Does this game have what it takes to have single-player and internet mod? Find out what the highs and lows are for SOCOM

User Rating: 8.4 | SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs (Greatest Hits) PS2
By Gamers-Unit | Review Date:
As in previous SOCOM games, you're put in the role of a squad leader of a four-man team of Navy SEALs. The single-player consists of three campaigns that will take you across three different settings, ranging from North Africa to South Asia, on over to Poland. You'll be asked to do a variety of different tasks, ranging from hostage rescue to search and destroy, or even capturing enemy officers. Though a lot of the combat boils down to detecting enemies from long range and picking them off before they can get close, you'll find a number of situations in which you're forced into close combat, such as exploring tunnel systems or house-to-house fighting in a city. Other scenarios require you to paint enemy tanks with a laser-targeting device for an air strike, or even take out tanks yourself with a missile launcher mounted on a humvee. Each of the maps is quite large, so you'll often have vehicles at your disposal, which let you get from place to place quickly and give you added firepower. These range from machine gun-mounted buggies, trucks, and humvees to heavily armed gunboats. The miniguns mounted on the gunboat are particularly fearsome; they unleash a high volume of lead with a frightening zipper sound accompanying the burst.

Since the maps are so large, the missions can be rather lengthy, so the game includes a lot of smartly spaced nav points. You won't ever find yourself lost or wondering where to go in SOCOM 3. There are also a number of checkpoints where your game gets saved within each mission. Your team gets healed and resupplied at these checkpoints. Hardcore shooter fans may find that these conveniences make SOCOM 3's single player somewhat easy, but it also reduces frustration greatly as you make your way through each map's objectives.

SOCOM 3, much like its predecessors, controls very well. One of the new control mechanisms added in this game is the ability to swim. Many of the maps in both the single- and multiplayer game feature rivers or other bodies of water, and you can often make a stealthy approach by swimming. You can't fire your gun from in the water, but you can submerge yourself for a limited time, making you all but invisible in the partially translucent water. You can play SOCOM 3 from either a third- or a first-person perspective, and some aspect of realism has been worked into the gameplay design. Though you can take several hits before going down, the accuracy of your weapons is reduced greatly when you're on the move. You can improve your aim stability and stealthiness by kneeling or going prone, or by firing in short bursts instead of going full auto. The actual feel of moving and shooting in SOCOM 3 is one of its primary strengths. Everything feels solid and strikes that fine balance between realism and fun. If you have a heavy machine gun, for example, you will get much more accuracy from snapping on a bipod and going prone than from shooting from the hip. Silenced weapons don't pack quite as much punch as unsilenced guns, and submachine guns are much easier to control than rifles. You also get great visual feedback from hitting the enemy; they'll react appropriately when shot, limp or stumble away if wounded, and squirt some overexaggerated but satisfying blood spray when hit.

Socom 3 Online Features..Whats New About IT?
Battle through 12 single player missions in three new, heavily researched Areas of Operation – each up to five times as large as past SOCOM AO’s. Utilize land vehicles and watercraft to traverse the terrain. Everything from a turret-equipped pickup to SEAL-team configured Humvee to the SOC-R Assault Boat are available. Pilot strikeboats along waterways for waterborne assaults and use swimming/water for cover and stealth ops. Defeat the world’s terrorists with over 30 highly configurable weapons – for a total of up to 950 total weapon configurations. A SOCOM-compatible headset can be used to communicate verbally with fellow team members during online games, either in game or in the main lobby. Improved voice recognition commands greatly assist tactical options. Lead your SEAL team into firefights in single player mode or battle online with up to 32 players per map. Compatible with SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo (PSP title). These features not only increase game features but are made to increase the playing time of each round and game. The Ranking system has been complete re-done. There are no more things as just an admiral they are ranked up from ensign to 5 star Admiral. Also the ranking up from socom 2 has been complete destroyed and is close to impossible to not legitly gain rank on socom 3.

Down Sides

The Socom 3 game does seem to have a few flaws which many socom 2 vets such as myself have left the game under the socom 2 game. To be able to start your own clan or have the ability for you username to be ranked. You must insert a credit card number to verify your perosonal account on socom 3. This issue caused many socom 3 players to put down the game and go back to the old days of socom 2 online.

The biggest Flaw of the game and the greatest reason why most members of Socom 3 have returned to socom 2 is the Map sizes. In Socom 3 the maps are 2 to 3 times the size of the original maps of socom 2. Making not only the game play longer, but for the hardcore players they lose patients waiting for each round to end.

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