SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation bundled with Bluetooth Headset

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List Price: $59.99
Sale Price: $24.30
Today's Bonus: 59% Off

THE GAME

I'll start by saying that this review will NOT be about SOCOM's various technical snafus. I've played the game through several revisions and I've had a fairly smooth ride from a technical standpoint. I'm going to review this game as though it runs perfectly, since I assume Slant Six will have it patched to that point in the very near future.

Instead, I want to discuss SOCOM: Confrontation as a game. And as a game, I've found that it ultimately falls short of being worth its retail price.

The game is ambitiously conceived, and the whole reason I purchased it in the first place was that the designers worked very hard to implement a number of features that I found very appealing and intelligent. Chief among these are the voice communication system and the motion-sensitive cover system. Ultimately, however, both fall short.

The voice system is for the most part well-implemented, but the team-wide chat is the same as any other multiplayer shooter, and the local-area open-mic chat is too quiet and erratic to be useful in combat. In addition, I've found that very few players put these features to use. This is not necessarily the fault of the publishers, but it's unfortunately typical of the experience you'd have playing this title.

The cover system is a nightmare. The game is full of awkwardly-proportioned obstacles that ensure that you will be firing into your own cover time and time again. The game punishes you for finding tactically valuable high ground by sticking a railing in your face that makes shooting downwards impossible. The only bright spot is the fact that you can make your character duck all the way to where he's kissing the dirt, then pop up and shoot. Assuming you don't shoot your own sandbags, it's a good tactic that's proven itself in ambushes.

As for the mechanics of the game, they're decidedly sub-par. The controls are needlessly complex. For example, there are three zoom levels, which means you need two buttons to navigate among them. Weapon switching is an incredible chore, and even though you have a quick-swap button, you can't configure which weapon comes up when you press it, so it defaults to your mostly useless pistol when grenades would be a far more desirable option. Instead, you have to hold the weapon select button, fiddle with the D-pad to find the weapon you want, then release the swap button while holding the D-pad. Even knowing how to do it, you still mess it up some of the time. Also, for a game bent on seeming "realistic", it is decidedly unbalanced when it comes to movement and shooting. Characters walking at full speed suffer no accuracy penalty vs. characters that are crouched still or even prone. Call of Duty 4 and 5, which are more arcade-y in other areas, offer far more realism in this regard. You have to slow down and use your sights to shoot at even moderately close range. But since the 3rd person view makes shooting difficult, and players have learned that you might as well charge, the game devolves into a lot of close-range circle-strafing, which is decidedly unrealistic, unenjoyable, and just plain stupid.

To make matters worse with SOCOM, the online experience itself is not well-designed. After using Call of Duty's simple, streamlined, easy matchmaking system, going to a PC-style menu of servers is a major step backwards. When you make yes/no selections in the menu, the cursor lags and jumps around, often picking the option you DIDN'T want. Another annoyance is that, while you can configure many different character loadouts, you can't switch among them without leaving the server! Not to constantly compare the game to the Call of Duty series, but this is clearly inferior. In COD, you can switch your profile any time you wish to adjust to the game type and map. SOCOM does not allow this, which is a major annoyance given the fact that multiple equipment loadouts come in handy depending on the game type, and most ranked room run in medley form. True, you can change your weapons and secondaries between lives, but these all have to be done one item at a time. Also, you can't change your armor settings mid-game at all.

There are some good points to this game. Character creation is deep, fun, and the instant availability of weapons and camouflage let you design your warrior just how you'd like. The weapons have a realistic feel, aided by the outstanding sound design and excellent explosion and impact effects. And Crossroads really is the best multiplayer map that's ever been made. It's just spectacular. I score markedly better on this map than any of the others. I'm going to miss it when I sell this game next week.

But the best part of this game isn't part of the game at all, it's...

THE HEADSET

There's no denying it. This headset is an outstanding piece of kit. It's discreet, light, it functions perfectly, pairs easily, sounds great, is comfortable enough, and the battery lasts a long, long time. It also survived a fall from about six feet up onto a hardwood floor, so I'd say it's durable. I had to use the included smaller ear disc, since I have funny ears, but hey, they were nice enough to provide it. Assuming future titles will have headset support, this is a must-own.

SOCOM: Confrontation is a disappointing, frustrating game whose many bright spots fail to outweigh its even bigger annoyances. In an online shooter market packed with two Call of Duty games, Resistance 2, and the upcoming Killzone 2, there simply is no room for this game among its many superior competitors.

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I've been playing this game for 2 months now and have found no end in the entertainment it can provide.

The game received bad reviews initially for server issues and bugs that have now been resolved. The developers are clearly committed to fixing problems, improving the game, and adding more content in the future. A poorly designed menu system is immediately apparent, but should not reflect the quality of the game itself.

Previously I played SOCOM:Combined Assault, and this game is completely redesigned, featuring smaller maps that provide for a more intimate, engaging fighting experience. The game play is truly second to none. All the press attention may go to Call of Duty 4 and 5, and those are great games, but the realism and graphic detail is nothing compared to SOCOM:Confrontation.

All the maps (Fallen, Urban Wasteland, Crossroads, Kasbah, Frostfire, Desert Glory, and Quarantine) are well designed and provide for a fair engaging competition between the two teams. This game now switches sides between Seals and Mercenaries halfway through the game to insure that any unfairness in the map is not reflected in the final score. The new communication system allows for better communication between teammates. Each player's audio can be heard by other players (friendly and enemy) physically near them in the game, while pressing L2 will broadcast over the radio to all teammates regardless of location in the map. Playing this game without a headset is unacceptable.

The new Player Profile section allows your character to be fully customized (including Camouflage Color, Skin Color, Face, and Attire) for both Seal and Mercenary. It will also allow you to predefine your default firearms and gear.

The audio provides realistic gunfire and a dynamic soundtrack that changes based on what you are experiencing in the game.

I highly recommend this game, it should definitely be the bestselling PlayStation 3 game currently available.

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Wow, how this thing was ever considered as a finished product is beyond me. This has to be one of the worst PS3 titles I've encountered. The biggest complaint I have involves the numerous bugs.

Installing the game itself and trying to play it for the first time gives you an error message. It seems as if the 1.10 patch which you are forced to download corrupts your save game. Since the game creates a save game when it first launches it is an impossible error to avoid. After patching the game you will be informed that your save game is corrupt and that you must manually exit the game and delete the save game. Seriously, the game forces you to delete its own save game just to play it for the first time.

While playing this game you will encounter the following: You will get lock-ups leading to a frozen console. You will see other players' characters missing weapons. Most of the servers' "channels" will be full and open games will be difficult to find. You will encounter serious lag during play. Closer aiming will inexplicably cause your character to stand up. The menus will respond slowly to your input.

There are other issues with this game beyond the glitches alone. The graphics are poor for a PS3 title. The textures are muddy and low resolution. The game has plain lighting effects which fail to impress. The blood effects appear to lifted directly from Mortal Kombat. The control scheme is unnecessarily complicated with poor default mapping. All buttons on the controller are used and some serve multiple functions based on the duration of a press. Unfortunately, this doesn't really lead to superior control versus other, similar, games. It's complex for the sake of complexity. Features you expect in a modern game such as the ability to join one of your friend's games in progress, player muting, or even something as simple as your own name being highlighted in a long list of party members are absent. Trophies, which are indicated on the box itself, are nowhere to be found. They are promised in a future patch.

I'll write briefly about the headset as it's likely that's a main draw in the purchase of this bundle. There are a couple of minor problems with the device. The unit itself is quite heavy. It is by far the bulkiest Bluetooth headset I've used. You may feel your ear getting fatigued earlier than you'd hope for because of this. The ear cushion is not adjustable in size so it may flop around in your ear as it dangles from the headset's hook. The main attraction to be found is the giant mute button in the middle of the device. Most headsets created for use with cellular phones have an inconvenient mute function. You will also receive on-screen notifications when changes are made to the unit such as volume adjustment, the mute toggle, and a battery charge indicator.

SOCOM: Confrontation isn't ready for prime time. It has far too many show-stopping bugs and feels unpolished in most aspects. I would stay far away from this game. The headset is worth a purchase, but the game itself is not.

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I was using a Blu Ant headset with my PS3. Unfortunately, it died and I needed a new headset. My goal was to purchase the official PS3 headset. Unfortunately, it was sold out everywhere UNLESS I went with the bundled Socom:Confrontation package. I'd read very mixed, mostly negative reviews, but I figured the bugs had been fixed by way of patch and it was really popular Sony exclusive, so there would be a community that would be able to help me figure it out.

The headset works great in fact, it's awesome. First party peripherals rarely dissappoint and I reccomend it if you are using brand x.

Socom:Confrontation is garbage. It has a lengthy patch after the lengthy download. It promptly froze the first time I booted up. And the second. Once in the main menu, you will find absolutely NOTHING in way of tutorial or explination. There are no training missions and no option to play against bots. The ONLY option is to go straight online. Not only does this suck for people new to the game, but for those who are already online, it's no fun having people jump in that are totally clueless.

Once online, using my nifty new headset I said "what's up guys, I'm new to the game, any pointers?" I was promtly booted. Next game I wondered about, picked up five kills (lead the room in kills) and was promptly booted as soon as the next match started. These were 8 (of a possible 32) people matches. The quality of players was sketchy and I checked and there were only 9500 people globally playing. Compare this to 350,000 people playing Killzone 2 at any given time or 900,000 playing 2 year old COD:MW in any week. I gave it a few hours and found the game boring and maps nearly empty. Furthermore, even an experienced gamer will get wrecked by experienced players in any given game (I pwn on Killzone, but get pwned in COD). There aren't a lot of players and on a weekend over the course of several hours, no skilled players that made me think I was outclassed.

The actual nuts and bolts play isn't bad. Playing 3rd person is differnt after 1000's of hours playing in the first person, but it's okay. The graphics are last generation. I understand that this is a PSP game ported to PS3, but this is really terrible. The load out is simple enough, but in most of the matches I joined, I had equipment that was restricted and I almost always played with whatever the host wanted me to play with. The pacing is MUCh slower than COD and Killzone 2, in my opinion, too slow. After having played games that require thought AND move very fast, whipping up on the SOCOM players felt almost unfair. Again, the quality players seemed to be playing something else.

When you play Killzone or see videos of COD:MW2 running, it really makes you wonder who Sony and Slant 6 thought would play this game. Graphics aren't everything, but Socom is not user friendly, it is not something you can pick up and play and offers nothing to entice new players to comeback and get better (hence the few number of people playing). I thought there was no way Socom could possibly be as bad as some of the reviews and it's my favirote genre of games. Turns out the negative reviews were right on. This is a bad game. Go buy COD, Killzone 2, Brothers in Arms, Dora the Explorer. DO NOT SPEND MONEY ON THIS GAME YOU WILL REGRET IT. Consider yourself warned.

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Looked forward to getting this game, and found out, there was no game. The only thing is that you are connected to the internet, choose up sides, and kill each other, with somewhat varying landscapes. A real loser and waste of money. Gamespot basically put no worth in it, not even giving me the cost of the bluetooth headset. What a rip! I wanted to rate this no stars, because it did not deserve even one star.

Oct. 8, 2011

Haven't changed my mind about this game. What is truly telling, is that Amazon is offering a whopping $2.55 to you if you want to trade this game in. That is pitiful for a $59.95 game. Really sucks.