SOCOM 4 Review Round-Up: SOCOM 4 is Lacklustre, Found Wanting

Sharing a release date with two juggernauts like Mortal Kombat and Portal 2 isn't going to do SOCOM 4 any good, but that may be the least of the game's problems. Judging from what the critics are saying, SOCOM 4 may simply go down in history as a fun, but indistinct shooter. Gameinformer gave it a meager 7.8 score, saying it likely "won't win over military shooter fans who are accustomed to a polished single-player experience" while Destructoid called the game "aged and outclassed," giving it a 3.0.

8.6

gamingxp.com review
No Synopsis Available
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8.6

gamingxp.co review
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8.5

psu.com review
The development team said it worked hard to create a compelling and interesting narrative, something Zipper felt was lacking in some previous entries. The story is pretty good, but not as competent as some other recent shooters. There is one noticeable difference with just about every SOCOM game — the story follows a more traditional military tale without any zombies, aliens, or mutant cowboys. And that’s a good thing.
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7.9

gametrailers.com review
No Synopsis Available
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7.8

gameinformer.com review
SOCOM 4 sports a number of improvements, but likely won’t win over military shooter fans who are accustomed to a polished single-player experience in addition to addictive multiplayer offerings. Despite its shortcomings, SOCOM 4 is still a smarter shooter than the run-and-gun military alternatives on the market, and longtime fans of the series will likely be pleased – especially if they bring a few friends into battle.
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7.6

3djuegos.com review
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7.5

psxextreme.com review
SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs has its fair share of drawbacks, which keeps it from being a solid, stable, ultimately rewarding title. It can be satisfying, though, especially if you can overlook some of the obvious flaws in the single-player campaign. Perhaps the best way to describe this game is to say the campaign is worthy of no more than a 7, while the multiplayer is around an 8. But if you’re more anal and susceptible to the problems I outlined in this review, you’ll find the single-player element even more tiresome, and if you’re one of those veteran fans I just mentioned, you may have other reservations. Those, I cannot account for as I can only go by my own experience. That being said, I’m confident in tentatively recommending this game.
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7.5

gamespot.com review
The other style of campaign mission casts you as Forty Five. In these stealth missions, you must silently infiltrate and navigate enemy strongholds to gain intel and plant explosives. With two silenced weapons and the ability to stealth kill from behind, Forty Five must kill her enemies quietly or evade them silently.
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7.5

spaziogames.it review
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7.4

multiplayer.it review
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7.0

playstationlifestyle.net review
Campaign missions alternate between all out firefights and stealth missions. There are some interesting set pieces where gun fire erupts across the current setting, but as engaging as those are the firefight missions completely ignore other gameplay elements like tactical orders and flanking. They turn every mission into a series of shooting galleries which feel totally out-of-place in such a tactically oriented game. In the stealth missions you take control of Yoon-Hee Park, codename “Forty-Five.” I won’t get into the sexism behind making the sole female character a stealth-oriented soldier, but I will say that the stealth missions she stars in are so linear and, well, boring that they won’t be pleasing feminist and male gamers alike.
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7.0

ign.com review
SOCOM 4 is a squad-based game with a few stealth missions thrown in. As Ops Com you can issue commands to your team, moving them into position, marking enemies, or making sure the squad keeps it tight as you infiltrate enemy bases.
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6.0

level7.nu review
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6.0

gamereactor.se review
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5.0

joystiq.com review
SOCOM 4 plays all right. There's a basic "sticky" cover system and everything else feels more or less like Generic Third-Person Shooter Template C. The actual game content -- the missions, the enemies, the levels -- just isn't acceptable by franchise standards, and is only about average for the genre as a whole.
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3.0

metro.co.uk review
Over time SOCOM, and peers like Rainbow Six, have all but abandoned their original pitch, slowly metamorphosing into what they hope will be perceived as mainstream shooters. But like the proverbial dad trying to get down with the kids it's not a plan that always works.
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3.0

destructoid.com review
Even without the online problems, you're left with a game that is, at its core, aged and outclassed by so many other modern shooters. It doesn't even look all that great, with graphics far outmatched by other recent PS3 exclusives such as Killzone 3 and LittleBigPlanet 2. There's none of the basic polish and flare that one would expect from a Sony-published title.
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