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First SOCOM Confrontation Details
We set eyes on Sony's first next-gen take on its tactical series.
by Chris Roper
May 17, 2007 - Though no word has been given until... just now, it's been rather obvious for some time that the SOCOM franchise would be making its way to the PlayStation 3. Well, the orders have been given and SOCOM Confrontation will be headed to Sony's third console sometime this fall.

Hardcore fans of the series will certainly be interested to know that the game is not being handled by Zipper Interactive but rather Slant Six, the Sony Bend-offshoot studio that is also handling SOCOM: Tactical Strike on the PSP. While we didn't get the chance to see the game running live and in person, what we saw in the trailer and what we've seen of the portable title should leave fans with little worry.

The trailer that we saw for Confrontation was simple but effective. In a middle-eastern village, Navy SEALs work quickly and quietly through the streets, tracking their targets. Up in the balconies above, the terrorists begin opening fire upon the SEALs, who take cover and return with a flurry of their own bullets. The second half of the trailer shows what looks like in-game footage of the title in action, all shot from a third-person view. Showing off a bevy of weapons, including an RPG and what looked to be an AK47 (it was apparently a bad day), gunfire was traded again and again by multiple players. The footage looked very similar to what we've seen in existing SOCOM games, except obviously with a much higher graphics fidelity.

If only one thing is for certain it's that Confrontation looks extremely clean. Edges are razor-sharp, resulting in much neater presentation than what we've been used to on the PlayStation 2. The lighting also looks great, with the title on a whole reminding us of Battlefield 2 on the PC, but perhaps even sharper with regards to textures and detail. The game is still fairly early, with the footage that we saw from a build only five months into production, but it looked nicely polished and action-packed.

While we didn't see a whole lot of footage, we did manage to sneak out with a bit of intelligence. One perhaps surprising fact is that the game will be an online-only title, containing no single-player mode of any sort, much like what Warhawk has evolved into. The game will be available as both a download as well as an in-store purchase, but users will certainly test their broadband connections with content packs that will make their way online after release. These will contain the works - new modes, weapons, maps, characters, you name it.

Support for up to 32 players is promised as is feature-packed clan support, including clan ladders, leaderboards, tournaments and more. One new feature will be the ability to customize the look of your character from head to toe, and clan leaders will actually be able to set up the basic uniform for their clan while members will be able to adjust certain segments to stand out while still staying in "uniform".

That, unfortunately, is all that we know about the game thus far, other than that it will have a large presence at this year's E3 come this July, so get your night vision goggles warmed up.