to ask them where they are. This is a major draw back and makes organizing a clan match difficult. Overall, the Gameplay has been fixed and plays a hell of a lot better than "SOCOM 3" did, but the issues with clan battles and the loss of Escort games is annoying and can't be overlooked.
Presentation:
One would think that this game would look amazing since it is on the superior power of the PS3. Well that's where you would be wrong; the game looks bland and visually simple. Textures don't stick out or look unfinished; this is because the maps locations are just all sand and concrete. No jungle settings or forests and this localization of the maps just make the selection… blah.
Top this off with poor online support by Sony and Slant Six make matters worse. The updates tend to not want to upload to your system until the third attempt. Games for some reason just drop people for no reason. Sony is promising to fix this problem which means that this will never happen since they have been trying to fix "Home" for 3 years. One would think with all the processing power of the PS3 that they could have made a nicer looking multiplayer experience, but instead we are left with an unpolished game with poor support.
Overall:
"SOCOM" is a game franchise that has been on a decline since the 3rd installment and has not been able to pull off a reorganization of the Gameplay. The controls and feel of the game have been addressed and are fixed for the most part. The maps in the game will be getting an update for more "green" in January of 2009. Really this game was made to please the "SOCOM 2" players that left in response the butchering of the 3rd games online play. Unless you know the "SOCOM" series, spend your money else where because this game will frustrate you as it is a hard game to excel at. From the stand point of a former sniper and big game player of "SOCOM 2", I still feel that this game could have been so much more. A deep Single player mode and a fixed clan match system would have taken this game from mediocre to great. As it is, its not work 40 bucks, get "Resistance 2" its money better spent.