We want to give you a sneak peak at two SOCOM: Special Forces multiplayer maps that haven’t really been seen outside of Zipper Interactive yet – Von Heine Express and Cesspool.

Von Heine Express was actually one of the last MP maps we finished; the idea behind it was to create an environment that captured the spirit of our classic SOCOM II map, Fox Hunt, but was built on the themes of SOCOM: Special Forces and made for great sniping scenarios. Set on the coast of Southeast Asia in a makeshift military base that comes complete abandoned train cars, Von Heine Express is a favorite here at Zipper and has only been seen publicly once – at PAX East 2011 where it was part of that event’s SOCOM: Special Forces Championship Tournament. Check out the video below for a flythrough.

Another map that we’re happy to unveil is Cesspool. Cesspool was one of the earliest MP maps developed for SOCOM: Special Forces and it came about because of how much we loved the thematic from our “Means to an End” single-player mission. Set about half-way through the game, “Means to an End” takes place in a city slum currently under siege by the insurgents lead by SOCOM: Special Forces antagonist, General Razad. That SP mission was only an inspiration, though, and Cesspool was created entirely from scratch and is excellent for close-quarters combat-oriented players. Check it out for yourself in the video below.

While these two maps aren’t available in the beta, you’ll be able to experience Von Heine Express, Cesspool and seven other multiplayer maps for yourself when SOCOM: Special Forces hits stores across Europe from 20 April. Of course, competitive multiplayer isn’t all SOCOM: Special Forces has to offer, as it also includes our robust 14-mission cinematic solo campaign and our five-player custom-campaign cooperative missions as well.

If you haven’t tried out SOCOM: Special Force’s multiplayer and can’t wait until April 20, be sure to download the beta, already available to PlayStation Plus and the voucher folks mentioned above, when it opens up to everyone starting April 6.

Score:

• 17 Comments 2 Replies
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

Our first week of private beta testing for SOCOM: Special Forces has been incredibly helpful. Though the participants were limited to the “invite only” crowd, their feedback has been phenomenal — with tens of thousands of posts filled with opinions, suggestions, comments and more pouring into our beta forum. Starting today, it’s time for PlayStation Plus members to get their turn as they join the existing testers for the next phase of our pre-release examination.

Though similar to last week’s schedule, this week’s agenda is a bit different from what we had before. Here’s what game-types you can expect to see starting today:

• Wednesday (3/23) – Uplink, Classic Uplink, Suppression, Classic Suppression
• Thursday (3/24) – Last Defense, Classic Last Defense, Uplink, Classic Uplink
• Friday (3/25) – Bomb Squad, Classic Bomb Squad, Last Defense, Classic Last Defense
• Saturday (3/26) – Sniper Alley (Custom), Last Defense Run ‘n Gun (Custom), Bomb Squad, Classic Bomb Squad
• Sunday (3/27) – Scrum (Custom), Community Day Classic (Custom), Sniper Alley (Custom), Last Defense Run ‘n Gun (Custom)
• Monday (3/28) – Suppression, Classic Suppression, Scrum (Custom), Community Day Classic (Custom)

If you missed last week’s post, the multiplayer beta includes two maps, Port Authority and Assault & Battery, and offers a variety of built-in game-types and custom game-types:

• Suppression: The SOCOM take on team deathmatch.
• Last Defense: Capture controls points, discover the enemy base and destroy it.
• Uplink: Steal enemy data and deliver it to your base.
• Bomb Squad: Defend your bomb technician while he disarms enemy explosives.
• Sniper Alley (Custom): An 8 vs. 8 version of Classic Suppression with higher damage. Weapons are limited to sniper rifles, shotguns, smoke grenades and poison gas.
• Last Defense Run ‘n Gun (Custom): Faster movement speed and reduced damage are applied to 16 vs. 16 Last Defense with weapons restricted to only shotguns and SMGs.
• Scrum (Custom): Suppression is given rule tweaks of no respawn, faster movement and higher damage, while sniper rifles, frag grenades, concussion grenades and poison gas are disallowed.
• Community Day Classic (Custom): A medley featuring Classic versions of all four game types (Suppression, Last Defense, Uplink and Bomb Squad) with increased speed and weapon restrictions placed on ranged explosives. Each game type is played over 11 five-minute rounds.

All built-in game-types (re: not “Custom”) will be playable in both the Standard and Classic variations. Standard mode closely mimics the single-player experience, while Classic harkens back to older SOCOM titles with increased movement speeds, round-based play, no player respawns and the lack of health regeneration. Our Custom types mix and match a number of game settings, delivering fresh takes on our core rule sets.

As before, after you’ve had a chance to play the beta, we’d love to hear your feedback! Once you’ve downloaded the beta and played a complete match, you’ll then gain access to our private beta forums on SOCOM.com where you can share your stories with other players and leave us your feedback. SOCOM has always been a very player-driven franchise and your opinions are very important to us, so please let us know what you think!

Score:

• 31 Comments 1 Reply
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

The SOCOM franchise is no stranger to intense online competition, the sort of frantic rivalries that bring out plenty of gloating for the victors. Fans know that the series has catered to these sorts of moments with built-in victory dances, and the soldiers of SOCOM: Special Forces sure do know their way around the dance floor!

Available in online competitive matches, SOCOM Special Forces victory dances are triggered by pressing the Circle button while standing over a fallen enemy. There are more than a dozen dances in the game, including:

The Chicken

Sure to be a hit with fans of Arrested Development, your soldier makes chicken wings with his arms and waves them up and down, bobs his head forward and backward and digs at the dirt with his foot.

The Robot

Essentially an over-exaggerated version of what it looks like every time C3PO talks.

The Crane

Exactly like Daniel-san’s finishing move from The Karate Kid, the soldier raises both hands into the air, lefts one knee up slowly and then quickly high kicks with the other leg.

So make sure you download the PlayStation Plus Beta next week: 23rd April to the 5th April, and for those on general PSN 6th April onwards, have fun finding those victory dances!

Score:

• 19 Comments 1 Reply
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

Outside of our gameplay features, one of the most asked questions we get about SOCOM: Special Forces these days is, “what kind of trophies can we earn”? Well, ask no more! Listed below are all of the visible trophies you can earn along with the number of hidden trophies you can earn per category.

Bronze

• Elite Ops – Complete a Story Campaign mission on Elite Difficulty
• N00b – Complete a Competitive Multiplayer game
• Good Game – Complete a Competitive Multiplayer game of every gametype
• Combined Assault – Complete a Custom Campaign mission in Co-op
• Extra Credit – Complete a Custom Campaign mission in Single-player
• Government Spending – Call in a total of 10 airstrikes during your career
• Death From Above – Eliminate 5 enemies with a single airstrike
• Repo Man – Destroy a total of 50 vehicles during your career
• Unseen Strike – Stealth kill a total of 10 enemies in a single mission
• Grenadier – Eliminate a total of 25 enemies with explosives during your career
• Crowd Control – Eliminate 3 enemies with a single explosive
• Century Slayer – Eliminate a total of 100 enemies during your career
• Melon Hunter – Eliminate a total of 100 enemies with a headshot during your career
• Hat Trick – Eliminate 3 enemies in a row with headshots
• Vorpal – Eliminate a total of 25 enemies with melee attacks during your career
• Combat Medic – Execute a total of 25 teammate revives during your career
• Armed to the Teeth – Unlock all weapons for use in Campaign Mode
• I Call Her Vera – Master a weapon in any mode
• Oracle – Collect an Intel item in a Story Campaign mission
• Hidden Trophies (15)

Silver

• Covert Ops – As Forty-Five, successfully maintain stealth in a Story Campaign mission
• Over Achiever – Complete a Custom Campaign mission on every map in either Single-player or Co-op
• Millennial Slayer – Eliminate a total of 1000 enemies during your career
• Expert Tactician – Complete a Story Campaign mission using only your teammates to eliminate enemies
• Information Warfare – Collect all Intel in the Story Campaign
• Hidden Trophy (1)

Gold

• Best of the Best – Complete the Story Campaign on Elite Difficulty
• Above and Beyond – Complete a total of 100 objectives during your career
• Shiny! – Master a weapon of each class in any mode
• The Elite 45th – As Forty-Five, stealth kill a total of 45 enemies in the Story Campaign

Platinum

• All is Said, All is Done – Obtain all Bronze, Silver, and Gold Trophies in SOCOM 4

Score:

• 37 Comments 7 Replies
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

Competitive multiplayer has always been the core of the SOCOM franchise, and SOCOM: Special Forces takes it further than ever before with modes and options that both new recruits and veterans alike will enjoy. We’ve previously covered three of our four competitive modes — Suppression, Last Defence and Uplink — and today we’re excited to unveil our fourth mode, Bomb Squad.

In Bomb Squad, Insurgents have planted a number of bombs around the map and the Spec Ops team must defuse them all before time runs out. What makes Bomb Squad special is that it features the unique Bomb Technician character, played by one member of the Spec Ops team, who is charged with defusing the explosives. He carries both an automatic shotgun and a mobile grenade launcher and is very heavily armoured, making him a deadly force on his own; that said, the technician is still an open target any time he turns his back to defuse Insurgent bombs. Succeeding in Bomb Squad requires tactics, teamwork, patience and confidence to get the job done, all pillars of the overall SOCOM experience.

When can you get your hands on Bomb Squad, you ask? Well, you’ll be able to try out all four of our modes on two maps in our upcoming beta! The SOCOM: Special Forces Beta will include each of the game’s competitive multiplayer modes — Suppression, Last Defence, Uplink and Bomb Squad — all playable on the maps “Port Authority” and “Assault & Battery”. And of course, you’ll be able to play each of our modes in either of their Standard or Classic variants with either the PlayStation Move controller or the traditional Dualshock controls, in addition the Beta supports 3D as well!

The SOCOM: Special Forces Multiplayer Beta will roll out in two separate phases. It’ll begin with PlayStation Plus subscribers and then it will be available to download from PSN store for everyone! Here’s the schedule for PAL regions.

• Beginning March 23rd, PlayStation Plus members will gain access to the beta.
• Starting April 6th, the beta will be freely downloadable to anyone via PlayStation Network.

The beta is scheduled to run until April 13th, at which point the servers will be taken down in preparation for the games release.

Score:

• 24 Comments
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook