SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Confrontation-al Review

Socom Confrontation is an online only iteration of the popular shooting franchise that Zipper fathered during the PS2 era. Though this time it’s handled by PSP devs Slant 6, who also made Fire Team Bravo on Sony’s handheld. Like Warhawk, GT5: Prologue, and Burnout Paradise, Confrontation is available for purchase via downloading on PSN or any game-carrying brick and mortar store. The retail SKU, however, is bundled with Sony’s official Bluetooth headset. First thing you’ll experience with Confrontation’s is the mandatory install of about 2 gigs. After that waits a game update. Before heading into gameplay you can customize multiple characters with facial/voice features, a primary and secondary firearm, special explosive, accessories, and camo. Even though there exists slots for many custom soldiers, the option to select between them during matches isn’t possible.

Once you get past the pesky installs you’re seemingly free of any trouble. Not so, for many players, as connecting to matches are troublesome and getting kicked from games is common. Though with my experience with Socom thus far, I’ve had no interferences such as this whatsoever. Lucky me! Another deficiency to note is the missing tournament calendar and trophy support. These absent features—along with more stable servers— are promised by Slant 6 in the near future. I won’t go into detail about the graphics since they are self-explanatorily subpar. They get the job done, and quickly you won’t notice the visual shortcomings. It’s not all bad though.

Aside from the negatives, Socom delivers in other factors important to online gaming. Enjoyment, teamwork, and great maps. What stands out the most is the sound design. It’s proximity based and realistic in the sense that the closer you are to an ally, the better you hear them. Audio traits are also projected by the volume of your voice. You can realistically hear chatter though walls and even hear enemies speak (and vice versa) if they are naïve enough to strategize near you. There is also the option to communicate with your entire team by pressing a specific button. The impressive sound isn’t exclusive to the voice chat though; gunshots and grenades are extremely satisfying and carry properties of volume variance according to distance, and the subtle mood-setting music is nice.

What takes you’re mind off of annoyances the most is the natural teamwork associated with the franchise and fun factor of the game. The level design plays a large role in this as well. Through the flow of strategizing with friends and mastery of the maps, intense firefights and good times await. But one thing that irks me the most is environment hit detection. Sometimes if you have the jump on an enemy your shot may go straight into a wall or car (while behind cover) directly in front of you. Aside from that problem the cover system remains intuitive and helpful. Hopefully it’s fixed soon.

Socom’s outing on the PS3 is a fun, strategic, though sometimes vexing experience. Worthy of the purchase if you’re a Socom fan and worth a try if you just like shooters (especially for the sweet headset bundle). Firmware updates are likely to cure most problems as does all online games.