Well I just finished reading the cover story for the may issue of EGM and I'm excited, I've been following the progress of Socom C for over a year now and it sounds like the game is pretty close to beta. The article actually mentions on page 67 that a private beta is in the works and a few hundred socom fans will be invited!So how can you get a chance to participate in the beta? Well for one head on over to http://socom.us.playstation.com/and register! That's gonna be SOCOM HDQ, from there clan management can be set up and adjusted; such as schedules, roster, news, and recruiting can be acomplished via that site....if your clan doesn't have their own site already.There really seems to be a genuine effort from Slant Six http://www.slantsixgames.com/ to support the SOCOM clan community.
For example, every player begins in
the game with two characters:
a commando and a mercenary. Both of these
characters can be customized with
different weapon loadouts, outfits, and
gear....but you won't get access to the
full range of customization options
without taking the next step. There will be
six special forces available in
the initial release, but you can only play as
one of the special forces
characters if you are in a clan. This basically
upgrades your commando/ merc
into one of the
following:
US Sea Air & Land (SEAL)
UK Special Air Service (SAS)
GER Kommando Spezialkrafte (KSK)
SPN Unidad de Operaciones (UOE)
FRN Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN)
ITL Commando Raggruppamento Subacquei ed Incursori Teseo (COMSUBIN)
This is an incentive to join a clan!
Access to these special forces allows players to have different equipment
items-camo patterns, helmets etc. Also each special force team will have a
few
unique weapons specific to the special forces.The clan leader can choose
which
special forces unit the clan will play as and he/she has access to
additional
customization features such as special camo patterns and clan
insignias.
The EGM article tries to stress that SOCOM C's changes aren't revolutionary, rather evolutionary. The changes / additions are meant to enhance the gameplay foundation set by SOCOM I & II, there are going to be seven maps available in the initial launch all based on the N. Africa part of the world. SOCOM C is being developed on a modular system so there will be DLC in the future, in fact Sony is looking to have small DLC packages avail each month or so and one large DLC package each quarter. I would love it if SOCOM had holiday/seasonal specific content! How fun would it be to run around in a easter bunny costume like the one Ralphie had in a Christmas Story!
I'm also glad to see vehicles are a thing of the past, the maps for SOCOM C will be a little over twice the size of SOCOM I's maps and in order to cover the distance players can run (see sprint in CoD4) and just like Call of Duty4 MW you will not be able to shoot while running, watch the sniper fight in Full Metal Jacket to understand what the run function is for. If you are pinned down by a sniper throw a nade or smoke to create a cloud of debris and run to the next point of cover...running from one end of a street to the other is your goal, you won't be sucessful!
Speaking of grenades the article talks a bit about "physics-based" grenades, meaning they 'll bounce and roll based on inertia. And player can opt to roll a nade instead of chucking one along the arc in the sky.
Since the maps are about twice the size of SOCOM I the matches will be set for 32 players, but can be customized for the traditional 16, which will automatically reset the map size.
SOCOM C will have a new OTS camera angle to coinside with the 16:9 aspect ratio, but for SOCOM purists the tradional camera angle will also be available in the customizations.
SOCOM C will have 7.1 surround sound support which will heighten the senses, fire fights will have dramatic differences in sound when heard inside or outside and distance as well as objects between you and where the shots are coming from. So if you still play with just the speakers on your TV you're going to miss out on one of the dramatic aspects of Confrontation.
On a similar note SOCOM C will allow members of the same clan on a team to communicate via an open mic. If there are other players on your team that aren't in your clan you'll still be able to communicate with them via the traditional L2 button. Once your party is together they'll stick together even if you switch rooms or lobbies. Lobby's weren't really touched on but I hope it is similar to S2's lobby system, I personally like it over S3.
Socom Confrontation will be available for DL on the PSN this summer or you can purchase the game at retail and it will be packaged along with a BT headset, not the same one as Warhawk....better.
Oh and that's not the offical box art...I made it >.<
