With strictly online gameplay and no single-player campaign, there isn't a story to SOCOM: Confrontation, at least not much of one. However, players will have the ability to envision their own story with the option to play as six different Special Force outfits, with more to come, such as U.S. Navy Seals and the British Special Air Service, when they join a clan. Speaking of clans, Slant Six is introducing many new features aimed at supporting and strengthening the Confrontation community, particularly enhancing clan and group play. For example, every player begins the game with two characters: a commando and a mercenary. Both characters can be customized with different weapons, outfits, and gear, but to really expand on your characters, you'll have to join a clan to become a member of the Special Forces, as well as part of a team.

Having Special Forces allow for different customizable equipment items, such as camo patterns, different helmets, and of course, unique weapons for each particular outfit. Clan leaders will be able to choose which outfit the clan will be, and will also have access to clan customization to make your clan look like an actual team. Clan management will also be improved with the launch of SOCOM.com, a website for the Confrontation community. Clans will be able to make changes to schedules and rosters, exchange info with clan members, and even scout new recruits, and of course there will be an in-depth stat tracking system that will keep all players' stats from ranked matches, which will be helpful when trying to recruit for clans. More importantly, Confrontation introduces a party system that allows groups to move from game to game and with open-mic chat in the lobby, as well as during matches.

SOCOM III changed aspects of gameplay with the addition of vehicles and massive-scale maps, among other things, but the goal for SOCOM: Confrontation is a return to the classic SOCOM experience. Although Confrontation supports 32 players like SOCOM III, vehicles are gone and the focus of gameplay will return to close-quarters combat. Each of the seven available maps at launch will also offer a smaller 16-player version. Instead of using vehicles, Confrontation is introducing the ability to run and to keep on running in able move quickly though the 32-player maps. Keeping the game on foot, Slant Six thought it would be a wise idea to give players to run all they want throughout the map, but not without some repercussions. When running you won't be able to shoot and once you stop running, you're accuracy will be reduced, thus making it extremely important to not always run around every corner. Some maps will be more focused on running and quick movement, but others will be focused on keeping cover, especially now that sniping is more realistic and accurate as ever. One of the bigger changes in gameplay for Confrontation is the ability to use the Sixaxis controls to lean in and out of cover. While hiding in cover, you'll just tilt the Sixaxis controller to the left or to the right, for an accurate glance around your cover. This is the kind of innovation that Slant Six is trying to implement into Confrontation.

Considering the fact that the game is still in early development, I was surprised at how well the environments, buildings, and objects look on Crossroads. Naturally there is still a need for some tweaking to get the game looking smoother, but it's definitely a good start. Of the clips I looked at, the characters and weapons looked really detailed and I can only imagine what they will look like in the final version, and with 7.1 surround sound support, the sounds of the game will make it that much more appealing. The novel audio sound system in the game will help define the sounds of the game according to the source of the sound, the position of the players, and any obstacles in between. This sound system will make it easier to locate gunfire, as well as hear enemy movement near your position.

Even though release day is still a few months away, SOCOM: Confrontation is already looking like its going to shape up to be a very beautiful, detailed, and thrilling game. With its focus on tactical, close-quarter and realistic combat, Slant Six is looking to return to the classic SOCOM experience. Getting rid of the vehicles and ridiculously large maps of SOCOM III really shows that Slant Six is serious about making the game a "true" next-get experience, and the new features and enhancements with clan and group play is only going to strengthen the SOCOM online community. With a few more months to polish things up, SOCOM: Confrontation should be on the radar for every SOCOM fan, as well as any PS3 owner looking for a promising online shooter.

By Rangebar Merani
LWG Game Journalist