The folks over at Sony just released a slew of brand new screenshots showing the upcoming SOCOM title for the PSP.

]]> Fri, 17 Aug 2007 13:18:00 -0500 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/socom_confrontation_trailer http://www.gamebump.com/go/socom_confrontation_trailer http://www.gamebump.com/go/socom_confrontation_trailer# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

Here's the SOCOM Confrontation trailer shown at the SCEA Gamer's Day event. For the game's official announcement details and first screenshots, click here. 

  divxMovie('http://files.gaminghorizon.com/t_socomconfrontation_screen.divx',true);

]]> Thu, 17 May 2007 13:44:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_socom_us_navy_seals_combined_assault_ps2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_socom_us_navy_seals_combined_assault_ps2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_socom_us_navy_seals_combined_assault_ps2# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Brian Mohr.

When it was originally release along with the network adapter on the PlayStation 2, SOCOM became the epitome of online multiplayer experiences for the console and featured a solid offline experience as well. Since that game, Sony and Zipper Interactive have released three games in the series including this year’s battle, SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals Combined Assault. Whether good or bad, little has changed in the series from last year’s version, but if you like the previous titles this certainly will be right up your alley.

The best aspect of any SOCOM game is the online mode and Zipper doesn’t disappoint. This version adds a couple new options to the mix in the online four-player cooperative multiplayer mode and the backwards capability with SOCOM 3, as long as you don’t play on any of the new maps. Besides that, the game features plenty of regular features including ladders, rankings, community support, clans, and more. It does support chat through the USB headset and allows up to 32 people to play at once.

There are 10 new maps and most were designed to feature heavy action focused areas. They provide players both styles of play, whether that is battling it out guns blazing or sniping.

The single-player mode has seen some changes too. Most notably is the fact that you’ll be able to pick your missions after the first challenge. This results in the game not being a straight linear storyline. It does feature a nice variety of challenges including sniping, rescuing prisoners, and infiltrating various environments. Another addition to the series is the inclusion of achievements, including getting a certain number of headshots, capturing enemies, and more. Though I feel the single-player experience has been better in previous titles, this one is still quite solid.

Vehicles are back and there’s a wider variety to them this year. Last year they were almost all the same type, but this year they vary from armor, recon, and support type vehicles, basically meaning they have various speeds they’ll move at. The vehicles actually come down mostly to Humvees and boats and the controls for those are still very well done.

As for the combat controls themselves, they are still very well intact. If you’ve played the game before they are familiar as you’ll utilize the two analog sticks to aim, trigger to shoot, triangle to crouch or crawl, X for action, and the other buttons to issue commands to your teammates. There has been an update to the weapons like some new guns and add-ons like the use of bean bags.

If that’s not enough, the game does interact with the PlayStation Portable version, Fireteam Bravo 2, in which you can crosstalk. This mostly allows you to download some nice extras including new characters, weapons and movies.

Meanwhile, the sound is still very impressive. The voice acting continues to have a lot of depth and character while the sound effects are also good. The gunfire and explosions really sound realistic; the only thing that’s not present is environmental sounds which are a slight disappointment. As for the soundtrack, it’s instrumental like in the previous games and does a terrific job of building up the intensity and drama when you’re on the battlefield moving around corners or opening doors.

Really the only problem with SOCOM: Combined Assault is the graphics. There doesn’t appear to be any updates graphically in the game in the last couple years from SOCOM 2 to now. They were great back then, but now when you compare it to a next-generation game it looks a little bit stale. The shot and death animations are about the same from previous titles and small details like dead enemies and footprints disappear quickly. The environments and gunfire are still attractive, but at this time in a console’s life we expect more.

The only other issue with the game is the enemy artificial intelligence. While they have relatively good aim and flanking movements, they aren’t the most brilliant all the time. Sometimes they’ll get stuck on the battlefield and that results in them standing out in plain view or they will duck behind a barrel of explosives. Also your own squad mates are pretty good at following commands, but at times they still don’t follow orders.

There hasn’t been much of a change to SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Combined Assault from previous versions with the exception of a few new options, weapons, and maps, but that’s a good thing since it wasn’t broken in the first place. The game’s sound, gameplay, online capabilities, and more are very good; the only problem is the graphics and artificial intelligence. While Combined Assault may not be the leap forward we would like to see in the SOCOM series, it’s still a very solid title that’s worth checking out.

The controls and gameplay are the same which is a good thing.

The graphics are good, but not great even for a PlayStation 2 game.

The voice acting, sound effects, and music are very solid.

Combined Assault is fun, but after four SOCOM games it’s more of the same.

It’s SOCOM and the online mode is as good and addicting as ever.

]]> Sun, 17 Dec 2006 22:15:00 -0600 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/socom_3_map_pack_1_available http://www.gamebump.com/go/socom_3_map_pack_1_available http://www.gamebump.com/go/socom_3_map_pack_1_available# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

One of Sony Computer Entertainment America’s most popular franchises, SOCOM, is coming back and this time it is called, SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals Combined Assault for the PlayStation 2. We had a chance to go hands-on with the game at this year's E3 2006 in Los Angeles. To get it out there, this SOCOM isn’t really different compared to past titles but instead Zipper Interactive has added a bunch of new maps and the spanking new Co-op mode to its title.

The demo we had a chance to play was pretty short and contained three missions on the tightrope map. The first mission was to blow up a shipment of SAM missiles; the second was to drop the bridge so enemy tanks wouldn’t come in; and lastly, the third was to secure an airfield so troops could enter the area. The missions were rather easy, to be honest, but I’m sure enemy AI will be introduced and/or upgraded at a later time. The co-op can be played in up to four players and all players must work together to get the job done.

Another addition was the option so that players could select an individual tactical mission area that was previously completed, and play it as a stand alone mission or an instant action mission in four-player co-op mode. A med kit is also going to be added that will allow the player to heal a friendly target or himself in the middle of a battle. The med kit must be equipped before the mission starts to utilize it.

One thing Sony and Zipper kept saying is that Combined Assault will be “backwards compatible” with SOCOM 3. How? Well, Combined Assault will include everything SOCOM 3 had, which includes maps, patches, updates, and many other necessary items. The maximum number of players on a given server for multiplayer is 2-32.

Sony plans to ship Combined Assault to stores this fall. Look for more on this title in the coming day’s right here at Gaming Horizon.]]> Thu, 11 May 2006 02:43:00 -0500 Tim Grube http://www.gamebump.com/go/socom_us_navy_seals_combined_assault_screenshots http://www.gamebump.com/go/socom_us_navy_seals_combined_assault_screenshots http://www.gamebump.com/go/socom_us_navy_seals_combined_assault_screenshots# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

Sony has issued five first screenshots of SOCOM U.S. Navy Seals: Combined Assault for the PlayStation 2. Take a look below.

]]> Thu, 11 May 2006 02:41:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/sony_gives_info_on_socom_fireteam_bravo_2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/sony_gives_info_on_socom_fireteam_bravo_2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/sony_gives_info_on_socom_fireteam_bravo_2# Sony has given up more details on their upcoming military shooter for the PSP, SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALS: Fireteam Bravo 2.

The game will feature a non-linear mission progression through 14 single-player missions across various areas of the world giving gamers the option to choose where they take on battle next. Missions can also be redone in different ways allowing gamers to go back and take on new objectives and enemies. Zipper has announced that the game will feature over 40 real world weapons and you'll be able to purchase new ones by earning command equity points. These are given to players for completing missions, reaching objectives and rescuing civilians. The points can also be used to purchase air strikes, supply drops along with improved local influence giving you the option to get information from locals and purchase black market weapons.

Meanwhile, the multiplayer game will feature 16-player ad hoc and infrastructure support. The multiplayer game will include three new modes of play including tug-of-war control points, capture the flag and target.

If games define the system, then Halo made the Xbox, Final Fantasy VII made the original PlayStation, Nintendogs made the DS, and SOCOM made the PlayStation 2. It’s little wonder, then, that Zipper Interactive opted to create an entirely new SOCOM product for the PlayStation Portable, Sony’s premier handheld unit and the first portable system to challenge the GameBoy line-up in years. SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo has all the goodies formerly exclusive to the PlayStation 2 versions, and it’s just as intense and addictive on the small screen as its big brothers are on the living room TV. If you own a PSP, happen to like shooters, or really enjoy any of the SOCOM games, this one’s for you. It’s possibly the best and most fun PSP game on the market.

Fireteam Bravo wastes no time explaining overlaying plot lines, introducing the team, or putting you through a boring tutorial level. Instead, the game immediately launches you into a selection screen where you can view all the modes offered at a glance, beginning with the campaign mode, which spans the globe and involves four distinct locales: Chile, Morocco, South Asia, and Poland. Unlike the regular SOCOM (PS2) games, Fireteam Bravo’s single-player experience has you controlling Sandman (Raymond Stokes), the head of a two-man SEALs team, while reducing the franchise’s four AI teammates down to one, the dreaded Lonestar (Tate Rawlins, and yes he’s a Texan). The campaign mode features 14 missions (about 3-4 per locale) and the typical primary objectives: apprehend bad guys, rescue hostages, blow stuff up, take photos with your convenient digital camera, and gather intel without the pesky terrorists knowing it.

Before deployment, you’re presented with a mission briefing, a short list of current objectives, some minor intel (usually accompanied by some satellite imagery), and an armory to adjust your team’s load-outs. The franchise’s usual weapons – the M4A1 for the SEALs, the AK-47 for the terrorists – are present and make gamers feel instantly at home, along with sniper rifles (SR-25, M87ELR), claymores, pressure mines (only available in multiplayer), sub-machine guns (9mm sub, HK5), and grenades. Zipper included the extra trinkets from SOCOM III, too, like the magnification scopes (both low and high power) and thermal view (night vision is automatically equipped during evening missions).

Once you’ve deployed, you’ll need a few moments to familiarize yourself with the different control scheme, which is surprisingly functional considering the unit’s lack of a second analog nub. In the PS2 iterations of SOCOM, the left analog stick is used for maneuvering and the right stick targets; in Fireteam Bravo, the left maneuvers and the right shoulder button targets, or locks-on. The game also makes use of a freelock mode, which enables you to both aim and move with the left analog nub depending on whether or not the L button is held down. The lock-on feature is what makes the game playable on the PSP, but as it typically targets a foe’s body (and not his head), you can expect to score fewer head shots, which keeps the game playable online.

To help you figure out where you’re going and where your targets are, Fireteam Bravo implements a compass marked with blue allies and red enemies, NAV points (important targets shown on-screen and on the compass), and a crude yet functional map that highlights roads, buildings, NAV points, and terrain edges. Fireteam Bravo’s environs are rather large for a handheld game, but definitely smaller than most SOCOM maps, which accommodates the lesser number of terrorists/players as well as keeps you from wasting a half hour traversing an area to score a kill (an important note consider the title’s lack of a mid-mission save).

The game screen also houses a team member status box that displays team health bars, a weapon display, gun crosshairs, and – when enemies are locked on – a convenient, bright red target box. If you feel like tossing grenades or planting claymores, you can switch weapons by simply hitting the left directional button to bring up the weapon menu. From there, merely cycle through the selections via up/down, and choose a new gun by pressing X. Triangle toggles between primary and secondary weapons for quick weapon juggling, and X shoots. For easy reloading, hold down the square button. If you’ve equipped a scope (or prefer a first-person viewpoint) repeatedly press the up directional button; this sometimes passes through night vision mode if the mission is set in the evening, and if you have thermal equipped, culminates in a fuzzy blue field marked with throbbing red targets. Sometimes you’ll encounter a special action icon, which can include such options as “pick up primary/secondary weapon”, “open/close door”, “place satchel/C4 charges”, “climb”, “knife”, and – for when you’re completely out of ammo with no enemies in sight – “rifle butt”. It’s cheap, but effective.

Perhaps the most obvious signature mark of the campaign mode is the inclusion of Lonestar, who is essentially your go-to guy. You command him to move to locations, diffuse bombs, breach doorways (run inside and clear out the room), cover targets, deploy (bomb targets), regroup on you, and clear the area – which all basically saves yourself some bullets. If Lonestar dies, however, or you die (or your hostages die, or you foil some important objective) the mission is over.

If you haven’t got the time for a full campaign level, you can always start an instant action game. As missions are completed, you can play through their maps in one of five modes under the instant action selection: hostage extract, stealth extract (extract hostages without being seen), sweep and clear (kill all foes), sabotage (have Lonestar disable a device), and stealth sabotage (disable a device without being seen). To keep things fresh, you can select a difficulty level for the mission (ensign, admiral, etc.) and randomize enemies and items, which makes up for some of the modes being the same (besides the fact that you can’t be seen).

If you’re ready for some multiplayer fun and have a few friends with PSPs of their own, you can engage in ad hoc games utilizing only one copy of Fireteam Bravo. When you’re ready for real SOCOM action, however, head to the infrastructure wireless LAN option and hop online to take on the best. Fireteam Bravo perfectly mimics SOCOM III’s online mode, complete with 11 briefing rooms of 256 maximum players each. Online games include suppression (team with most players alive at the end of the match wins), free for all (terrorists against terrorists), extraction (SEALs win by extracting hostages, and terrorists win by killing the SEALs), demolition (blow up the enemy base, or defuse the bomb set at your own base), and captive, which is suppression with a revival twist. The respawn option made popular in SOCOM III is also present, along with friendly fire and similar load-out modification when you’re dead. Matches typically consist of 11 rounds of 5 minutes each, and the game keeps a tally (viewable via select) that shows scores as well as who’s alive, who’s dead, and who’s got the bomb.

Fireteam Bravo is also the first mainstream PSP game to utilize the PSP headset, which is about $20 and plugs easily into the PSP remote, improving communication effectiveness. The game uses three radio channels (all players, channel one, and channel two) and features everyone’s favorite victory dances, taunts (voice and text), team voting (kick those annoying jerks who shoot their teammates), friend invites, and all of SOCOM III’s community options: poll, leaderboards, message boards, profile information, clan joining or management, and simplified (or advanced) game searches. And no, you don’t have to verify your account as you do in SOCOM III.

The best thing about Fireteam Bravo is how Zipper Interactive adjusted it to fit the needs of portable play, and its smaller maps – which better accommodate the 16 maximum players in a match – are still significantly larger than most environments in handheld titles. They also still contain the traditional canyons, tunnels, secret passageways, cover spots, and abandoned buildings that make all the SOCOM games so much fun. Players climb over fences to ambush you, stalk you through underground passages, and snipe you from afar on top of rushing you for a nice firefight, and while the lock-on targeting gives you an early warning that opponents are near, Zipper was wise enough to limit its distance such that players have to get in close to use it.

Most of the areas are highly detailed and graphically comparable to SOCOM III’s stages, and this is echoed in the character models, bright explosions, smoke bombs, and night/thermal view, which only emphasizes the game’s polished presentation. There are even CG cutscenes, voiced and subtitled, to introduce each of the four locales in single-player mode, and the voiceovers (including Lonestar’s humorous comments) are very believable. In-game sound effects – footsteps, howling winds, grenade warnings, gunfire, and very big booms – add to the title’s wartime ambience and, paired with the game’s musical track (the same track in almost all SOCOM games), help create an epic mood.

And finally, perhaps to convince SOCOM III fans to give Fireteam Bravo a try (and vice versa), Zipper enables players to complete crosstalk objectives in either SOCOM III or Fireteam Bravo and then connect the PSP to the PS2 via a mini-b cable to synchronize the data. This unlocks new objectives, weapons, and multiplayer skins for both games.

It could fairly be said that all of Fireteam Bravo’s good aspects are borrowed from SOCOM III, and so it is with its faults. The game’s visuals, so on par with its immediate predecessor, have also inherited its problem areas, worsened by the nature of the PSP. While online play is usually quite smooth, it does get jerky at times and lags a lot when in areas of high texturing and enemy activity, especially when players are tossing grenades. The textures themselves are very repetitive and often muddy, and the game is plagued by clipping errors.

Lonestar’s AI could still use some tweaking. Sometimes he’ll wander into a wall and just keep... going. Other times he gets lost behind you and you’re forced to wait a few seconds for him to catch up. In one particular level in which I had to diffuse a certain number of bombs under a time limit, I actually lost because Lonestar got stuck in a hallway or the “diffuse bomb” command switched to “move to” after I gave the order. You’ll also spot poor Lonestar occasionally crawling from one spot to another, which makes absolutely no sense when the area is empty of all life but your own. It’s also amusing to watch him slink along a road out in the open, when there are enemies about, so be prepared to rush in and provide him some cover.

When it comes to online play, there are much fewer people online in Fireteam Bravo than in any SOCOM game for the PS2, although there are still more people online in Fireteam Bravo than in any other PSP game and most PS2 titles. You’ll typically have about two rooms stocked with 256 players and a few rooms with significantly less than that, which makes starting up or joining a game in a different map more difficult. There are also fewer people with headsets in Fireteam Bravo, although the number of players with headsets is steadily rising.

As for the idiots that flock all online titles, they’re here, and you’ll still have to contend with them (I’m actually of the belief that said idiots purchase online games simply to annoy everyone else, because they are idiots). You’ll get the same verbal abuse in-game or “u dum ppl suk” text lines in the lobby, but because of the nature of the PSP, you won’t get them as often (matches on Fireteam Bravo are a lot more quiet).

The only significant online error I spotted in Fireteam Bravo was during some instances when, in extraction matches, SEALs began the round with automatic extractions and scored some cheap victories (I’ve only witnessed this in the thin ice medley).

And just as in every SOCOM game to have ever seen the sun, you still have incidents where you’ve shot a guy a hundred times and he not only survives, but manages to turn you around and fill you with bullets. Maybe that’s what terrorists mean when they speak of “divine intervention”?

Fireteam Bravo is an excellent addition to anyone’s PSP library. If you own a PSP, you should have this game. If you like SOCOM, or just shooters, and lack a PSP, you should purchase a PSP and this game. Fireteam Bravo has all the goodies that SOCOM fans love, and they’re displayed brilliantly on the handheld’s sleek widescreen. Zipper Interactive managed to create very smooth, simple controls for a unit without a second analog nub (a minor miracle), and brought along all the SOCOM visual treats and gameplay nuances that fans of the genre crave, and the PSP enabled them to do this all in style. Don’t be surprised if you catch yourself turning off the PS2 and picking up the PSP (and Fireteam Bravo) instead.

All the gameplay of SOCOM III on the PSP’s gorgeous widescreen. Intense online play.

Great visuals, some clipping errors and repetitive texturing, though. Solid presentation.

Great sound effects and voiceovers, plus SOCOM III music for a nice epic touch.

The most fun I’ve had on the PSP. Online play is a blast and incredibly addictive.

Once you’re hooked, it’ll take months for you to put it down. Online play, ad hoc, and campaign

]]> Wed, 23 Nov 2005 20:38:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_socom_iii_us_navy_seals_ps2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_socom_iii_us_navy_seals_ps2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_socom_iii_us_navy_seals_ps2# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by John Godfrey.

I always found the idea of a killer app a little silly. Honestly, one game, no matter how "killer" it may be, cannot merit the purchase of a brand new gaming console. On the other hand, one game can definitely be enough incentive to purchase a gaming peripheral, specifically a PlayStation 2 Network Adaptor. And that's just what SOCOM did back in 2002. Followed by SOCOM 2, a sequel that was a little more like an add-on map pack with a couple of new features, SOCOM 3 is finally here and pushes the limits of the series in all possible ways to become quite possibly the best online PS2 experience there is.

The leap between SOCOM 2 and SOCOM 3 in terms of online play is like the leap Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas took over Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in depth and scale. Instead of the average-sized levels of SOCOM and the somewhat larger areas of SOCOM 2, SOCOM 3 blows the whole concept wide-open starting with the load out menu. Players are now able to customize their weapons; a variety of scopes (zoom and thermal), laser sights, silencers, grenade launchers, front grips and bipods are available to attach to your primary or secondary weapon (as long as it supports the attachment, for instance you wouldn't be able to attach a grenade launcher to a HK5 submachine gun, and a high scope on a TA 12-gauge shotgun would be just a little ridiculous). While choosing your weaponry and attachments, an encumbrance meter appears at the bottom of the load-out screen. As in real life, the more crap you decide to carry with you, the slower you're going to be. As long as you keep the meter out of the red you should be fine; a submachine gun, light sidearm, and a couple grenades would keep you light on your feet, whereas if you picked a M60E3 machine gun along with bipod, a Desert Eagle with a laser and an RPG launcher with extra ammo to top things off, you're going to be slower than the rest of the team. This is a good way to even out the balance of power, because even if you loaded up on the most powerful weapons in the game you lose the advantage of speed, which is very critical in many open-area scenarios.

Once you've chosen your weapons, talked some smack in the lobby and get launched into the game, you'll notice that the best way to describe the level size is "enormous”. Some levels must be at least four to five times the size of levels in SOCOM 2, and feature quite a bit of diversity in the landscape. You could spawn on a beach, make your way across a bay, up onto the boardwalk of a boat house, run through some dense mountainous jungle into a waterfall area, and past that to some ancient ruins, and to the other side of the island where you'll find a small village of huts. Other levels could have vast open areas, like a desert, with some landmarks between them, like a little town here and refueling station there.

As you might imagine, maps of this kind of scale could make things quite difficult if you're playing a four-person match, as it's possible for the last two players alive to run around in the map and not once cross ways because the map is so big. One player could be searching out in the desert while his enemy is past the desert, past the rocky caverns, past the watering hole, hiding in the basement of a small shop. To combat this problem, when setting up the game you can adjust the map size based on the amount of players in the game, the full map can easily accommodate the maximum 32 players, whereas if you were playing with a smaller bunch of people, you can pick the smaller version of the map. When the smaller version is selected, certain roads and areas have barricades in front of them, so it's the same map, just truncated a bit. Once again, you can also choose to only allow certain ranks into your game, and limit what kind of weapons and/or explosives can be used. You can also choose to have the game you create to not be ranked. This means whatever happens during the game, your SOCOM rank will not be affected.

Online levels now feature an assortment of vehicles to be used to both traverse the map and eliminate the competition with. There's a nice assortment of Hummers, available with just a top-mounted machine gun turret, or top-mounted machine gun turret and turrets on passenger doors, or with a top-mounted rocket launcher. There are also pickup trucks with a machine gun turret mounted on the top, dune buggies, tanks, supply trucks, and boats with mounted machine gun turrets and grenade launchers. Of course, when the players inside a vehicle die, the assailant is more than likely going to take the vehicle in question and use it against your team, so vehicles play a big part in the balance of power in the game; if a team manages to get control of all the intact vehicles, teammates can drive around in a convoy seeking and destroying whatever opposition is left. This makes it essential to work in teams and groups, as if you're driving around alone in a vehicle it might as well be a mobile coffin as you have no gunner in the turret to defend you, and on the other side of the coin if you're running around in the open you don't want to end up on the wrong side of a tank or in a close-quarters area filled with the enemy.

You'll notice that working in a couple squads could also prove beneficial, if one group diverts attention while another one goes through an alternate route they can plant and defend a bomb easily taking little opposition in a demolition match, for instance. Teamwork and cooperation is definitely increased thanks to the addition of huge maps and vehicles, which makes the headset an essential part of the game; playing online a few times without a headset it feels almost like being blind, as everyone is scattered around the map but you don't know what anyone's doing or have any sort of plan. When you find good people to play with, you can create a clan for them to join, or join the one they're in. Clans aren't so much "hey look how 1337 we are we kill joo stoopit n00bzz" as much as they are a group of good players to play with that know how to communicate and work as a team; try playing with a good communicative team that makes plans and updates each other during combat and then try a random pick-up match, it's like playing two different games altogether.

Oh yeah, and there's also an offline mode, if you're wondering how to unlock those costumes in the online mode. The single-player mode is better than in any of the previous games in the series, the pacing of the levels is perfect, and the mission objectives are more interesting, seeing you using and fighting against vehicles, taking out tanks and targets by using the new laser designator for air strikes. The story progresses through news clips and cutscenes of whoever the baddy of the moment is making plans against you in his native tongue (with subtitles of course). The foreign voices add more authenticity to the game, and all the distinctive weapon sounds are there; you can usually identify what guns are being used in a firefight around the corner after a few hours online. The sound of the guns on the boats is particularly distinctive and can actually be translated into "take cover!!!" The music in the SOCOM games has always been quite good featuring military music; SOCOM 3 also does this but with more of a cinematic flare that really adds tension to certain situations. The game is now running on a new engine that stylistically looks very similar to the previous SOCOM games but with a considerable amount of polish and much better lighting and particle effects.

One of the most annoying aspects of the previous SOCOM games was how the save system was setup, as the only time you were allowed to save was at the end of the mission. That means if you died moments before completing the whole mission you'd have to start from the beginning, completing all the objectives one by one all over again until you reached the end, hoping to God you don't die during that last firefight. Thankfully, SOCOM 3 has finally fixed this nagging problem by scattering checkpoints throughout each mission. Usually after arriving to a destination or completing a task the checkpoint will be activated, and you will start from there whenever you die. You can also choose "save last checkpoint" if you want to finish up later, another nice addition.

In the single-player game, your AI teammates are a little smarter than before; they don't get caught up in doors and ladders as much as before, but they're still prone to random bouts of stupidity. For instance, in a level where you have to help resistance fighters at various strongholds by getting behind a machine gun turret and taking out waves of enemy forces, your fire team crouches behind you. When an enemy gets too far to one side of the turret that they're out of the machine gun's range, your fire team sits by idly as he makes his way straight to the back of the turret's barricade and starts taking out NPC allies and other members of your fire team. So you're constantly checking your blind spots, getting off the turret, taking out an enemy with your assault rifle, and then trying to play catch-up on the turret now that there are more enemies ahead of you. Of course the developers want the game to be challenging – you can't have your fire team doing everything, but you don't want to have to baby-sit them through certain segments either.

There have been a few minor changes to the way the controls are set up in SOCOM 3, which will take just a little bit of time to get used to. There are also a few different sets of control schemes, but if you end up finding certain buttons from different schemes effective, you can't mix and match and bind your own commands to buttons, you can only use presets. With new functions to remember on the online battlefield, it'd be better to let you choose your own buttons so you can get the advantage of doing things more efficiently.

Online is pretty much smooth sailing, but there are a couple of problems, hit detection seems to be really hit or miss at times, and in certain large levels some areas (especially ones with a lot of textures and models different than the rest of the map) seem to have a killer frame rate choke at times. I would mark this up to lag between the players, but it seems to happen to some areas more frequently than what can be marked up to be coincidence. Also, certain levels have a definite SEAL or terrorist advantage, but since most of the maps are well balanced, these make for good "challenge" maps. And finally, once again the little glitches are already starting to show, hopefully we get those frequent updates that kept SOCOM 2 from going stale for so long.

Though the large maps are great, and really push the series forward, smaller maps like Frostfire from SOCOM (with a re-appearance in SOCOM 2) are non-existent. Even making a SOCOM 3 map its smallest size doesn't compare to the kind of close-quarters combat found in a level like Frostfire, and the inclusion of levels like that into the online mode would offer a great change of pace. What everyone would love is to see the online maps of both SOCOM and SOCOM 2 appear in the game, much like SOCOM's maps appeared in SOCOM 2, but since SOCOM 3 is running on a different engine, each map would have to be ported, so we can only hope that we'll be able to see them as extra downloadable content.

SOCOM 2 was probably the best online experience on the PS2, and SOCOM 3 has now taken that spot by improving dramatically on all elements of its predecessors. Online play with vehicles, giant maps and customizable weapons are a blast that you won't get tired of any time soon, and the single player mode is a nice diversion especially with the addition of checkpoints (I bet some people never beat SOCOM 1 or 2 because of the lack of them). If you have a network adaptor, you need this game.

Classic gameplay of SOCOM 2 with huge maps, vehicles, and customizable weapons.

A beautiful new engine means a sight for sore eyes for veterans of the SOCOM series.

Convincing weapon sounds and foreign languages coupled with a great soundtrack.

Nothing's more fun than loading up a team of allies into a hummer and tearing it up online.

SOCOM 3 online is like crack. Consider yourself warned.

]]> Mon, 07 Nov 2005 01:28:00 -0600 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_socom_iii_us_navy_seals_ps23 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_socom_iii_us_navy_seals_ps23 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_socom_iii_us_navy_seals_ps23# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals has been the PlayStation 2’s online success story from the day the original released in August of 2002. Since then Sony and Zipper went on to create the sequel and are still working on a third that is due out in October. We got a chance to play around with the upcoming SOCOM 3 online and try out one of the new maps as well as some weapons and vehicles.

First off, the online beta included just one map, entitled Harvester. This map, like others, allows up to 32 players to play on a single map at any one time. The environment for Harvester is very impressive and detailed. Particularly the windmill tower that is the center of the map and occasionally spins is really a nice touch. Beyond that, the layout has various terrains that put players in a mountainous region with many open fields, roads, rivers and a few buildings or ruins to battle around.

The map certainly is a sniper’s dream in certain areas, although you can’t get by completely on foot as vehicles are a must to get from one side of the map to the other. You’ll be given the opportunity to jump on a Hummer with turret or Jeep with turret for terrorists. There are also two boats for both sides to use that are manned with machine guns and grenade launchers. The vehicles drive pretty smoothly in the online mode, although from our experience it was at times a little jumpy for a second or two at the very most occasionally. Also noted is that if you are in the vehicles you can run over your enemies, but you can also very easily get shot inside too. If you’re on a turret be prepared to get sniped immediately as it seems to be open hunting season because you stand out. The good thing though is that you can get out of the vehicles very simply with just the push of the X button. I did notice that changing position on any of the vehicles did seem to take an exorbitant amount of time as you push square and it takes at least two or three seconds to do it. One last note was trying to get in the vehicles, it can take a little time too and is very picky on allowing you to get in as you must be standing and pushing X right next to the vehicle.

With the 32 players, the maps are significantly larger in SOCOM 3 and it will take time for new players to get used to them and know where they are going and what the objectives are. The key more so in SOCOM 3 than in any of its predecessors is teamwork and communication, particularly with the new game types.

Each map in SOCOM 3 will feature the regular game modes including Suppression, Extraction, Escort, Demolition and Breach. These games run almost exactly the same as they did on previous versions of SOCOM except there are more players and it’s a bigger map. The difference in the new game is the two new game modes entitled Convoy and Control.

Convoy pits the Seals who have two convoy vehicles and two Hummers with turrets to go to one of two areas to pick up ammunition and equipment right in the midst of terrorists who are trying to stop you. If you successfully load one of the trucks, you then must take it back to a drop point. Teamwork is a must on this level and just from playing a few games of it, it’s evident that the terrorists have a significant advantage. Most often when I saw the Seals win it was because they killed all the terrorists. The other disadvantage for the Seal team was that you have to get out of the vehicle and press X around the various boxes to load it up. It takes time and is difficult when you’re under fire. Despite all that, the game is a lot of fun whether you’re the Seals or terrorists. For the terrorists, the key to the map is to destroy the two convoy vehicles by either driving them into the river or blowing them up. Overall it’s a nice addition to the game and certainly is a good change of pace.

The other map is Control which is a different game type altogether as the Seal team starts on one side and the terrorists start on the other. Players must go to five locations to drop flares and whoever gets the most before time is up or gets all five before the game is over wins. This map is very different as it allows players to do one of two things; either go out to the various locations to lay flares or sit back and defend one area from enemy attack. Setting flares is as easy as pressing X for approximately five seconds over the point. It really allows for varied gameplay that can change up every round. Overall, Control is a very nice addition as well to SOCOM 3 as it forces the action to continuously change throughout the game.

Beyond the new maps, SOCOM 3 has a few other slight nuances. One, for players used to the game, is that it does seem to take more hits to take out an enemy. I’ve seen it multiple times now that I know I’ve shot an enemy two or three times and they still don’t die. Another note is that some of the weapons in SOCOM 3 don’t quite feel like they did in SOCOM II. They are a little different and it just takes some getting used to.

Players will get a lot more options as far as weapons are concerned. If you’re on the Seal team you get to choose from the M8, HK5, HK7, L96AW, M40A1, M87ELA, SR-25, 12 Gauge Pump, M4-90, M60E3, MK .48, AK35, IW-80A2, M14, M16A2 and M4A1. While the terrorists can choose primary weapons including the AK-47, AG-94, M16A2, RA-14, STG-77, 9mm Sub, F90, M40A1, M82A1A, SASR, 12 Gauge Pump, Spas 12, M60E3, RTK-74 and 552.

Players also have three pistols to choose from and a much wider variety of attachments and extras than ever before. The attachments and extras include for AT4 for Seals or RPG-7 for terrorists, C4, Claymore, M2Mine, Extra Ammo, AN-M8, HE, Mark 141, M67 and attachments like thermal, various scopes, red dot, suppressors, grips and more. Each primary weapon you get has a variety of attachments you can put on it and most of the guns can be silenced for both teams, not just the Seals like in SOCOM 2.

If that wasn’t enough, players can also acquire enemy weapons. If you pick up a weapon from an enemy you killed, you will be able to use that weapon in subsequent rounds. This was a very nice addition and keeps the options coming for players in the online game.

SOCOM 3 looks to push the community features even further in this latest installment. The community section is broken down into subgroups including SOCOM 3 Daily, Leaderboards, Clan Ladders, Message Board, Personal, Feedback and Help. The Daily includes news, polls and promotions. The Leaderboards allow you to search weekly leaders, monthly leaders, friend leaders or any combination that you desire. The Clan Ladders show the clan leader list. Message Boards have various SOCOM 3 game related issues to talk about. Personal allows players to go into their profile, mailbox or edit their account and Feedback allows players to report a bug or send feedback to Sony.

Now for a few other final notes just based on our experiences in the menus in the game. The first is that the life meter is very tiny. I’ve got a 32-inch television and even on my TV the meter is the size of a Tic-Tac. One another note is that when you enter a map, players can’t tell which game they’ll be playing if they go into a Medley. Instead you are forced to find out what you’re playing when you’re actually in the game and you have to press select. There is no area that tells what type of game you’ll be playing only what type of map you’re going into.

Another nuisance is that players from both teams are given various start points when you go into a map. Sadly you can’t change these between rounds during a game. Finally, one good note to end with is that the night vision for SOCOM 3 is in full screen and not first-person like in SOCOM 2, but again sadly once you die you can’t view night vision on your teammates screens and thus see nothing.

Overall the SOCOM 3 beta is very impressive and I can’t wait to get my hands on more maps upon the game’s release in October. Beyond a few minor touches, the game looks destined to be at least as good and most likely better than the previous versions especially the online portion. The addition of more weapons, players, vehicles and larger maps allow for a bigger and better SOCOM experience than ever before.]]> Mon, 29 Aug 2005 10:54:05 -0500 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_socom_iii_us_navy_seals_ps22 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_socom_iii_us_navy_seals_ps22 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_socom_iii_us_navy_seals_ps22# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

SOCOM 3 for the PlayStation 2 is definitely looking to expand on the series in every possible way from the previous two versions. What is already known about the game is that the newest enhancements for the title will be vehicles and the ability to swim. Beyond this, Zipper also shared with us that weapons customization will be an even more critical part of the game as they stated the game is about choices.

The vehicles in the game include ones like the Humvee, tank and boats. Players can simply press square to jump from driving to a turret in both single and multiplayer. Along with the vehicles is the ability to target a driver or specific gunmen, if you take out a driver the enemies will scatter out of the vehicle and then use tactics to take you on. With driving, you'll also be able to run over your enemies, but Zipper confirms that the vehicles will be more important to get you from point A to point B instead of constantly using them to get an upper hand. In this like previous SOCOM games, stealth is still key. Meanwhile, the swimming isn't a huge advancement, but in-game it does allow for you to use the water as both cover and to sneak up on your enemies.

One huge advancement for the series is the completely revamped team commands which will allow you to give orders to your teammates with the press of one button. There will be no need to fiddle through multiple menus to get things done anymore. Another big improvement is that the game's 15 missions are approximately six times longer each than in SOCOM 2 thus meaning Zipper had to add checkpoints so that you can save your progress and restore your health. Along with this is the fact that enemies in these missions are significantly more active and they will use flanking, cover and other tactics to take you out. A wonderful example of this was when we saw the dark clothed enemies hiding in a shadowed area making them blend into the environment and much more difficult to see.

Graphically the single-player and multiplayer is significantly better and more defined as you'll see dust clouds from helicopters flying overhead and gunfire flying by. The action in SOCOM 3 is a lot more intense than you have ever seen before as action surrounds you. The characters themselves are also a lot sharper than in previous versions of the game. With the graphics you'll also see new effects in relation to thermal view. The buildings look significantly better and even force you to jump and pull yourself up to make sure a house is cleared, not everywhere is accessible by stairs now.

The sound in the game is significantly better as you'll hear a lot more yelling, screaming and with the intense action comes a lot of gunfire and explosions. It really does make you feel like you're in the heat of combat. In a separate mission, players will experience the jungle and you'll hear crickets and all the noises that go along with that experience, it really does add another sense to the game. Beyond this, the music is created by composer James Dooley who has worked with famed composer Hans Zimmer.

Finally, for both the single and multiplayer experience the controls still remain largely intact. The big difference now is that you will be given the opportunity to lead a breach if you'd like and now your computer teammates have better breaching tactics. The game will include 30 weapons and 20 attachments resulting in 800 combinations and don't consider arming yourself always with the heaviest weapons because they'll weigh you down.

As if the single-player experience isn't enough, the online portion is even bigger and of course more popular. This time around SOCOM will feature up to 32 players per map. There will be 12 online maps and seven of them will feature vehicles, but if you don't want to use them you can simply turn off that option. The online maps are significantly larger, but can be scaled down if you have sixteen, eight or less players. The makers at Zipper have said despite the ability to have vehicles, there will be short cuts in the online games to make sure it's not just a driving shooter.

The game will feature the standard online modes along with two new ones entitled Convoy and Control. Convoy will put one team in control of vehicles as you must get armaments and pass successfully through enemy checkpoints. Meanwhile, Control relies on both teams placing beacons in five areas of the map and which ever team gets it done first wins. The control map keeps the action flowing quickly and pushes players to keep moving to key portions of the map. You'll also be able to choose between three and four modes of play for each online map as well as the option to set it in either night or day. This means there will be approximately 50 or so combinations of maps for SOCOM 3.

Overall online will be a significantly larger experience than in previous versions as you can have buddy lists, clan lists all apart of the message center. You'll also be able to have message boards, threads, emails in game and even a feedback area with Zipper to tell them what to improve upon in updates. All of these features will also be available via your personal computer as well. Their will also be a clan ladder where you can challenge about 10% of the competition in front of your team. There will be complete customization of clans including weekends and more as well. Along with this is your ability to rank up, in SOCOM 3 you'll know exactly how many games you need to get to the next ranking so there's no more questions on how the ladders work anymore.

An exclusive environment they showed at E3 was The Shipyard which includes wrecked ships which you can hide in the hulls of along with a jungle environment surrounding the ships. In every mission type for SOCOM I and II we saw much of the same environments, while the third version will see more variation in the single and online missions as you'll have mountains, rivers and more all in one map.

With all these features and more, SOCOM 3 is shaping up to again push the PlayStation 2 to the limits of its abilities. The graphics and environments are sharper and better than they've ever been before and you can tell that Zipper has really taken advantage of the two years of development. As if the expansion on the single player wasn't enough, Zipper went above and beyond by releasing a whole new online experience and it will surely be a must buy this fall for the PlayStation 2.]]> Fri, 20 May 2005 01:11:16 -0500 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_socom_us_navy_seals_fireteam_bravo_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_socom_us_navy_seals_fireteam_bravo_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_socom_us_navy_seals_fireteam_bravo_psp1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

The PSP version of SOCOM is finally making its way to the handheld and thankfully the basic concepts of the PlayStation 2 version are still intact. The game will include 14 single-player missions where each one you can play five different game types too. The missions are set over four different regions of the world including a PlayStation Portable exclusive environment added is Chile. There will also be 30 weapons and accessories including scopes, silencers and more. As is the case in previous SOCOM’s, the game’s graphics are very solid and impressive. You’ll see details like particle effects coming off of a smoking candle that really push the PSP to the limit.

SOCOM also adds something new to the PSP including instant action that will let players go back to parts of a mission to do them again for more replay ability and the fact that you only have yourself Sandman and one other Seal Lonestar in your team. This is different, but it will make the game a little more difficult as well.

The most important question in reference to SOCOM is the controls, especially on the one analog stick handheld. Thankfully Zipper has solved this problem by allowing you to lock on with the right trigger button and fire with X. If you lock on or stay still, in a few short seconds the target moves from the body to a headshot, thus the game still is based on the idea of stealth. The controls are comfortable, but they can be difficult to knock off enemies if you’re moving. Moving in all directions is done with the analog stick and if you don’t want to take advantage of the lock on feature, you don’t have to because you can play in free roam just by pressing right on the D-pad. Free roam works well, but it can be a little awkward as your hand may be pressed to push too many buttons at once. This is probably the only drawback to the game. Finally, the left trigger will allow you to strafe too.

Zipper promises the artificial intelligence is much more aware of their surroundings in this version also. Another nice feature to the game are visibility icons for both of the Seals, this is in the bottom right corner next to each of the player’s names. One other added feature is the ability to cross talk with SOCOM 3. By doing certain things, this will result in changing experiences in either the PSP or PlayStation 2 versions.

Finally, you can’t talk about SOCOM without talking about the multiplayer capabilities. The game will support both Ad Hoc and Infrastructure play. Zipper has yet to confirm how many players will be able to play at one time or how many multiplayer missions there will be, but they did say players will be satisfied. The company also stated that they are definitely looking into allowing players to download future maps as well. SOCOM Fireteam Bravo certainly looks to be on the right track from the demo we got to see. Add to that the amazing graphics and an incredible amount of replay value.

SOCOM definitely is going to be one of the must get games for the PSP this fall. Currently, the game is approximately 60% done, but so far the game is ready and loaded to take on Sony’s new handheld. ]]> Thu, 19 May 2005 00:16:37 -0500