A Requiem for SOCOM

Christmas, 2003. I received a copy of SOCOM 2 for the PS2. The commercials sold me, as I thought the game looked pretty cool. I played the single player game a few times, but wasn't thrilled with it. I also received the network adapter that year and had read good things about SOCOM 2 online, but I didn't know anyone else who played.

For the next seven months, the game sat in its case while I played Madden, GTA Vice City & NCAA Football. Then it happened.

I was contacted by a couple of buddies from my Foxwoods days, Aaron & Eric. In conversation, they asked if I played SOCOM. I told them I had the game, but didn't play it. They told me they were in a clan with other old pals from Foxwoods & invited me to join them.

From the very first night I played, I was hooked. It became an obsession. I was playing a virtual game of hide & seek with friends, twice a week, sometimes more. Thursdays & Sundays were SOCOM Nights. Nothing else. Even Red Sox fans gave up on the Sox during the ALCS in 2004 to play SOCOM. (I'm pretty sure some managed to watch a World Series game or two.)

The Geeks with Gunz clan was a machine. We played constantly and always seemed to have at least six, usually eight, players on a given night. New recruits were added. We tried to have a tournament. We bombarded each others emails with roll call for the coming night & recaps of the previous night's skirmishes. We even spent $100 on the useless hard drive that allowed us to play three new maps. Anything to expand the SOCOM universe.

Eventually, some players left us, including Aaron. He moved onto World of Warcraft, where he still lives today. The core of the group held strong under Zman's leadership, keeping up with the sequel, SOCOM 3, which arrived in the fall of 2005. However, the end was near.

In the spring of 2006, Sony promised new maps. They arrived in July. Then, SOCOM 3.1 was announced, titled Combined Assault. As the number of regulars dwindled to around four or five per night, the writing was on the wall. Combined Assault wasn't good enough to justify paying the money for and many GwG members were gaming on next-gen systems. There were a few stragglers, but with Zman finally purchasing an Xbox 360 this past Friday, the final nail was pounded into the SOCOM coffin.

Since Dean (PudClot) is the only idiot former member to buy a PS3, Geeks with Gunz is starting anew, this time on the Xbox 360. There are currently five former members actively involved with Rainbow Six: Vegas, a game that’s just as much fun as SOCOM was in it’s heyday, only better.

The beauty and joy of next-gen and HD gaming can’t take away from the hours of enjoyment that SOCOM delivered the past few years. Friendships were made as were the memories. Here are some words & images to ponder as we say goodbye…

A little bit of everything:


A little Crossroads:


A little Frostfire:


A history of Desert Glory:


A little SOCOM 3:


Final Roll Call:

KernelPanic
ZMan
CaptainNapalm
CaptainMorgan
Spankinator
StormSurge
PudClot
B52Buff
Spellbound
Rhavage
CaneCorso12
SJHustle
Softball
Phatback
Shootuintheye
SnakeEyes23