Sports Games

After analyzing in detail the single-player campaign and he expected the resurrection of the PlayStation Network, we shift attention to the online portion of SOCOM: Special Forces. The multiplayer has always been the key element of the previous episodes, so we expected a quantity and quality of content at least competitive to the best online shooter. So it was not for a number of reasons, starting with obvious problems in the structure of the game and too many features inherited from the single player.

Once connected to the PlayStation Network, we can decide whether to deal with various competitive modes, or play co-op (up to five users per mission) levels of the campaign. In the first case we find how many times seen in other shooters and old chapters in the SOCOM series, beginning in Team Death match. All types of playing follow the dictates of the classic online shooter, then you are in closed arenas governed by a time limit, with the inevitable final table of results and experience system that lets you unlock new weapons and accessories accumulating points. Among the (few) new features on the online report is undoubtedly Bomb Squad, a type of game that changes the characteristics of entering the defense team death match or quench some bombs placed in strategic points of the map. The attacker must defend the bomb (one player, armored and well armed) until it reaches the bombs and make them harmless. Who defends the bombs, of course, will prevent the same blaster reaches them for the duration of the match. As expected there, in all games, maps and a vote of expulsion by vote of the players less correct. Li supports a customizable system that allows you to respawn again and if you choose where to do it from a fixed point on the map or close to teammates.

So far so good, as they say, but now begin the criticism: the fundamental problem of SOCOM: Special Forces is in its own network capabilities, in terms of framing, and dynamic control of the fighting. These three characteristics come directly from the single player campaign, but not fit for anything in the online game. The shot in the third person, above all, use a camera too "dancer", which constantly moves the viewfinder at the slightest rotation of the character, creating all sorts of trouble when you are close to pieces of scenery too small. The commands then, other than almost any other shooter, take too long to be stored and even after many games it is hard to understand the logic behind certain choices of the developers. In particular, the system covers "adhesive" paste it to the bottom (pressing circle) and takes too long to leave you free. If your campaign does not represent a problem because the computer will always attack the same points and with a long time lag, the speed of the multiplayer is ill-suited to this system of shelters. Finally, emerges in the negative system of collisions, especially for headshots, melee and explosives. Apart from the knife more powerful than a bomb (a problem common to many shooters), it is too easy to make perfect headshots from miles away, when up close you can not strike an opponent because of the viewfinder camera and "dancing".