SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs

"SOCOM 3 stealthily moves passed the competition"

SOCOM 3

Gameplay 9.0
Graphics 7.5
Sound 8.5
Replayability 9.5

Overall 9.2 (not an average)

The good: 32 people online, vehicles and weapon customization, competent single player mode.

The bad: AI for teammates on single player are hardly up to SEAL standards, credit card needed for online mode to get many of the features, graphics aren't as good as they could be.

Gameplay-
The SOCOM series, since it's based on the SEALs, should be about stealth and avoiding detection. Unfortunately this hasn't always been the case for this series, since the past two installments offered maps that were too small to use stealth to your advantage (especially with online mode). The single player modes on the past two entries also didn't seem quite up to snuff: The enemy AI was moronic, the single player game were too short, and there wasn't really a reason to go back to them after you beat them.
Luckily for fans and gamers alike Zipper has changed most of this. They included a single player that's worth playing, including possible story lines and unlockables for online mode. The only downside to single player is that your teammates AI seems about as intelligent as a rock; they stand out in the open and become bullet sponges, or allow terrorists to get inches away from them (sometimes even allowing the enemy to kill them) without so much as giving a shot off (even in 'fire at will' mode.) However, the meat of this game always has and always will be online and this game delivers that perfectly. They upped the number to 16 vs 16 in any given online room, and included maps that are large enough to use stealth. The communication via headset is still in, and it's as easy as ever to communicate to your teammates They also included vehicles and many weapons modifications to create the gun you want. Fortunately everything is balanced, with no "newb weapon" in sight. There's also little to no lag, which is a big plus considering how big the maps are and how many players are on them.

Graphics-
Graphics are the weakest aspect of the game, but by no means are they horrible. The graphics aren't choppy or blocky, but are no real upgrade from SOCOM 2 or even from SOCOM 1, which is depressing since other games are pushing the capabilities of the ps2 to its max. The graphics aren't too bad; the bushes look alright, the trees look okay, and the characters look and move like they should, but playing the game you get the feeling they could've done more.

Sound-
Sound, thankfully, has been upgraded from SOCOM 2 to this addition and you can tell the difference. Guns no longer have a "popping" noise, but actually sound like the weapons they are supposed to be. Grenades have a satisfying "boom," voice over work is great (with humorous and serious dialog all throughout the game), and having messages given to you via the headset is a bonus. The only downside is that you can tell this game was made for people with surround sound, and for people without it it's a bit hard to know where you're getting shot at from (this problem isn't so big, since you get an arrow on your cursor telling you where the gunshots are coming from).

Replayability-
This game is one of the most replayable games I have ever played. You'll find yourself beating single player 2 or 3 times over to unlock weapons and characters for online, and also extras for the PSP addition of SOCOM (you can link your PSP with your ps2 and download your SOCOM 3 file onto it to unlock different missions, characters and information for the PSP game, which is quite cool). But, like all the other SOCOM games, online is where it's at. With 32 people allowed in games, huge and varied settings of maps (from South East Asia to Poland), and vehicles and weapon mods you can find yourself playing this game for hours on end wondering where all that time went. The only bad thing about online is you need a credit card (even though they don't charge it) to verify your account, which could cause problems for some people.

Overall SOCOM 3 is, in my opinion, the best shooter available for ps2, and perhaps the closest "Battlefield" experience you will get for the console (until Battlefield: Modern Combat comes out that is). Any fan of shooters or online gaming should check out SOCOM 3 for the Playstation 2 console. With all the things you can get from it, it's definitely worth a buy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/25/05