SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation
Developer(s)	Slant Six Games
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Designer(s)	Allen Goode[1]
Composer(s)	Justin Burnett
Series	SOCOM
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3
Release date(s)	JP: October 30, 2008 NA: October 14, 2008 EU: March 13, 2009 AUS: March 19, 2009
Genre(s)	Third-person shooter, Action
Mode(s)	Online multiplayer

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation is a third person tactical shooter video game for the PlayStation 3 developed by Slant Six Games. The game is the fifth title in the SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs series and the first for the PlayStation 3. It was released in North America and Japan in October 2008, and in Europe in March 2009.^[2][3]

Confrontation came packaged with the official PlayStation 3 Bluetooth headset or as a standalone game, and also released as a downloadable title from PlayStation Network.^[4] The player is able to customize their character, choosing from a list of predefined items.

Online servers were shutdown on January 28, 2014, along with the servers for SOCOM 4, rendering it permanently unplayable.

Gameplay

Confrontation focuses on online play. Teamwork is essential to success in the game, as this phrase says: "Alone I'm Lethal, as a team I Dominate". The player is able to customize their character, choosing from a list of pre-defined items, using mix and match. This includes armour (light, medium and heavy; both leg and torso; for commando and mercenary), camouflage (head, shirts, pants, armour, straps and mask), and weapons attachments (two slots, weapon specific; e.g. front grip and suppressor on the M4A1 assault rifle) .The game features several playable special operations forces teams: the United States Navy SEALs, U.K.'s Special Air Service (SAS), Germany's Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK), Spain's Unidad de Operaciones Especiales (UOE), and France's 1er Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine (1er RPIMa).^[5]

Development and release

An early screenshot of SOCOM: Confrontation

SOCOM: Confrontation was officially announced during Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) Gamers' Day on May 17, 2007, by Scott Steinberg, SCEA's Vice President of Product Marketing.^[6]

With the release of the SOCOM series website, it was announced that the game was scheduled to be released on September 16, 2008.^[7][8] However, SCEA Director of Development Seth Luisi announced that the game would be delayed one month so they can deliver "the best SOCOM online experience possible."

When Confrontation was released, the game was missing several features that were claimed on the cover of the box and in the manual. The game received a patch on January 9, 2009, version 1.30, which claimed to fix several issues including frame rate and invisible gun glitch, however some of these issues still remained. New features that were missing during release including trophy support were included with the patch. After the patch came out, online players increased by 50% and the number of players per hour increased 33%.^[9]

Sony turned off the servers on January 28, 2014.^[10]

PlayStation Home

Slant Six Games has released a themed space dedicated to SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation in the PlayStation 3's online community-based service, PlayStation Home.^[11] The space is called "SOCOM: Tactical Operations Center" (TOC). At this SOCOM strategy post, users are able to plot the next course of action with their friends by gathering around the "SOCOM Telestrator" tool and coordinating their next assault. Chock full of maps and modes from SOCOM: Confrontation, the Telestrator is a powerful tool that the Home community can use to collaborate, strategize, and enhance their gameplay experience. On top of this, the TOC boasts a regional "SOCOM Leaderboard" that pulls data from the SOCOM site and updates Career stats (such as all-time ranking, kills, deaths, and kills/deaths ratio) in real-time. There is also a "TOC Terminal" where users can read up on the Crossroads, Urban Wasteland, Quarantine, Fallen, Kasbah, Desert Glory, and Frostfire maps. As of July 16, 2009, users can purchase SOCOM themed clothing for their avatars from the PlayStation Home shopping complex. This space is the first installment of the two-part SOCOM Home hub that is the ideal 3D locale for the SOCOM community to meet up and socialize. This space was released on June 18, 2009, for the North American version of PlayStation Home, on July 2, 2009, for the European version, and on August 27, 2009, for the Japanese version. On April 15, 2010, the awaited second part of the SOCOM Home hub was released. The "SOCOM: Opposing Force" (OPFOR) Game Space features a 5-Finger Fillet mini-game with leaderboards. The main attraction of the OPFOR Game Space, however, is the ability to assemble an assault weapon. Players who can assemble the assault weapon in 12 seconds will unlock a Golden AK-47 for use in SOCOM: Confrontation. This makes the first Game Space in Home to award items for use in the game the space is based on.^[12]

Outso developed the "SOCOM Telestrator" for Slant Six Games in the SOCOM: TOC Game Space.^[13]

Reception

SOCOM: Confrontation received generally average to poor reviews as critics cited technical issues, lag, missing features, and only seven maps. Shortly after the release of the game, many complaint posts were made on the official SOCOM forums. A major bug present at the game's release caused many player's systems to crash while either looking for a match or at other various points during gameplay. Several patches have fixed the majority of these problems, but it came far too late.

Downloadable content

Patch 1.6 (announced on 6/23/2009) will include free DLC in the form of two new factions: The Dutch KCT and the Italian COMSUBIN which will feature the HK417 Assault Rifle and the SPAS 15 Shotgun, respectively. Also, all players will receive the 9mm Sub Submachine Gun, AK-74 Assault Rifle, SR-25 Sniper Rifle, and M82A1A Sniper Rifle.

Downloadable content was announced on 6/30/2009 for release after patch 1.6 via the blog on SOCOM.com.

On 10/16/2009 developers announced COLD FRONT to be released. The DLC post also boasted 2 prices: $9.99 if bought it within the first 24 hours and $14.99 if bought after the first 24 hours.

On 12/17/2009 developers released the DLC SOCOM Confrontation: Cold Front. The maps included with this are Uprising, Entrapment, Blizzard, Night Stalker and Vigilance. This DLC also included more trophies^[24] for the gamers to obtain and along with the new maps, included a new game mode called Arms Run. The game mode Arms Run was an intriguing and clever twist on two existing modes Control Points and Demolition. In Arms Run the Mercenaries had to arm SSM missiles located on their mini maps, while the commandos had to protect the missiles from being armed. If they were to be armed by the Mercenaries they were given a certain amount of time to try and defuse the missile. This SOCOM Confrontation: Cold Front patch/DLC also included the ability to specialize in a specific gun type. It allowed players to specialize in two different types of gun class. After achieving a certain amount of points in the Primary Specialization^[25] chosen they were granted a gun within the category. The Secondary Specialization usually granted the player with an attachment to that type of gun. The different guns you could've been awarded if you chose that gun type as your Primary Specialization were :

• Pistols - Gladys
• Assault Rifles - Alice
• Submachine Guns - Motoko
• Shotguns - Vera
• Machine Guns - Gloria
• Sniper Rifles - Tilly

References

The 2 faction guns are 417 & AG-94. The free guns are AK107 AK74 SR25 M8A01A2 9mm Sub, Thermal Scope Attachement

External links

• Official website for the SOCOM series
• Official PlayStation 3 Page for SOCOM: Confrontation
• Official Slant Six website (developer of SOCOM: Confrontation)
• SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation at DMOZ