Though the SOCOM series has fallen dormant for years, one gamer is taking it upon himself to bring the original PlayStation 2 classic back to life on the PC.
While some video game developers seem to be content to release an endless slew of ports, remakes, and remasters of old titles, there are other games that are neglected completely. Thankfully, where developers or publishers fail, gamers often step in and bring new life to beloved older games.
This is the case with the PlayStation 2 classic, SOCOM. While the SOCOM series continued on for another console generation, it's since fallen stagnant. Sony previously claimed the SOCOM series isn't dead, but they haven't released any plans to rejuvenate it with sequels or remakes. Though the mod in question has sought to recreate the SOCOM experience on PC, moving it away from its console roots, it has a dedicated fan following on Steam and a bright future ahead of it.
In an interview discussing his SOCOM resurrection project, modder Redline explained the impact SOCOM had on him when he first played it:
“When I was a kid, I got high speed internet, so I went out and bought a high-speed game: it was SOCOM. I played it nonstop. I skipped school to play it.”
Redline, who started out with no prior modding experience, began building the SOCOM mod for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Since then, however, the mod has migrated to Insurgency. Redline is recreating the SOCOM experience "one map at a time", creating a faithful nod to the series named SOCOM: Insurgency.
Fan reception to the mod has been remarkable, with over 10,000 unique players giving the mod a whirl since March, generating 37,000 hours of total gameplay for a mod that's still in the Alpha stages. Redline hopes to be able to move the mod into Beta early next year, and eventually migrate the mod to Source 2 engine, creating a standalone, free-to-play game called SOCOM: Source.
Redline's progress in the mod thus far is impressive, and the fan support wanting the SOCOM experience back is clearly there. Considering that Sony just announced that the PlayStation 4 will receive PlayStation 2 emulation, it remains to be seen if any of the old SOCOM games are resurrected for modern audiences on consoles. The mod may also generate enough interest in the series that Sony decides to bring back SOCOM, akin to how a fan remake resulted in Capcom finally declaring they'd remake Resident Evil 2 themselves.
As console generations change and game networks go offline, it's inevitable that certain classics become lost as a result. However, time and time again, gamers have shown that they're willing to put in the hours and effort to bring back their favorites in some shape or form, whether it's as simple as creating private servers for a formerly-online MMO, or rebuilding a game from scratch, like Redline is doing.
Have you ever played a fan recreation or remake of a classic game? Let us know in the comments.
The SOCOM: Insurgency mod is free on Steam for gamers with a copy of Insurgency for PC.
Source: PC Gamer