Last night I fired up my PS3 ,entered my regisatration code and began downloading the Socom:Confrontation beta.As someone who has played alot of Socom over the years I was eagerly anticipating the game's transition into the next(current?)gen.I had quite a few hopes for the new game which consisted of (but not limited to)better graphics,new or adjusted camera view,Xbox Live style community features,a reworking of the oh-so twitchy aiming controls and a new controller(ok I know that last one isn't gonna happen,but a guy can dream can't he?).Well, I guess 2 out of 4 ain't bad(or is it?).
Let me start with the graphics.While they are certainly leaps and bounds better than the last game on PS2, they still aren't on par with most other games.Games like Call of Duty 4 easily trounce the new Socom, which is odd considering it's coming out almost a year after that game.The graphics are still good, it's just that I was expecting more.
Next is the controls.This is a gripe I've had since the first time I played a Socom game.The controls have always felt way too "twitchy",causing firefights to almost always digress into what my cousin lovingly calls "the Socom shuffle"(where the players are forced to wildly strafe left to right over and over again because aiming is almost useless in split second decisions).Now I'm well aware of the ability to adjust the feel of the controls in the options menu.But in this day and age a person shouldn't have to spend and hour or more adjusting things like look speed,dead zone and acceleration to get controls that feel right.Games like COD4,Resistance,MGS4 and Uncharted manage to get the feel right so why can't Socom.It's nothing that I'm not used to but it's definately something I was hoping would be fixed.But alas,the Socom community,they are a fickle bunch and so I'm not surprised that Slant Six didn't mess with the controls.
Playing this has also really hammered home how far behind Sony is in terms of online.The fact that I can't send private chat invites or send game invites easily is mindboggling.Now I can understand a PS3 owner who doesn't also own a 360 not understanding, but when I have to call my friend on my cell to find out what game he is in it's time for a change.Some have argued that Sony's PSN is on par with XboxLive and to those people I would say "Show me an XboxLive feature that Sony has and I'll show you two that they don't".
The new camera is much better than the old one in my opinion.I love the fact that it's more Gears of War and less Conflict:Desert Storm (yeah,I went there).The new "sprint" feature seems like a good idea although I haven't really used it much.I also like the fact they moved the rate of fire button from "L3" to the "O" button.
Ultimately the game is enjoyable but I'm already getting tired of playing Crossroads.I know it's an overhaul, but it's a map that I've played more times than I can count.Something new would have been nice.I'll enjoy playing this Socom with my friends as I always have, I just wish they weren't so scared of pushing the envelope a little.
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