Commander Fury

As fans of programs like The Walking Dead and Battlestar Galactica can tell you, award-winning composer Bear McCreary knows how to evoke emotion with his music. Luckily for PlayStation fans, Bear has done it again with his original soundtrack for SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs, and if you ask us, it’s our best yet! We enjoy the SOCOM 4 soundtrack so much in fact, that we’ve decided to release it for purchase on both iTunes and the PlayStation Store starting today for just $9.99 -- a great deal that your speakers should thank you for. Here's a note from Bear himself: "SOCOM 4 has been a long musical journey. I first began writing music for this game in 2008, and now, almost three years later to the day, my soundtrack is available for download from iTunes and the PlayStation Network, and in an exciting expanded edition two-disc set from La La Land Records coming in a few weeks. The physical CD release will include a bunch of un-released material, and feature a full-color booklet... and perhaps, a hidden surprise for all the good boys and girls! I’m a gamer myself, and had played all the previous games in the SOCOM series. So, I was familiar with the traditional military orchestral sound that accompanied them. However, I quickly realized that Sony and Zipper Interactive were ready to take the SOCOM franchise in a more cinematic direction. The characters were drawn out, and the player would face difficult ethical decisions. The entire story takes place over six days in an unspecified Southeast Asian country, opening the door for me to explore exotic local instrumentation. There was a lot for me to be excited about. I look forward to SOCOM fans, gamers and soundtrack buffs alike having the opportunity to explore this music, thanks to the digital and CD releases of this soundtrack." Recorded at the legendary Skywalker Ranch in beautiful Northern California, the SOCOM 4 soundtrack merges the dissimilar instruments of eastern and western orchestras to create a unique, symphonic sound unlike any other action-shooter out there. We hope you enjoy the soundtrack as much as we have enjoyed putting it together for you. Oh, and before we go – keep your eyes on the Official SOCOM blog in the coming weeks, when we’ll have more details on the upcoming limited edition disc-based release of the soundtrack that Bear mentioned as well! More...

The latest issue of OPM has unveiled a swag of new information on Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, including why Drake’s stranded in a desert and who that creepy lady is. Naughty Dog dropped some teasing comments through the piece, including that “the Uncharted franchise was never conceived as a trilogyâ€. According to SystemLink‘s summary, the desert seen in the first trailer is Rub’ al Khali, in Arabia. The desert behaves as it ought, throwing sandstorms, mirages, and “all the things you’d expect in a desert†at you, and shifting dynamically. Drake and Sully are in Arabia in search of the Iram of the PIllars, but London and a jungle temple were revealed as locations visited during the course of the game.. Recently revealed villain Katherine Marlowe is part of a secret society dating back to the Elizabethan era. Since the story is centred on Lawrence of Arabia’s obsession with the Iram of the Pillars, Naughty Dog are fittingly hinting at motorcycle sections. The article mentions the studio tries not to repeat itself, but has a “strong tradition†of in-game vehicles. A new melee system allows Drake to find weaponry in the environment, such as bottles, and stealth combat has been expanded. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...

Following months of legal wrangling, Sony and hacker George “Geohot†Hotz have jointly confirmed that they’ve settled their hacking dispute out of court. Sony and Hotz have issued a joint statement to announce “the settlement of the lawsuit filed by SCEA against Hotz in federal court in San Francisco, California. The parties reached an agreement in principle on March 31, 2011. As part of the settlement, Hotz consented to a permanent injunction.†The details of the agreement have already been leaked, following Hotz refusing to discuss the terms on his blog as they’re “confidentialâ€. Get the full court document in the images below. Hotz is now bound by a permanent injunction that forbids him from “trafficking in any technology†that “circumvents any of the TPM’s in any Sony product,†including any sort of decryption code. He’s also banned from assisting in such activities, or distributing any confidential information about Sony in any form. Any violations of the agreement will be charged at $10,000 each, up to a cap of $250,000. It’s also clearly stated in the document that Hotz would be tried in California if the deal was voided. Exactly where Hotz was to be tried formed a substantial part of the ongoing spat between the two parties. “Satisfaction†In a press release, both Sony and Hotz “expressed satisfaction†that the case, based on Hotz’s publication of PS3 More...

Bethesda said today that Brink will release a week early in both the US and Europe. The Splash Damage shooter will now hit on on May 10 in the US and on May 13 in the EU. Which is awesome. Watch for a big update on the game very soon. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...

Zipper has released a new trailer for SOCOM 4 highlighting the single-player story mode. Notable features include an arse-kicking Korean operative of the female persuasion. Sold. SOCOM 4: US Navy Seals releases exclusively for PlayStation 3 next week. It is reported to contain an invite to the Resistance 3 multiplayer beta. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...

Codemasters put out a movie today detailing Operation Flashpoint: Red River’s four-way co-op. The unforgiving shooter, which is set in a fictional conflict in Tajikistan in 2013, will release for 360, PS3 and PC on April 26. Check it out below. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...

Activision’s confirmed today that the Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation map pack leaked from Australian retailer recently is a real thing. It will, indeed, be releasing on May 3, and will come with five maps. There’s no confirmation on pricing as yet. This is a 360-only thing for now, thanks to a three-year exclusivity agreement first announced at E3 2010. Get full details from Nelson. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...

Capcom has a ton of merchandise to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Resident Evil including a replica pistol. You can purchase Chris Redfield’s Samurai Edge, but it wont save you during a zombie outbreak since it’s an air gun. At 20,790 yen ($244) this Marui made replica is quite the collectable. 1/6 scale models of Jill Valentine wearing a battle suit and Ada Wong in her Resident Evil 4 outfit will also go sale this year. Both are roughly 28 cm tall and the Jill model has 30 moveable points. Fans can grab the Jill Valentine model in May for 18,900 yen ($221). A release date for the Ada model has not been announced. S.T.A.R.S. and Raccoon City police department gear will be released throughout the year too. Here’s a look at some of the Resident Evil 15th Anniversary apparel for Japan. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...

The newest trailer for Duke Nukem Forever isn’t shy about its subject matter: babes. The trailer for the long-awaited first-person shooter shows us a lot of women in various shapes, sizes and states of undress. It includes some topless shots, although the breast areas are highly pixelated. The trailer comes to us just over 2 months before the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 game, which has been in development for 15 years, is scheduled to release. Duke Nukem Forever is due out on June 14 in the US and on June 10 everywhere else in the world. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...

Rockstar has sent word that some long-awaited DLC for Red Dead Redemption will arrive next week on consoles. The DLC, which includes items originally released as preorder exclusive content, was already supposed to have been released; however it’s a bit late due to some “unanticipated technical delaysâ€. PS3 and Xbox 360 users can purchase the DLC on April 12 for $.99 and 80 MS Points, respectively. European PSN users can purchase the DLC on Wednesday, April 13. Here’s what’s included: The Deadly Assassin Outfit: John Marston’s Deadly Assassin outfit causes your Dead Eye meter to regenerate at twice the speed. With more Dead Eye, you have more time to place each shot with total accuracy, making you the deadliest gunslinger in any fight. The Golden Guns Weapon Pack: Available for use in the Red Dead Redemption Single Player story, the player who wields the Golden Guns receives more Fame for each kill. The more Fame you get, the more in-game side missions become available. So there will be more opportunities to duel, more kidnapped townsfolk to rescue and you can bribe lawmen for less. The War Horse: There are countless horses to be found in the massive world of Red Dead Redemption, but none is stronger, faster or tougher than the War Horse. Whether storming gang hideouts, exploring the wilderness for hidden treasure, or outrunning the law, the War Horse gives gunslingers an advantage in nearly every situation. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...

We're back again with episode 34 of Zipline, the official Zipper Interactive podcast! This week we're joined by SOCOM 4 lead multiplayer designer Kevin Schmitt and core systems designer Ryan Fedje to talk about the ongoing SOCOM 4 multiplayer beta. Enjoy! Zipline Podcast, Episode 34 26.8MB |29m:16s Subscribe to Zipline on iTunes | Subscribe via RSS You can discuss this episode by clicking this link. More...

Hope you’re all enjoying the final stretch of the SOCOM 4 Multiplayer Beta! Just a little over a week until SOCOM 4 hits store shelves on April 19th, and the excitement’s definitely building. To heighten the anticipation, we’ve got some equally exciting news to share—by picking up a specially-marked copy of SOCOM 4, not only will you get your hands on its full breadth of singleplayer, 32-person multiplayer, and 5 person-co-op gameplay, but you’ll also get early access to the Resistance 3 Public Beta! To get early access to the Resistance 3 Beta, keep your eyes peeled for the callout included on the front of all eligible copies of SOCOM 4. Every specially marked box will include a voucher with a unique code you can redeem for early access to the Resistance 3 Beta; if you’re going big with the SOCOM 4 Full Deployment Edition, every one of these limited edition bundles will come packed with a voucher as well. To find out when the Resistance 3 Beta begins, be sure to check the details on the included voucher once you get your hands on SOCOM 4 starting April 19. If you want to ensure your early access to the Resistance 3 Public Beta, pre-ordering your copy of SOCOM 4 at one of the following participating retailers is the way to go. In addition to early beta access for Resistance 3, you’ll also get a pair of slug ammunition shotguns, as well as the classic Abandoned Map if you pre-order at GameStop. Enjoy! More...

As SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs approaches its April 19th release, we're putting the finishing touches on the latest and greatest version of the official SOCOM website, SOCOM.com. When all is said and done you'll have access to tons of stats, leaderboards, weapon information and much, much more. We're especially proud of the statistical options that will be featured on the site. In addition to raw numbers for everything from kills and deaths to per-weapon hit percentages, you'll be able to see visual representations of many of your most important stats. A color-coded character hit map shows you where on the enemy you're focusing your fire, while a color wheel shows your “kills†breakdown on a per-weapon basis. A new timeline graph allows you to see your per-day totals across a number of stats, and you can even add other players to see how you've been stacking up against each other. And that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Would you like to see all of this for yourself? Well, you're in luck as we're opening up beta access to the site as of right now! Simply head on over to beta.SOCOM.com and you'll be able to try out many of the new features that will be part of the finished site. Let us know what you think of the site by visiting the official SOCOM forums. More...

With our open beta of SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs in full swing – and plenty of player feedback to go along with it – we wanted to make sure that everyone had a chance to experience some of the changes we’ve already implemented to the both the beta and the final game (via “launch day†patch) because of your testing. Starting tomorrow, April 8, SOCOM 4 Beta v1.02 will be available for download and will automatically update, following our 1am PDT (4am EDT) maintenance window. Here’s what you can expect to see: SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs Beta v1.02 April 8, 2011 | TPPS: 37 MBs, DLS: 21 MBs Gameplay More...

Taking to the US and EU PlayStation Forums en masse, PlayStation 3 users continue to report connectivity issues with PlayStation Network today. Starting with the declaration of attack by hacker group “Anonymous” earlier this week, PSN has been experiencing sporadic issues over the past few days — Sony characterized the outages as “intermittent” earlier this week, and promised that “engineers are working to restore and maintain the services.” As of the time of publishing, we have been unable to connect to PSN today through several staff accounts. According to a Sony EU forum moderator, a trio of error codes could be showing up for affected users (80710092, 80710D36 and 8071053D), though little else is offered in way of information. “We are currently looking into this and I will update the thread as more information becomes available,” the post notes. Additionally, PlayStation Lifestyle reports that a splinter group of Anonymous — identified as “SonyRecon” — is apparently going after specific Sony executives, seeking to reveal “names, phone numbers, pictures, home addresses, email, internet protocol address, family members and other data.” CEO Sir Howard Stringer is said to be one of the group’s targets, among others. As previously detailed, Anonymous launched the attacks on Sony earlier this week as a sign of solidarity with hackers George “GeoHot” Hotz and Alexander “Graf_Chokolo” Egorenkov, both of whom are currently in litigation with Sony. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...

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Bethesda’s just put out the latest Brink gameplay movie, showing various character abilities. The new clip for the Splash Damage shooter shows more off more customisation options, shooting, action set-pieces, SMART, hacking, self-healing yourself and more. Properly knockout. Brink releases on May 17 in the US and May 20 in the UK for PS3, 360 and PC Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...

The second map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops has been outed by GAME Australia. Known as the Escalation Pack, it’ll feature five maps – one of which is a zoo – and will release on May 3, according to a flyer posted on the retailer’s site, which has since been pulled. It’ll arrive first on Xbox Live as part of a three year exclusivity deal between Activision and Microsoft that was announced at E3 last year. It’ll arrive on PS3 and PC afterwards. The first map pack for Black Ops, First Strike, launched back in February for Xbox 360. It followed a month later on PS3 and PC. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...

The last three weeks have been great for us here at Zipper Interactive! Our private, PlayStation Plus, and Killzone 3 voucher testers have been integral in helping us put the finishing touches on the multiplayer aspects of SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs. But that’s the past – and now, the special invitation period is over because starting today, anyone and everyone with PSN access can freely download the SOCOM 4 beta from the PlayStation Store during its regularly-scheduled update. The beta’s availability on the PlayStation Store ends April 12. Our servers will be open all day every day until the beta period ends on April 13 at 11:59pm Pacific Time (2:59am Eastern). However, we will limit what modes are available for the first few days to keep our testing focused before opening all queues for the home stretch. Here’s how the schedule looks in its final phase: More...

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Majesco has announced that scantily clad dhampir*Rayne will return to consoles this summer in the digital download title Bloodrayne: Betrayal. Slated for release on PSN and XBL, WayForward is developing the game, which sees our heroine fighting out in 2D side-scrolling action with a deadly dose of bloodshed. In the game, Rayne has been recruited by the vampire hunting Brimstone Society for one final mission, where she teams up with mysterious new person to thwart a vampire massacre. Puzzles, an arsenal of weapons along with new characters and emeries will be on hand, specifically designed for mature audiences. “It’s been a long time since Rayne captivated players with her bold mix of brutality and beauty, and fans have been hounding us to release another BloodRayne installment,†said Jesse Sutton, CEO of Majesco Entertainment. “We are excited to once again partner with the creative and committed team at WayForward to bring Rayne back. BloodRayne: Betrayal delivers the action-packed experience franchise fans have been waiting for in a digital format that’s also accessible for new players unfamiliar with Rayne’s over-the-top, stylized gameplay.†There’s a teaser site up at the moment, with not much else other than music and a silhouette of the vixen for the time being. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...

EA’s released the third gameplay video for Battlefield 3, showing more action-based gameplay and a sequence involving defusing a bomb. The video shows off more outdoor gunplay, as well as defusing an IED. It also gives the first look at the game’s hand-to-hand combat in a fight with an enemy soldier, showing previously reported button-press cues, with mouse flashes telling the player to left and right click to punch. The end of the clip teases a 12-minute gameplay reveal video, which is set to launch on April 17. Battlefield 3 launches this fall for PS3, 360 and PC. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...

Warner’s released a brand new gameplay video for F.E.A.R. 3, detailing the Day 1 horror’s story. Alma’s getting set to deliver a third child, which isn’t great. Horror legends John Carpenter and Steve Niles are both involved with the game’s development: Carpenter is helping with the cinematics, while Niles is writing. F.E.A.R. 3 releases on May 27 in the UK for PS3, 360 and PC. Watch the trailer below. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...

You might have heard a few rumors about a new Resident Evil game floating around the internets. Well, this week we finally confirmed Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City! Exciting! The quick details are it’s set to release this winter, you’ll see some familiar faces, locations, and enemies. All the while Umbrella Security Service battle to destroy any evidence of the deadly T-Virus. Score: 0 (0 votes cast) Urgent Fury Command: More...