SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy Seals Review

Review Platform: PlayStation 2

Squad-based combat games combine the strategy genre with first-person shooters (or third, as in the case of Brute Force for the Xbox), so by all rights, this should double your fun. Most do, but Socom 3: U.S. Navy Seals falls short from being an excellent game. And I’ll forewarn you that I will not compare Socom 3 to the previous two installments because this newest one from Zipper Interactive does not stay loyal to the intense gameplay the predecessors had.

You play the commander of U.S. Nave Seal Squad in Socom 3. As terrorists plot their next plans, you are sent in to various missions for activities ranging in rendezvousing with rebel leaders, taking out convoys, destroying communications: mostly covert operations involving vast amounts of stealth and strategic planning. Sometimes, while carrying out your main missions, sub-objectives may be added. I did love the fact you had lots to do during the mission, but at times there were gaps of inaction between checkpoints that wasted my time. An average level took me between 10 to 30 minutes with at least 5 minutes of walking and/or driving to checkpoints in each mission.

Despite that, you are kept busy flushing out the bad guys, directing your teammates, finding and completing your objectives, so when the action does hit, be prepared to some quick thinking and button pressing to finish your mission.

My biggest gripe in Socom 3 has to be the A.I. The enemy A.I. was fine because they’re the enemy and it’s your job to take them down. So if they’re stupid, that’s okay. But your teammates, on the other hand, are highly trained Seals like yourself, except they act like 3rd grade nincompoops.

For example (of course I’d have an example), when you direct your teammates to board a vehicle, not all of them will do it. No matter how many times I told my teammates to, or used the automatic order button, there was always one guy who disobeyed me. Too bad there wasn’t a ‘Discharge from Service’ option so I can leave him in the Middle East to stew in his own insolence.

It doesn’t end there. In one of the early missions, there’s a huge gap between checkpoints, so I don a vehicle and start driving. I have two of my buddies and we get halfway to the next checkpoint (thinking I had all my guys with me) and I’m missing a Seal. I turn around and retrace my steps and see him on the radar. Cool. Maybe he fell out. But wait! He was crawling on the ground in the center of the road trying to be stealthful, but he’s only managing to look like an idiot. I decided to watch him and he crawled for about 3 minutes before getting to a crouch for the rest of the way. And believe me when I say this wasn’t an isolated incident. There’s no ‘I’ in team, but I wouldn’t want to work with my given allies.

The graphics of Socom 3 are average. There are plenty of shooters that look better, but one thing Socom has is huge environments. While you can’t freely explore the levels, you do encounter some pretty landscapes and interesting land design. The early levels did get repetitive as far as terrain went. I felt like never going to the beach again with all the sand I traversed.

When there was an opportunity for good graphics (in town, dense outdoor areas), the game didn’t deliver. Instead, Socom 3 showed sub-par visuals that might have been outstanding as a 2nd generation game. But with Call of Duty and other war games pushing the graphical envelope, Socom 3 falls dramatically short of being an equal.

One thing Socom 3 has going for it is the sound. Zipper Interactive immerses you into the game with superb gunfire sounds, background noise, and ally/enemy chatter. This sound is even spectacular when you play it through a home theatre. Experience enemies behind you, to your left, to the northwest; using a home theatre will greatly enhance your gameplay and reaction time. You’ll know where enemies and allies are and which way vehicles are coming from. Unless, of course, you don’t care for that sort of thing and like the days of Hi-Fi. That’s right, I said Hi-Fi.

Controlling yourself and your squad may seem daunting if you’ve never played a game of this sort, but Socom 3 makes it easy for you to give commands if you’re a novice or if you just want to concentrate on the action. Hitting L2 and pointing your crosshair at an area commands your squad to ‘go there’, ‘cover’, or ‘attack’. That’s the easy way. If you’re a control freak, you can bring up a command menu to individually tell your guys what to do.

But remember my gripe about the A.I.? Sometimes they’ll carry out your orders efficiently or slowly and methodically. Sometimes where stealth isn’t really needed, you can barge into enemy strongholds with guns blazing, but you’ll most likely be alone while your team catches up to you. Some team, eh?

If you get tired of commanding miserable A.I. characters, try online. Online play shines in Socom 3 as you can play up to 31 others in a variety of standard multiplayer modes and squad-based specific modes. There’s more strategy in multiplayer, so some missions may take time, especially when most of the allies and enemies are pretty good. One fun mode is ‘Convoy’. Play as either Navy Seals trying to stop a convoy from rolling through or play as terrorists who try to keep the convoy moving. The can be all out battle to see who’s the last one standing and the fight can be either strategic and fun or intense and bloody. Give me intense and bloody.

Rent this game first. With mediocre graphics and asinine A.I., you may find yourself frustrated after a few missions. The online play is where you’ll find yourself the most. If you can warrant Fifty Bucks just for that, go ahead, but I recommend spending considerably less at Blockbuster to learn whether you can put up with the flaws.

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