SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs Review

I think this game needs more on-screen icons.

With patience, you can persuade the PS2 to 'do' online games almost as well as the Xbox. There's not as many of them, granted, but it can do them all the same. However, the ability of a console to provide good online play isn't an achievement anymore - it's just a standard feature of the game. So, where does that leave SOCOM? It's a series that has always pushed PS2 online, and it's now finally got to a stage where it can hold its head up high and be proud of 32 players online, a host of vehicles, biggish maps, super-duper weapons (or as one American gamer described them to me, "kick-ass guns, yo") and a fairly varied set of modes. Well done SOCOM, well done Sony, well done Zipper Interactive. But don't big up your chest too much, you'll become a target for those Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six and Battlefield geezers.

Thirty two players online is the big addition to SOCOM 3. That's twice as many people to kill. Throw in a big fat wad of vehicles - Humvees, jeeps, boats, basically anything on wheels with the space to strap on some big-assed weapons - and the online game becomes a terrorist versus military showdown. Brutal fire fights, trash-talking macho boasts, clumsy vehicular death and strategic tactics mingle quite happily until one side is sprawled across the battlefield with smoking chest wounds.

Online modes are fairly standard, with Demolition and Suppression proving as popular as ever, but if you can find gamers trying out the new Convoy mode where one team must transport goods across the map without getting ambushed, it's well worth convincing others to give it a go. You really need to be online with people you know or trust to get the best from SOCOM 3, because - as with so many online games - there's are a shocking amount of trashtalking knob-heads playing this game. And while I don't mind Randy from Wisconsin expressing his opinions regarding my sexuality, he really doesn't need to tell me the same thing every time I teach him a lesson with one of the 30 cutting edge weapons on offer. One more time Randy, and I'll find the airfare to come and take your scalp.

"Look, we're not going to capture any insurgents if we stand around here looking at each others' cocks".

War is fun, but it's also rough, which may go some way to explain how SOCOM 3 looks so rough around the edges (Hah-hah!). She ain't pretty, no sir. Character models are ugly, with jagged features and chunky limbs. Environmental textures are flat, with buildings looking similar and plain. Icons, on-screen commands, maps and the overall presentation is functional, but not exactly visually appealing. There's a certain amount of missing animation too, particularly when you command your boys to mount or dismount vehicles. Bam, they just appear on foot, as do you. It's obviously a sacrifice to keep the action rolling - no one's gagging to watch a fat bloke in fatigues get his leg over a steel door after all - but it highlights a lack of finesse on the developers' part.

The maps in SOCOM 3, for both single and multiplayer, have been expanded, as you'd expect with the inclusion of vehicles. But during single player in particular this is just a poor illusion. Drive too far away from your next goal and you'll be issued a warning that leaving the area will result in mission failure. Call me old fashioned, but I thought soldiers were encouraged to outflank enemies. You're not completely hedged in, and there are opportunities to use side-alleys, roof tops, craters and cover to your advantage, but it's not as wide-open as you're led to believe. Maybe it's a hangover from playing Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, but it feels like there's a choice of different paths, not the entire radius of a map, with which to approach the enemy.

The single player campaign has been beefed up from previous SOCOM titles to make it more of an actual game rather than a series of objectives strung together. Enemy and team-mate AI isn't as alert as it should be, with some enemies not taking the hint that when you unleash a couple of shots in their direction it's in their interest to return fire or take cover. Your boys can occasionally get confused too, but it's not like they're wearing earmuffs and you're talking with a lisp. On the whole, the single player campaign is as accomplished as a Conflict: Desert Storm title, which may be all you need to know if you're not online but considering buying the game.

Do you think they were christened with those names?

There a collection of well-thought out touches that crop up during play, proving Zipper hasn't just been working on improving the technical aspects of the game for the past two years. The ability to swap seats in a vehicle means you can switch between gunner, driver and even bigger gunner instantaneously, helping to keep the action at the forefront. Flash-bang grenades encourage insurgents to surrender, as does out-numbering them, so if you're feeling particularly lenient, you can cuff 'em and feel less of a sanctioned murderer. Swimming also plays a part in the gameplay with players using able to slink through water to approach enemies quietly, submerging themselves and popping up in their vicinity for a silent takedown. Stealth is an option, but unless you're charged with capturing an enemy alive, you're best off making the most of the awesome firepower on offer. And hollering your victory across the map. SOCOM seems to be all about big boys making big noises.