SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs

"The best online-enabled game available for any console."

The original SOCOM was an eye-opening experience for me. The concepts presented by the game were, at the time, amazing: online multiplayer gaming on a console; voice chat available through an included microphone/headset; association with actually Naval Special Warfare Command to ensure realism in the gameplay. This was the game I anticipated most during the 2002 holiday season, and when it finally came out, it delivered in a big way. I played many, many hours of the game, and thoroughly enjoyed every second.

Now, in 2003, comes the much-anticipated sequel. After playing it for a good deal of time, I once again am very pleased with Zipper Interactive's product. Here’s what you need to know about this game:

Visuals:

The game's interface is clean, concise, and easy to follow. The main menu has everything displayed simply, and everything is easy to understand. In-game menus feature the same simple style, and also allow you to change certain options (vibration on/off, help on/off, etc.) on the fly. An in-game objective map helps you navigate where you need to go, without intruding on gameplay. Everything is top-notch in the nuts-and-bolts portion of the game.

CGI movies help keep the storyline flowing, and are interspersed throughout the game. These look nice, although the character models seem somewhat out of proportion. These are nice breaks from the action, and allow a window into the activities of the enemies in the game.

The in-game graphics also feature a high level of quality. Player models animate realistically, and look very realistic to boot. Environments feature a lot of foliage, and the trees and bushes are reasonably well done. You'll see some other nice visual touches, like lens flare from the sun, or water that moves realistically.

The visuals in this game are done very well. Considering how large a part stealth plays in the gameplay, this is no small feat.

Score: 10/10

Sound:

Sound effects have been revamped, and the results are of very high quality. Guns sound as you would expect when fired; footsteps are in sync with your players' movement. Environmental sounds help create the illusion that you're actually in the location you're told, which helps things even more.

The biggest advance in the game's audio component is in the voiceovers. No longer are actual SEALs doing the voice work; Zipper has hired actors to take on the roles of your SEAL team, as well as your SAS, Spetsnaz, and terrorist counterparts. I was surprised to hear Michael Clark Duncan's voice in the game, but he is among the actors enlisted to provide voice to the characters. While it may seem counterintuitive to put actors in place of real SEALs to gain realism in the dialogue, it works, and it works well. The actors are very believable, and the parts are well played. The most incredible part of the voiceovers, though, is the fact that all enemy dialogue is in the enemy's native language. This is no small feat, considering you travel to such locations as Albania, Brazil, North Africa, and Thailand during the game. The fact that Zipper ensured local voiceovers displays the quality level they desired in the game.

The music in the game is your generic orchestral score. It sounds very good, appropriately kicking up and toning down it times with the action in the game.

Overall, sound is the most impressive aspect of the game. It honestly helps set the mood, without ever being a problem.

Score: 10/10

Gameplay:

You’ve heard me babble on about how the game looks and sounds, but now you probably want to know how it plays. The answer is very, very simple: it plays well.

This game is not made to be a run-of-the-mill shooter, a la Quake or the myriad of imitators it spawned. It takes a decidedly real-world approach to gunplay. There are no health packs, and no mid-level checkpoints. If you or the other 3 members of your team are incapacitated, your mission is a failure, and you play the level over again. This provides a stiff challenge to those who are used to mavericking along on their own, while rewarding you with a great team-based concept.

Stealth and cover are very important aspects of the game. You must learn to use bushes, trees, rocks, and just about anything else you can, to hide from enemies. Your team of 4 is vastly outnumbered, so staying out of trouble is a necessity. You have many weapons at your disposal, including assault rifles, sniper rifles, shotguns, pistols, grenades, smoke grenades, flashbangs, and claymore mines. Occasionally, you’ll be able to commandeer an enemy turret for use, and you’re always able to pick up any weapons dropped by your dispatched enemies. You can only carry one pistol, one assault rifle/shotgun/machine gun/SMG, and 3 other types of equipment at once, though, so you need to choose carefully.

In the end it comes down to, how does it work? Well, for starters, the game’s AI has been greatly improved over last year’s version. Both your computer-controlled teammates and AI opponents will react much more realistically to any situation you come across, and that helps a lot. The controls have also been improved as well. You can still choose from 2 setups, both of which work well, but a couple of areas have been modified; the infamous L3 problem has now been changed, so that you are much less likely to change your rate of fire accidentally. The triangle button also has a new feature; instead of changing you from standing to crouching to lying prone in a cycle, you can now go prone instantly by hitting the button hard, and you can choose between standing and crouching by pressing the button lightly. This allows you to ‘hit the deck’ in an instant, and may just be the difference between being seen and going undetected.

Overall, with the additions to the already-sound control scheme and the improvements to the AI, the game plays like no other out there. Some remaining minor problems in the AI department are the only barrier between the gameplay and a perfect score.

Score: 9/10

Features/Modes:

Obviously, the game features an extremely detailed online mode, which I’ll get into later on. Otherwise, several changes have been made to help the game in this area.

LAN play has now been added. If you have a network of PS2s set up, you can now play among your friends without having to go online. This is not likely to appeal to everybody, but it’s a feature that needed to be available.

The game now has 3 difficulty modes available from the start, and then more once you complete it on those. This allows you to immediately match up your skill level to enemies who are your equals, which is something that SOCOM 1 needed. There are also several unlockable features, such as in-game music, characters usable online, and weapons for use offline, which you can obtain by beating the offline portion on all difficulty levels.

Overall, when you beat the single-player game, the only other draw is the online mode. That’s certainly enough for me, and I’m certain that many other people feel the same way.

Score: 8/10

Online Play:

Now the good stuff. Online play in this game was the biggest draw for me, and it ended up being the best part, until cheating ruined it. This year’s version takes what was great about the last one, makes it better, and throws in extras to boot.

You’ll first notice two new online modes, Breach and Escort. In Breach, the SEALs attempt to break into a fortified areas guarded by the Terrorists; in Escort, the SEALs must protect 3 hostages, and bring them to an extraction point to be taken out, while the Terrorists try to kill the hostages. The other 3 modes (Demolition, where you plant a bomb in the other team’s base, Extraction, which is Escort without the Terrorists having the ability to kill hostages, and Suppression, which is a basic deathmatch) remain. So do the original 10 maps, although 12 new ones join them. Each of the new additions plays well, and feels incredible. If you liked SOCOM 1 online, you’ll love SOCOM 2 online.

Another welcome addition is the “Friends List.” This delightful tool allows you to track where your friends are on the online servers (no more searching for 20 minutes to find them), and send messages back and forth. This is very helpful in finding everyone who you want to play alongside quickly and easily.

Clan features have been redone as well. Tags are now added automatically, so you can choose your name without having to abbreviate to show what team you’re on. You can also Choose to have Clan-only sides in rooms, which allows for teams to ensure they get to play together.

The most important aspect has been the cheating fixes. Players with cheat devices ruined the online experience in SOCOM 1, and Zipper is determined to prevent that from happening in SOCOM 2. They have announced many anti-cheating measures, and are already banning player names from playing online if a cheat device is detected. Whether or not this holds up is yet to be seen, but it is a far cry from the lawlessness that dominated SOCOM 1.

Lag and server boots are still present, although the servers are remarkably stable at the moment. Again, whether or not they stay this way is yet to be seen, especially with Christmas right around the corner. However, now that Zipper has experience keeping the game running smoothly, they are in position to handle any problem that comes up with ease.

Online play is the most attractive aspect of this game, without a doubt. The ability to play alongside up to 16 friends, chatting away on microphones the whole time, makes for an incredible experience. There are still some hiccups along the way, and the fact that dial-up users cannot share in the fun cuts down on the target audience, but the positives infinitely outweigh the negatives in this regard.

Score: 10/10

Total Score:

In the end, SOCOM 2: U.S. Navy SEALs proves to be an engaging experience, both online and offline. If you don’t have a Broadband internet connection, you may want to just give this one a rental first, since you won’t be able to play the online component. However, if you do have Broadband, make no mistake about it: this game is a must-own.

Score: 9/10 (not an average)

~~

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/06/03