SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs PlayStation 3
  • Publisher: SCEA
  • Release Date: Apr 19, 2011
Metascore
67 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 64 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 64
  2. Mixed: 39 out of 64
  3. Negative: 2 out of 64
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  1. Destructoid
    Apr 12, 2011
    30
    It's an antiquated shooter that's trying to hang with the new blood and failing at every turn. The fact that it's thoroughly broken serves only to rub salt in an already stinging wound.
  2. Metro GameCentral
    Apr 17, 2011
    30
    Despite the return of Zipper this repeats all the same mistakes of the last game and seems even more old-fashioned and generic as a result.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.1 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 107 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 51
  3. Negative: 21 out of 51
  1. GR3EN_CHRONIC
    10
    Best SOCOM since SOCOM 2. After SOCOM 2 zipper pretty much fell off for me. Then Slant 6 came in and I loved their work on the PSP, but when it came to confrontation it was just as bad as Zipper's last project, but Zipper came back to change all that and as a diehard SOCOM fan I must say they did rather well. Sure their are issues, but playing in classic mode is a nice change of pace for things. Definitely can't play this game like or compare this game to other modern day shooters. This one actually takes time, teamwork, and patience. Overall what I expected.… Full Review »
  2. solid_snake3656
    0
    One of the greatest playstation franchises has officially died, and socom 4 is the final nail in the coffin. The key features that made this franchise stand out amongst everything else, leave you asking WTF? The single player is no longer a tactical mission, it plays out like any other shooters SP. Where you walk into an area as quietly as possible, yet the enemy some how knows you are there. The cover sysem is a nice addition to the game, but again its nothing innovative since so many other shooters are using it as well. And as for the multiplayer, its a total nightmare. There will be times in classic mode as soon as the match starts, everyone spawns, than about 15-20 seconds later it allows you to respawn. And by the time you even leave your spawn, you are hit with a nade or gun fire. The camera view doesn't do this game any favors either, the over the shoulder view blocks out any peripheral vision that you have. And going around objects makes the camera zoom into the back of your characters head. Lack of weapon customization and character customization really hurt this game as well. All in all socom 4 is a mediocre game, that tries to imitate all the other shooters out there. Not worth my $60… Full Review »
  3. pre_-cision-_
    4
    If you purchase this game expecting a "SOCOM" title you will be SEVERELY let down. This game has gone away from the true roots of the series and has moved the title to be more casual player friendly. Features found in shooters such as call of duty, uncharted and rainbow six debut for the first time in this "SOCOM" titled game. All aspects of this game are changed for the worse from single player, co-op and online multiplayer as I will now explain to you.

    Singleplayer in SOCOM 4 is an mediocre experience at best. The storyline is extremely cheesy as it is you and your squad versus an entire country's army with generic plot twists.. Rambo would be jealous because I racked up 1000+ kills on hard mode right before the game ended (I know this because I got a trophy for that). The acting is very b-movie like where it shines for a few moments and then drowns miserably for the rest of the show. However the voice acting is a tad bit better during some moments. To beat the games 14 lackluster missions on hard it took me a total of 7 hours and 14 minutes. Your AI teammates range from being useful as bullet sponges to being borderline retarded during the entire length of the campaign. The best part of singleplayer is when it solos you through four stealth missions. Zipper must of made these to piss of the socom community, as they are the only parts of singleplayer that almost resemble the series offline roots.

    Co-op is best played online since your squad ai is already as I mentioned handicapped in every way. There are only 4 missions to play with your friends or random quick matched players. However these missions can be altered with enemy difficult and count. But who the hell doesn't want to play on the hardest settings? Once you beat them all each one time you will never want to return as co-op gets repetitive and boring quick.

    Sigh now lets get into the biggest letdown of the words on the front of the box. SOCOM is all about online multiplayer gameplay no question about it. With that being said this is honestly the worse online SOCOM game you will ever play. Lobbies are now replaced with random call of duty quick matches where little to no communication takes place. There is never a sense of comradery in these rooms as you will find quick you don't give two **** who is in or out of your game nor does anyone else. Consider yourself lucky if you can switch up teams in 15 seconds since you cant talk to the opposing team.

    Do you like playing with your friends on SOCOM? Well you cant for awhile zipper forgot to add a party system there suppose to "patch" it in before the end of april. You can play with friends but you have to join there room and hope its not full while hoping you get on there team... talk about a nightmare. The clan system is the only way to currently play in a "party" at all. Here's how it works; you make a group and challenge clans from any gamemode from a list and hope they accept or even get the invite to war.

    If you want to go solo you can play some ranked respawn and call in some airstrikes from your killstreak reward.... yep hello call of duty! There are classic modes where there is no respawn but they are a slight nod at the series if you want to go that far. Hip fire sucks so you get two dual primary weapons on this "SOCOM" game! Everytime you score a kill you get some fancy experience points to unlock weapon attachments and level up your character to gain access to new weapons. That is assuming if you can get a kill with the clunky character view point that plagues every aspect of the game from online to offline.

    Im going to stop here as I do not want to rant about the thousands of negative changes for multiple paragraphs. Maybe in 3 months from now after multiple patches this game will be better but as it stands right now it is better than Confrontation RELEASE period. See that the keyword was RELEASE... Confrontation TODAY is better than SOCOM 4 without a doubt if you get into a legit room. This game does everything the mainstream market has today but doesn't do one thing right its just a big mess.

    Bottom line... zipper lost touch with its fanbase and you need to avoid this game unless you find it used or on the bargain bin for a decent price.    … Full Review »
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