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SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs *ONLINE* Review - PS2

4th October 2003 by
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The US Navy SEALs protect America from all 3 variations on Earth: land, sea, and air. They are the most advanced tactical force the United States has, and are trained to embark upon any mission, anywhere, anytime. SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs will place you in the role of an elite SEAL squad member, whose team is required to fight terrorists in more than 10 of the most ugliest missions ever. Of course, ugly is being used as a euphemism in this case. SOCOM will give you more than 30 weapons to kill those terrorists with. Only intense training and unparalleled skills will unlock the key to dethroning the terrorist threat that has come upon us.

Note: Parts of review taken from earlier SOCOM GameBiz review, also written by David Latham which you can find here!

It's just a simple matter of selecting "Online" from the first menu in the game, and then you will be hooked up to Sony's online service for some network goodness with real humans playing by your side. It's everything a young marine has ever dreamed of… playing along side his buddies, not having to worry too much if their head gets blown off. Connecting to SOCOM online takes roughly 2 - 3 minutes each and every time which is a bit of a drag, but once your in you'll never leave.

Once you're past the entire configuration process, you come across quite a few menus such as News/Messages, Briefing Rooms, Autoplay, Player Ranking and so on. Autoplay will hook you in to a game that is ideal for you to play in, and is pretty much your Quick start option. The briefing rooms will show you different rooms from all over the globe, and you can decide which game you want to play. Choosing the one closest to where you live will be the best option, as the servers near where you live are more likely to be less laggy, and more fun to play on.

One of the most enjoyable features of SOCOM online is using the headset. Communicating to your friends online has never been easier thanks to the headset. Although SOCOM is USB Keyboard compatible, the headset is a much easier way to get messages across for strategies and orders that become essential in SOCOM online play. There are 4 different channels at which you can speak on. Team, Offence, Defence, and Dead. This is a rather clever, exceptional idea as you won't get mixed up orders, resulting in creating dilemmas and aggravation. In-game currently, everybody just goes free-for-all and nobody really defends anything, so the Offence and Defence channels are rarely used.

SOCOM online modes include:

  • Suppression - Your common team-deathmatch mode between the SEALs and the terrorists. The team with the most people alive at the end of the six minute match wins. The round also finishes if a whole team is killed, hence deeming the other team victorious.
  • Demolition - In this mode you ...

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