Genre: Action
Publisher: SCEA
Developer: Zipper Interactive
Release Date: October 11, 2005
Buy 'SOCOM III: U.S. Navy SEALs': PlayStation 2
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SOCOM 2 was one of the most popular games on the PlayStation 2. It was, before the release of Halo 2, the symbol of the impending success of online console gaming. It was the first sign that mass culture was willing to allow the internet into their living rooms for recreation, with more players on the game during a handful of peak times than viewers in their same age group (18-24) watching primetime television.
But what SOCOM 2 brought to gaming and mass culture had little to do with its core gameplay than the fact that the game was the perfect online experience for PlayStation 2 owners unwilling to dive into the life-threatening Final Fantasy XI. SOCOM 2 was more of a Trojan horse, meant to lure players into the internet, to prove that the PlayStation 2 is just as capable of broadband-powered gaming as the Xbox was.
Mostly, SOCOM games are reminiscent of the root of the tactical shooter genre, Rainbow Six. While the third-person viewpoint and simplified controls/objectives separate it from that series (which, ironically, the newer Rainbow Six games now lean towards), SOCOM games are so clearly derivative, they never truly surprise any of the players, nor do they add anything new to the table besides bringing online, voice-chat enabled gaming to the PS2.
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SOCOM 3 continues in that tradition. It is a fun, well-executed product, one that most fans of tactical shooters should not be without, especially after the mediocre sting of Ghost Recon 2, and the long string of bland releases like Black Hawk Down and the Conflict series. But in the face of the recently released Battlefield 2, along with the promising Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, which both promise especially strong single-player modes, SOCOM's tendency to fail miserably in this area, 3 included, is highlighted. As an online experience, with its fast pace and tight fanbase, SOCOM 3 is unlikely to be matched on consoles – perhaps even up against Battlefield 2, which has much more attention on the PC gaming side – for the remainder of the generation.
As is often the mechanic I use in my reviews of good games with serious flaws, I will run head-first into the rotting, gangrene-infected belly of SOCOM 3 and emerge from the most pristine portion of its whole afterward. The broken part is glaring: the entire single player mode. But, as a disclaimer, I will tidy up the proceeding paragraph with this: I’ve never met a single person who purchased a SOCOM game for single player anyway.
Now, let us move on. For those of you who have played SOCOM 1 or 2, you know all about how ridiculously useless the AI is, teammate, enemy, or otherwise. Voice commands through the optional headset are usable, of course, but they aren’t extremely useful, as any commands are bound to be carried out in a manner too far off base to matter, or be outright ignored.
Grenades will roll by and teammates will do nothing but wait for their limbs to be spread across the map. Enemy fire will rain down upon them, and reactions will come far too late for anything to be done. And as for the additional vehicles… don’t even bother with vehicles. Single player is an exercise in frustration, and why it is even included outside of some sort of training mode, at least in this shape, is a question for the ages.
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The only real improvements to the campaign are vehicles (which, as I wrote above, are useless in the campaign), the massively increased size of the maps, and (thank god for this) mid-mission checkpoints. Despite these additions, I cannot in good humor recommend that anybody spend – waste – more than a few minutes with the offline component.
Now online is an entirely different story.
Battlefield 2 may very well dominate the online shooter communities on consoles, after tearing just about everyone into team-based shooters away from whatever they were playing on their PCs. But even if that happens – which, given the popularity of SOCOM, seems unlikely – SOCOM 3 will still offer a markedly different online experience. The maps are huge, bigger than anything one would expect after a healthy amount of time with SOCOM 2, which at least puts it on par with Battlefield 2’s designs. The vehicles are implemented extremely well, and, once again, is just a hair short of the fantastic features present in Battlefield 2 in this regard. The player limit, 32, is among the highest seen in a non-MMO console game yet.
The most important difference between the two games is, of course, their core gameplay. I am not referring to the first-person/third-person divide, but instead the actual manner through which games carry out. Battlefield games keep the players all engaged by allowing them to respawn after being eliminated; SOCOM 3 players will have a much more daunting prospect to deal with. A single shot could mean death in SOCOM 3, forcing the losing player to sit in spectator mode, waiting for a new game to start. The worth of staying alive is much more important, and thus, gives teamwork a whole different meaning than in most online shooters. Nothing is more important than staying alive in SOCOM 3. If you die, any enjoyment you might have been having is eliminated until the next match. It is the ultimate punishment outside of Hideo Kojima’s as-yet unrealized dream of destroying the game disc when the player dies.
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As fun as an online romp with SOCOM 3 can be, it still is not the improvement that it needs to be outside the massive player count. The graphics, especially, are still on the same second-generation PS2 title level, which by now, in the wake of Metal Gear Solid 3 which easily rivaled the best-looking Xbox games, should be somewhat embarrassing for the developer. (Uh-oh, there’s that online component for MGS3: Subsistence coming out next year…) The same muddled, pixelated textures, the seas of jagged polygons, forced to and fro by screen tearing, the appalling need for a better form of anti-aliasing; everything that was wrong with the look of SOCOM was wrong with SOCOM 2, and now the third game falls victim to the same, nagging, obvious issues. On the bright side, I’m sure the cheap look helps keep the player count nice and high, and mostly lag-free during big online events.
And sound, of course, is perfect. Little music is present, as is perfect for a tactical shooter that requires constant attention. Voices and samples are perfect, and the most important sonic aspect, voice chat, is implemented almost seamlessly. Voices come in perfectly clear, exactly like what one would expect from their fifty-dollar Xbox Live account.
SOCOM 3 is not going to be the online revolution that the original game was, nor will it see the massive growth in popularity of its sequel. It is too much of the same for that, and unlike SOCOM 2, which was surrounded by sad excuses for online action games, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter have adequate shots at the SOCOM throne. For online PS2 fanatics, SOCOM 3 is not the must-buy title that it should and could have been, but for the niche it has carved out, it serves well as-is.
Score: 7.5/10
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