SOCOM: Confrontation - Choose your team carefully

Socom: Confrontation (Sony: R16), the PS3 exclusive out this week scraps a single-player mode and takes the game completely online for tournaments of up to 32 players.

Military strategy and teamwork involving top special forces like the Seals, UK's SAS and Spain's UOE has the potential for some intense combat but it's a pity you can't at least warm up with a single player.

When the game emerged some months back in the US, complaints arose that there were crashes and lock-ups triggering poor initial reviews so it's obviously taken time for the developers to get what may have been a rushed-out-the-gate job right.

The original developers Zipper had handed over the task to Slant Six which had made some of the PSP versions.

Thankfully, we've been spared all that trouble with a rather meaty install of 2.7GB followed by an equally meaty 153MB patch. Steak please, well-done.

Socom is the sort of close-quarters guerrilla street warfare that US troops had to deal with in the worst days of Iraq.

Graphically, this game looks hi-def as you'd want it to on PS3 with detailed scenery that doesn't detract from the battle at hand but has no stand out effects.

You can get a taste of how realistic those battles are in this footage from the game

There are two sides Commandos and Mercenaries, and there are plenty of options to customise especially in the choice of weapons and kit load out. There are seven reasonably considered maps rendered at 720p resolution.

The shooter mechanics take only a small bit of getting used to if you're new to Socom, and the physics work quite well - but remember its a third-person shooter, not to be played like a FPS. If you want to survive the key is to don a headset, get a good team and build up a strategy.

Overall, this doesn't rewrite the franchise and is a rather predictable tactical shooter that plays well and has a decent fit out thrown in.

But Socom was a breakthrough for Sony especially with its PS2 online capability and PS3 needs its own decent online game to compete with some of Xbox Live's offerings.

It's a shame this doesn't quite feel a winner and the lack of a single play mode is a personal disappointment, especially when the dim-witted team I joined at first would not be one I could rely on in a real battle. Clan-gamers reveal yourselves!

MadGamer rating: 7 / 10