Before Modern Warfare and Battlefield controlled my online shooting life, I was in love with
someone else, someone different, someone that will always hold a special place in my heart.
And her name was Socom: US Navy Seals.
Before Socom came out, I thought online games were forever going to be left for the PC.
I didn’t think they could work well on a console.
Socom changed my opinion of that.
After I say my friend playing I knew I had to try it.
So I went out and bought it.
Then I had to go out again and buy the PS2 online adapter because the PS2 was originally
as weary as I was about online console gaming.
But this game is what changed my opinion of it, forever.
You are in control of an elite squad of US Navy Seals, and it is your job to eliminate
threats wherever they are.
That is basically the best I can do explaining the plot of the game because practically each
mission has you going somewhere new to handle a different threat.
There is beauty in the simplicity.
Some missions have you going to Thailand while others have you going in the Congo.
Each one is fun and exciting and leaves you wanting more.
It would be your normal third person shooter if it weren’t for a couple of cool additions
they made.
Remember when I said you are in control of a squad of Seals I really meant it.
You feel like you are in complete control as you order your squad to lay down suppressing
fire or to breach a door.
This is done through a drop down menu that works very well.
But if you want the real Socom experience you need to play the game with a headset.
You speak your orders into the headset instead of with the menu.
The headset commands work very well, a lot better than I thought they would.
And unlike to your girlfriend, when you tell your squad what to do they actually do it,
instead of crying and saying you don’t understand and then making you sleep on the couch just
because you told her she should not get so upset when other girls talk about her.
But yeah, the voice commands work well.
But as good as the single player was what kept me feeding this game into my PS2 was
the multiplayer.
Nothing was cooler back in the day than putting on your headset and teaming up with your friends
online.
There were three game types, suppression that was basically team Deathmatch and extraction
and demolition.
Extraction had you trying to rescue hostages and demolition saw you trying to plant a charge
and destroy the other teams base.
My game of choice was demolition, because I like seeing things go boom.
The online was very ahead of its time and more importantly was a blast to play.
I have very fond memories of this game.
I remember long weekends, yelling orders into my headset and frustration as I got destroyed
online.
The graphics haven’t really held up too well, but it was the early PS2 days and they
don’t interfere with the game.
If you have never played this game, I would still recommend it even today.
She may be a old and time has done damage to her looks, but she still is a pretty good
ride.