After having been initially touted as a PlayStation Move launch title and then being delayed into 2011, it looked like SOCOM 4 wasn’t turning out to be the title gamers were expecting. From a developer with a pedigree of delivering solid squad based multiplayer experiences, SOCOM 4 was in a perfect place to steal a big chunk of the motion control market had it not fallen short. Luckily, the game looks to be back on track and, and if the Wall Street Journal is to be believed, the game is set for release this April.

Starting out as one of the first game series to utilize the PlayStation 2’s online capabilities with great community success, it is great to see the SOCOM series come full circle by breaking new ground with the Move motion controller.

Though SOCOM 4 got off to a rough start missing the launch of the Move peripheral itself, the next installment seems to be right on track.

After having delivered a solid multiplayer experience in MAG, many hope that Zipper Interactive can return to the franchise they began and create an even deeper multiplayer component. So far, Zipper has been focused more on revealing the details of their single player elements rather than any multiplayer, but hopefully, with a solid release date, some information will begin to reveal itself.

A series that really came to life through its online component, SOCOM found a large and loyal community with its first two iterations. As someone who spent more than their fair share of days, that’s right days, logged onto the SOCOM servers it’s hard not to get excited by the prospect of jumping back into a true SOCOM experience as crafted by Zipper.

While Slant Six Games, developer on the various PSP iterations and the most recent SOCOM: Confrontation, proved themselves capable of creating a passable facsimile, those games never really reached the status of the first two games. Hopefully, Move support aside, SOCOM 4 can reinvigorate that original PS2 community for a whole new generation of squad-based online combat.

How has the delay of SOCOM 4 affected your opinion of the game? Now with a release window to look forward to, has your interest in the game changed in any way?

SOCOM 4 is rumored to be releasing in April on the PS3.

Source: Wall Street Journal