June 7, 2006 - The Navy Seals are hitting the PS2 once again, and there isn't one Navy Seal who would deny the reality of this game. This third instalment to the SOCOM series is unlike any other of its kind, including the first two games in the franchise which were built to a key on their own. It is beyond any shadow of doubt that SOCOM 3 is recruiting more people to pick up a Network Adapter and join the online madness that this game ensues. To gamers of all sorts, SOCOM should be a household name. Zipper Interactive and Sony Computer Entertainment have honed in on the console shooter fans, offering 32-player online play, a decent array of vehicles, large maps, and a single-player campaign. What more could one ask for?

SOCOM 3 sticks to the same set-up as its predecessors, placing you as "Specter", squad leader of a four man fire team. Setting up the teams gear to your liking during briefing and controlling their movement during combat. As the game continues, having your full team is crucial, and controlling them the right way eases the difficulty of the game immensely. The single-player campaign takes you across a range of large maps, locating you in Morocco, Poland, and South Asia. The missions never get tiresome or repetitive, giving you essential primary, and non-essential secondary objectives. The primary objectives range from search and destroy, infiltrate and capture, search and rescue, and ally support. Overall the game has its difficult points, but nothing will come as a shock if you listen to prior briefing and follow protocol on the field. Although stealth is of most importance to staying alive, close combat is not un-common. The game has tunnels, channels, and buildings that will keep you vigilant.

It's smart to know both your and your fire-teams inventory at all times, as a mission could call for anything. Painting tanks (laser targeting) for air strikes, firing rocket launchers at anti-air guns, placing satchel charges on bridges, and throwing grenades at groups of enemies is not for the un-prepared. SOCOM 3 calls for "e", all of the above. Getting from those tanks to the anti-air guns can be quite a task in SOCOM 3, as the maps are massive. How does traversing from NAV point "Charlie" to NAV point "Delta" in sleek battle-hardened watercraft sound? It sounds just as good as it feels. The addition of buggies, trucks, humvees, and watercraft adds an impressive amount of reality, and simply pure fun, to the game.

With large maps comes long missions, and with long missions can come large amounts of frustration. To our delight, SOCOM 3 has long missions that have smart save checkpoints. Complete a primary objective, receive partial health and supply replenishment, and of course, a save-point. The NAV-points are smart as well, guiding you along the process. The tactical map can show your surroundings in more detail, making it easier to come up with a plan of attack to get you, and your team from objective to objective. Quantity doesn't always include quality, but SOCOM 3 has taken as much as possible from both, presenting all the eye-candy one could need.

SOCOM 3 has a certain level of difficulty when just starting out as the list of controls are somewhat overwhelming. The training seems a little crammed, and may have been more successful if introduced as the game progressed. The game does have a nice feel to it once you take the time to learn all of the controls in different situations (re: different guns, vehicles, controlling your fire team). SOCOM 3 has brought swimming into the mix in this instalment. A very useful stealth tool, especially as you can hold your breath and submerge, making yourself invisible to a bogie for a limited time. The reality of SOCOM 3 continues with the pure physics in the control of the game. While running and shooting, you lose accuracy fast and kneeling or going prone increases your steadiness. When you get hit, you'll really feel it, and when you hit someone, they'll feel it (especially with grenades).