NEW MAPS FOR THE HDD ARE FINALLY HERE!
As promised, e-SEALs is the first to bring you breaking news regarding the new SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs downloadable maps for the Internal Hard Disk Drive for PlayStation®2 (more commonly referred to as the HDD). But before we get into all the juicy details, let's cover a few important points first. The SOCOM II downloadable levels will be made available to consumers this fall. The first level ("After Hours") will be placed on the demo disc sold with the December Official PlayStation Magazine issue (on sale in November). The second level ("Liberation") will be placed on the demo disc sold with OPM in the January issue (on sale in December). The third level ("Last Bastion") will be distributed through a different avenue and SCEA and e-SEALs will announce this distribution medium at a later date. Consumers must have an HDD to download and play the SOCOM II downloadable levels. If a consumer does not have an HDD, they will "see" the new levels being played but when they try to enter a room accessing the downloadable levels to play they will receive a message stating that these levels require an HDD. OK ... now that we have gotten that out of the way, let's get into the good stuff!
So what are the new maps like?
SCEA and Zipper Interactive will be releasing three new maps available for download onto the HDD. "So what are these new maps like?" you ask. Well let me run through a brief description to give you an idea of the fun you will be having with your HDD:
AFTER HOURS: The first map is "After Hours", a night time "Suppression" map based loosely on Seoul in South Korea. It has a very good variety of urban combat with dark back alley ways, corporate buildings, parking garage, a subway station and even an Internet Cafe. This map was included with the retail version of SOCOM II in Korea.
LIBERATION: The second map is "Liberation", an "Escort" map based in the Algeria area of operation from SOCOM II. It is also an urban map taking place in a North African port city. It includes winding back alley ways, several port warehouses, an enclosed market place, and a few buildings and squares.
LAST BASTION: The third map is "Last Bastion", a "Breach" map based in the Albania area of operation from SOCOM II. This map takes place in a dilapidated medieval Albanian castle along side a river where the terrorists have set up a counterfeiting operation. This map makes heavy use of foliage, ground fog, gun emplacements and castle fortifications.
As you can see, SCEA and Zipper Interactive have given players a little bit of everything in order to provide a good cross section of game play elements in these new maps. But we know that you have more questions about the why and how and we got your back.
With the help of our innovative mind reading device, the real life LAPD CSI unit, and a whole lot of psychics from West Hollywood (and they aren't cheap), we were able to get answers for all those nagging questions lying stagnant in the back of your head. So straight from the mouths of SCEA and Zipper Interactive here is the information you were wishing for. Read up and make sure to discuss everything in our FORUMS:
Why has it taken so long to get these new levels out?
We have been focused on making the levels as large and complete as possible, as well as making sure the distribution model is something that will enable consumers to get these levels at minimal cost. We feel that these are the best SOCOM II maps. We really went all out on them which took some time to create.
Will the levels, in fact, require the HDD?
Yes. The levels currently require the HDD to play. (HDD MSRP $99.00.)
Is the OPM disc going to be the only channel through which the levels are made available?
The OPM disc will be a method of distribution for the first two levels. We will announce at a later date how the third map will be distributed.
Regardless of the delivery method, how big (in terms of file size) will these levels be?
The individual map files are about 15-20MB in memory, but we compress them for storage on the HDD. They are only about 5-6MB on the HDD. However, when you enable the HDD option in SOCOM II it will create a 256MB section for all SOCOM II downloadable data to be stored in.
How big are the new levels in relation to the older ones?
It varies, but some of them are about double the size of the average SOCOM II maps that shipped on the disc. We wanted to create some levels with a different feel and we noticed that we did not have as many large levels in SOCOM II as we would have liked, so all of the HDD levels are on the larger size.
Will there be any changes made to the game play with the new levels (Like changes we have seen with updates, etc)?
We just released an update for SOCOM II on September 9th. Since some of those exploits were drastically affecting the ladder rankings, we also reset the current ladder rankings for SOCOM II.
Will using the HDD have any effect on lag?
The HDD maps will not have any effect on latency (lag).
Are there any plans for more downloadable levels beyond these 3?
Not at this time, but you never know. It depends on the consumer reaction to these first three maps.
Do you ever plan to charge for level downloads in SOCOM? What about other SCEA games?
The two first SOCOM II HDD levels are available via the OPM demo disc, so consumers will need to purchase the magazine to acquire them. We are evaluating charging for SOCOM II downloadable content in the future, but again it depends on consumer demand. For these first three levels, we wanted to reward all of the SOCOM II players who made the game such a success by giving them a special bonus. We think it is also a good bonus for all of the players that bought an HDD. We will announce downloadable content for other SCEA titles in the future.
Are you worried about alienating players without an HDD?
We are currently evaluating additional ways to get these levels to all SOCOM II fans without HDDs.
Well there you have it! All the information you could possibly want about the new maps, how to get them, and when they will be available. So smash open that piggy bank and count up those pennies to get your HDD today and play the newest levels of SOCOM II beginning with the first demo disk in the December issue of OPM!
