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PlayStation Move: SOCOM 4

The series' producer speaks.

Ellie Gibson avatar
Interview by Ellie Gibson Contributor
Published on
31 comments
EurogamerThere have been shooting games on the Wii where you point the remote to aim the reticule and move around with the nunchuk, but you couldn't really describe them as killer apps... What makes you think SOCOM and Move will be different?
Elliott Martin

Aside from the Move support, SOCOM is taking a new approach and trying to provide a more cinematic experience for the player. There's a strong narrative running through the game, you have a main protagonist, he is supported by special forces soldiers, there's a bad guy... It's all set up for that kind of Hollywood, Uncharted-like execution.

You can play the game without ever touching the Move. It supports dualshock and traditional SOCOM fans who prefer that can use that. But adding Move removes some of the entry barriers. The precision of the aiming, the accuracy of the way it tracks is, I think, unprecedented. It allows for very fine aiming control so people find they can target things quickly and efficiently, which gives an intense feeling to the gameplay.

EurogamerIf it's much easier to aim with the Move, how do you make the game work when played with a DualShock? Won't it be much harder?
Elliott Martin

At the moment it's still early in the development process so a lot of those questions remain unanswered. A lot of that is down to balancing, tuning and deciding where things are perhaps easier or harder or where it might break the design of the levels.

Generally, we find playing with the DualShock doesn't necessarily make it harder - it's just some people will prefer that pace or that style. For example, if you want to play it more tactically you're not relying on being able to target someone and shoot quickly, and do that with multiple enemies. DualShock is perfectly fine for that style.

The Move implementation isn't being looked at as a core feature of SOCOM - it's just an additional feature. The game isn't being made for Move, Move is being integrated into the game. You can play the game from start to finish with either controller. You can take a very arcade approach where you're shooting everything in sight and charging through the level, or you can slow it down and do it the more tactical way, using the Move to paint paths through the level for your support team and so on. There's lots of variety.

EurogamerHow will it work in multiplayer? Can one person use the Move while another uses a regular DualShock?
Elliott Martin

I don't know if we've announced those kind of details yet. Those are good questions and they are things the team is perfectly aware of. They are in the process of implementing Move support into the game, and of looking into questions like that.

EurogamerWhat has been the reaction from the SOCOM fanbase to the implementation of Move?
Elliott Martin

Um... I think from my experience, from what I've seen, SOCOM fans are very protective of the SOCOM game.

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