Hands-On Preview: SOCOM 4 with MOVE (#e3)

On my way to my one hour Bethesda appointment, I noticed how short the line was to get some hands-on time with the PlayStation Move. For some odd reason, the line was one person long, when it was considerably longer throughout the convention. Since I was on my way to a scheduled period with another company, I did not have a whole lot of time to spare, but I had enough time to give the latest SOCOM title from the folks at Zipper Interactive, SOCOM 4. But this wasn’t just a demo of their latest tactical third person shooter; this was a single player portion powered by Sony’s lollipop of love, the PlayStation Move.

Before I even moved my character, I immediately noticed a significant visual boost, when compared to SOCOM Confrontation, the previous installment to the SOCOM franchise on the PlayStation 3. The environments hold a vast amount of detail, animates without a hitch and faithfully representing what it’s supposed to represent. The explosions lacked the visual punch, but that was about it.

I sat down with a Zipper rep, ready to give SOCOM 4 a go with Move. After watching the beauty unfold in front of me, it was time to pick up Sony’s motion controlled light bulb, along with their version of the Nunchuk:

The Nunchuk piece was rather comfortable, allowing optimal manipulation of my on screen avatar. The button layout on the analog piece wasn’t necessarily intuitive, but it wasn’t a detraction either. Thankfully Sony did not isolate the X and O buttons exclusively to the left handed piece, cause that would definitely make controlling future Move titles feel convoluted.

The lollipop motion piece forms to my hands a lot easier than the Wiimote does, though there’s no real sense of a complete grasp, as the slick and groove-less finish didn’t feel like it would survive the clammy handed grip that some gamers develop. However in action, the Move as a whole worked quite well with SOCOM 4, allowing for a legitimate controller alternative to a least the single player portion.

The aiming mechanics take about a minute to really comprehend and warm up to, but once you become accustomed to them, they offer an acceptable, as well as plausible alternative to the standard controller. Combined with the cover mechanics implemented into SOCOM 4, you’ll feel an attachment to the battlefield in a way that hasn’t been performed properly before. Once I memorized what each button did, I started getting deeper into the experience.

Towards the end of this demo, you have to call out an air strike to a specific location. By aiming your reticle at a designated area and holding down the trigger button on the left controller piece, you’ll fill a bar up slowly. Get that bar maxed out, duck back into cover, and watch your offensive air strike take place, clearing out the enemy battalion, or a tank that stands between you and your objective.

The brief glimpse into Sony’s entry into the motion control world saw some clear skies, with SOCOM 4 coming off as a well oiled machine so far. Zipper’s rep mentioned how the single player will receive more attention this time around, augmenting the experience gained from its multiplayer feature, something that has never really come off with much success in the past. If Zipper Interactive can keep at it, they have a legitimate chance of making a compelling single player experience to coincide with their tactical multiplayer mode. While not much is know about the multiplayer portion, you can expect to join the battle near the end of 2010. For now, here’s a small handful of pictures of SOCOM 4 in action:

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