SOCOM: Special Forces Review

22 Apr 2011 at 11:30:00 by Tim McDonald
Systems used to review this title: (PS3)

Credit where credit's due: SOCOM did wonders for pushing online console play. The original game, which launched way back in 2002, used the PlayStation 2's online adapter and headset to create what I believe was one of the first internet-capable shooters on console. While we've had tonnes since then, SOCOM was there at the beginning and I think the series holds a special place in the hearts of a lot of gamers for that very innovation.

SOCOM: Special Forces (SOCOM 4) doesn't really do anything particularly innovative or interesting. In fact, it's probably the single most average game I've played in years. I guess that's an achievement of some sort, but probably not the one the developers were going for.

The plot is typical modern-day military thriller guff. As a gruff NATO operations commander known as “OpsCom”, you blast your way through an unnamed - and rebel-strewn - Asian country located somewhere along the economically-important Strait of Malacca. Predictably, everything goes tits up, and by the time the second mission rolls around the fate of the Strait rests squarely on the shoulders of you and your squad: two close-to-mid range British soldiers, and two mid-to-long range Korean soldiers.

If you're allergic to clichés you may need to reach for the antihistamines: within the first couple of hours you'll have heard such gem-studded dialogue as the barked “You've got a problem with authority, and that makes you a wildcard. That gets people killed!” That's far from the only example of dialogue that could've been lifted from an action movie about a good cop who doesn't play by the rules.

In short, if you're expecting anything new or shocking in terms of plot or characterisation, you're going to be a tad disappointed. It's not particularly bad – it's just... well. Average. The voice-acting is perfectly solid (and there's a wonderful touch in that most in-mission dialogue was recorded twice, resulting in the lines playing as either a whisper or as an out-of-breath shout based on whether you're sneaking or running at the time) but the script and overarching plot arc never rise above mediocrity.

It's the gameplay that counts, though, and this is where things get even more average.

Apparently, SOCOM 4 is a tactical shooter. Realistically, SOCOM 4 is a cover-based third-person shooter with allusions towards tactics, in that you can use the D-pad to order your two squads around separately. You can have them advance and take cover behind terrain, or have them target certain enemies and open fire with another flick of the D-pad. Disappointingly you never really need to use this, for two reasons. Firstly, your squads are usually more than capable of looking after themselves, and your orders appear to do little but confuse the hell out of them. Secondly, they're incredibly brain-dead when it comes to interpreting what you want them to do.

Telling them to take cover behind a barrier may result in them taking cover on the side nearest the enemies. Asking them to head up a ramp has, on one memorable occasion, caused them to charge backwards down the ramp and hide around the corner. Orders might inexplicably cause them to stop shooting. Oh, and if I hear them shout “I need to move or I'm dead!” when there are no enemies around just one more time, I may lose what little sanity I have left. In short, it's not exactly Rainbow Six.

The game also suffers from being heavily scripted, which means you rarely have the opportunity to set up clever plans anyway, and the occasions when you do need to employ tactics feel more like a puzzle game with one correct solution than they do a tactical problem.

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