Community - The Importance of SOCOM 4 (youtube clip)

Thanks to r_e_v on the SOCOM.com message boards for finding this link. Starting at the 1:25 mark, this SOCOM fan tells it like it is. Check it out below:

Community - "Upriver" Map Concept

Just came across this post on the SOCOM.com boards by SpecterMK23. You know SOCOM has an amazing community when people like this design maps in their spare time. Check out the link to see his idea.

Your answer to UCRR's is coming...soon

Probably one of the most asked questions about SOCOM 4 from hardcore fans is if UCRRs (User Created Ranked Rooms) will or won't be in the game. Your answer, it seems, is coming next week. According to Chris and Jeremy in today's 'Zipline Podcast Episode 3' stated that they hope to announce how the online setup works, including whether UCRRS are in or not, but will do it the next time they have someone working on SOCOM 4 on the podcast.

My prediction? The classic lobby setup will be chucked out the window in favour of a more streamlined, more current, match-making setup. Hopefully we'll have our final answer next week.

IGN single-player Q&A

Check out IGN's new Q&A with Ed Byrne on SOCOM 4's single player here.

I really like the focus on the characters in the story that Ed Byrne seems to be hinting at. I think a lot of shooters loose sight of how important it is to know the characters names and their backgrounds when it comes to crafting a single player story that you want your audience to latch on to.

Really happy with what I've heard about single player so far. Looking forward to seeing more.

Community - Socast Episode I: Discussing Zipline

I came across this post on the SOCOM.com forums. Great half hour podcast put together by HTK and r_e_v from the forums. They discuss all the information that came out of Zipper's Zipline Podcast.

Check it out here. (mp3)

And I'll be posting more posts/podcasts/etc from the community. So if you see something interesting that you feel should be recognized, drop me an email at daviddoel@therealsocom.com and I'll be sure to post it.

Zipline Podcast Ep1 - My thoughts

If you haven't already listened to Zipper's new weekly podcast, you can check out Friday's episode here.

I was surprised with the amount of new information that came out of the half hour podcast. Jeremy & Chris interviewed Lead Designer of SOCOM 4, Travis Steiner, who divulged a good amount of new information including:

- There will be NO vehicles in multiplayer

- The online gameplay will be a departure from the classic SOCOM experience (new modes, new maps, a new experience)

- Cover system will be in multiplayer

Travis also explained that SOCOM 4 will be a much different experience than their previous game MAG, but didn't quite indicate how other than the fact that SOCOM 4 is a 3rd-person game without vehicles online.

He was also very adamant on the point that SOCOM 4 will not feel like a classic online SOCOM experience. He made the point that many of the members on the team have been working on and playing SOCOM since it's inception, so they want to try something different. I just want to counter his point by saying that every SOCOM game since SOCOM 3 has been very different from the SOCOM 1/2 experience. So making a SOCOM 1/2 style game WOULD be a departure from what has been released more recently. SOCOM Confrontation (developed by Slant6) was definitely an attempt at trying to bring back the SOCOM 1/2 feel, but its hard to find hardcore fans who think that Confrontation is a proper representation of SOCOM 1/2.

But like I've been saying since SOCOM 4's announcement, Confrontation is the closest that we are going to get to a PS3 classic SOCOM experience. A lot of people thought I was full of it and that Zipper would bring 'back the classic', but if it wasn't obvious before, it is now, they want to do something different.

Personally I'm not complaining. I'm really excited to see what they have planned for multiplayer and single player. But I'm here to represent the hardcore fans, and they don't seem as convinced as I am, that it's time to move on to some new ideas. I just hope that the overall experience still feels like SOCOM, just pushed to the next level.

Jotstiq interview with Travis Steiner

Joystiq just posted an interview they had with Lead Designer on SOCOM 4, Travis Steiner. There is some really good information in there about how they are approaching the Move controls as well as why they chose to release two shooters in one year.

Check it out here.