Read this reviews before You buy..."Best Online Game for PS2", If you have a broadband connection and like shooting or military games, this is the one for you. Socom II offers a wide range of guns to choose from and an awesome online experience. If your thinking it's like a Halo game when it takes 60 bullets to kill someone, you're wrong. Socom II has a more realistic gameplay and it takes about 1-5 bullets to kill someone that if you actually hit them. Don't get the game unless you have a broadband connection because the single player experience is alright, but the multiplayer is what makes the game have any value. You can play up to 16 people online. 8 players per team. SEALs vs Terrorist in about 22 levels. I have to warn you about glitchers or so called "noobs" and "scrubs." There are many glitches in the game, but most of the time people don't glitch. There are rooms called "GNK" (Glitch No Kill) where people practice glitching. And the people that call people "noobs" and "scrubs" are just whinning because they suck and can't get a kill. The noob/scrub guns are the IW-80-A2 and the M14. I'll break down the game.
Graphics: 4.5/5 The graphics are pretty well done with the shadow effects and the rain falling in the water. The cinimatics are nicely put together.
Controls: 5/5 This is pretty much the only third-person shooter I've played, and by far the best of them. The controls are easy to get use to and you can toggle different controls on and off.
Sound: 4.5/5 The sound is very excellent in this game. The effects of gernades blowing up in your face and the explosions of the bridges are absolutely fabulous.
Fun: 5/5 Socom II is fun right when you enter a game, but when you first play it, its a little hard, but you'll get use to it. The game has a very high replay value along with the nice ranking system. But I have to say that some people rank up. One thing though. You must get the Sony Headset for the game. This gives you the full experience of the game.
"I've got morons on my side... (a review for single player only!)", Okay, you can read about why this game is so great from everyone else. The graphics are great, yadda yadda yadda. But here's what no one seems to be mentioning. Team AI is ridiculous. The people you're sent out to do a mission with aren't smart enough to tie their own shoes, and spend most of their time catching bullets, or shooting you in the back if you're unlucky enough to be stuck in close quarters with them. More than a few times I've lost all patience with my team blowing the mission right at the critical moment and shot them in the face. Of course they eventually catch on and kill you right back.
Here are a few examples of the laughs I've had: "Bravo, clear room", Bravo opens door, stands in front of open door and proceeds to get shredded without even raising weapon to defend self; "Bravo, stealth to crosshairs", Bravo stands there looking stupid; "Bravo, regroup", one member shows up, the other has somehow gotten stuck to a handrail, and cannot move. I don't know about you, but one thing I cannot stand is having to baby-sit a team of imbeciles. The team play in the Ghost Recon series is so much better than this game. For one thing, you can switch control of players within your team at the push of a button. This effectively gives you access to every weapon in the inventory. Say you need to do some skull work on a distant guard... esta bien. Switch to your sniper, sit real quiet, pull trigger, move on. But in SOCOM II, if their not an easy target, forget it. And god forbid one of your team decides to shoot, and misses, because this causes them to lose their minds and keep shooting, even if they keep hitting the same patch of dirt 3 meters from their muzzle.
Oh, and the crap shoot that is the head shot in this game, wow. I find that shooting someone in their nugget only seems to drop them outright about half the time. If you shoot anyone in the head or face with a .223 within the ranges that are prevalent throughout this game, they're either going to die instantly, or be put out of action indefinitely. I've heard stories from Rangers bitching how they couldn't drop Taliban troops after plugging them three and four times with their M4's because the round's too small, but I guarantee you, if you shoot someone in their head, that's pretty much the end of their story.
Another thing I love is spending 20 or 30 minutes getting through a level, and then getting waxed for some ridiculous reason, and having to start all over again because some mouth breather on my team decided he should shoot through me to hit a target. This game would be sweet if I could play alone, or with one other cat that's smarter than the leather my boots are made out of. But that's not the case, and I'm left on struggle because of bad code writing, bad logic, and bad game play.
This game pales in comparison to either the Splinter Cell, or Ghost Reason regimes. Aspects of this game are truly great, no doubt, but coupled with the problems I've had, it's simply sub par compared to what else is out there, and I'm glad I got the Greatest Hit's copy, because if I'd paid full price for this, I'd likely be even more displeased.
Carry on.
"Whoa, what a game!!", I really enjoyed the first game immensely. This one is no different. What sucks you into the game is that it's non-linear. I can actually play the same mission different ways. You don't have to accomplish the objectives in specific order and use a specific path.
What I don't like is when your team mates get "stuck". For example, you tell them to go downstairs, but when one of them does, he seems to be 'stuck' in the same place and he can't move past it. It's bad collision detection I guess is what they call it. Also, you can't shoot out the lights like you could in the first one. This is a very cool thing to do to stay quiet. I'm on the last mission and it's going to be great!!! I'm trying to finish each mission with an A rating which I have done so far. I hope this unlocks something cool.
Anyway, buy this game and play it before Socom 3 is released. Then you'll have a great time playing it.
"Big game Big fun", This is deffinately the best online game to date.16 people online at once,8 on you'r team can communicate via the headset or you make you'r own taunts that can be text over to the enemies.Lots of cool weapons,several of any kind,sniper rifles,pistols,machine guns,uzzies,and assault rifles,plus land mine's,claymore with detonator,c-4,grenades,and very big super detailed levels.Very realistic game,you'r eyes even have to take time adjust in the dark,and there are tons of hiding places.Whats cool,is you'r charecter doesn't stand out like a felt cutout on a felt board,you can actually blend in with your surroundingsand if you have a group of people that can cordinate plans together,it is just plain awsome.I have seen it pretty cheap priced lately,but even if you had to pay 50 bucks for it,it's still worth it if you'r online with the headset.1 player is ok,but once you get stuck it just gets aggrivating,still,pretty fun to play over with different weapons.
"Best Shooting/Military Game - Ever", I am the biggest hardcore player on SOCOM II. Online as of May 32st 2005, I have about 6100 Kills and 3500 Deaths. I am not just a hardcore fan, I am also pretty good. Now, there are many many things in this game to go over, and I couldn't possibly do it all. First off, do not bother getting this game to try the offline expierience.. it's well not worth it. With that out of the way, let me get down with the online play. Here are the POPULAR levels, my ratings, and how they stack up to me.( I most likely will not remember them all.. sorry. :( )
OLD LEVELS:
Frostfire: 10/10 : This level takes place on a very large ship, and it's at night time, but it is not that dark. The main thing I love about this map is how it is all flat, allowing for quick kills, and a lot of fun. A main feature about this level though is probably the tunnels, in where the Terrorists normally ' Camp ' from the SEALs with a shotgun and wait for them to come down. This level is different from the old version simply because the tunnels are connected. This is BYFAR my favorite map of SOCOM and SOCOM II. It is also one of the most popular SOCOM II maps. ( Most likely #3 ) Advantage: Most Likely Terrorists
DESERT GLORY: 9/10: In this level, the SEALs must extract the hostages from their cells while the terrorists try and protect them. The title of the level is basically what the level is like. A very desolent level with a lot of sand and run down buildings. There are buildings to camp out in, stuff to hide behind, and it's just a great. This is also a very popular online map. ( Most likely #2 )Advantage: Probably Terrorists
NIGHT STAKLER: 6/10: To many people, this reminds them of DESERT GLORY at night. But to me, I see it as a much different level. Though similar in design, this one is in mid-night ( so its not too dark ) and instead of extracting hostages, you have to plant a bomb. This level is similar to DESERT GLORY in some ways, but this level is bigger ( i think ) and not as fun. ( there are too many sniper positions.. it's almsost impossible to hide from them! ) This map, AS WELL is also a rather popular online map. ( Probably about #6 ) Advantage: Possibly the SEALs
NEW LEVELS:
CROSS ROADS: 8/10: This is the first level I played for SOCOM II online. This is litterally ALWAYS full of people in the public rooms, and is very, very popular. This level has the SEALs starting at one corner and the Terrorists starting at the other. You have to find the bomb and plant it at the opposing base. This level reminds me of a fancy middle-east market place for some reason. This level is pretty average to me, thogh. This one like i said is EXTREMELY popular. ( Definitely #1 ) Advantage: None, in ' Clan Wars ' this is normally the tie-breaker.
There is many more maps, but those are just a few. I will now goto the guns ( I will try to list them all )
SEALS:
M4A1: 10/10: Great gun. Shoots fast, accurate
M4A1SD: 10/10: Great gun. Shoots accurately, good for headshots, silenced
RA-14: 9/10: Not bad of a gun. Accurate, takes off heavy damage.
IW-80 A2: 10/10: Should be used by ' noobies ' very good accuracy, very good shooting, but considered a ' ***** gun '
AK-105: 8/10: Not too bad. Similar to the RA-14 but shoots slower.
HK5: 6/10: Only good if you are good at getting headshots.
HK5SD: 7/10: Only good for getting headshots, accurate.
HK5K: 7/10: Horrible accuracy, but fast shooting, so almost a guarenteed kill.
12 GAUGE PUMP: 4/10: Useless unless in tunnels on Frostfire!
TERRORISTS:
AK-47: 6/10: Not very good. Bad accuracy, not very good overall.
AKS-74: 6/10: Similar to the AK-47.
STG-77: 8/10: Similar to the SEALs HK5K , to me. Good for headshots.
552: 6/10: Seems useless compared to SOCOM 1. Very weak.
552SD: 6/10: More useless than 552; very weak, but silenced.
9mm SUB: 7/10: Similar to the SEALs HK5K, good for headshots.
TA 12 GAUGE: 6/10: Dont bother. Use the M3
M3 12 GAUGE: 9/10: Automatic, Awesomely deadly, horrible on long range.
NEUTRAL GUNS ( used on both sides )
M16A2: 9/10: Only gun in the game that shoots on burst, similar to IW except harder to use, must tap trigger, deadly accurate.
M14: 10/10: Unbelievebly powerful. Only 20 bullets. Accurate. Considered a ' noobie ' gun by some people.
M60E3: 7/10: Considered a ' noobie cannon ', a lot of bullets, bad accuracy, good for killing someone during their reload time.
M63A: 7/10: Considered a ' noobie cannon ', a lot of bullets, bad accuracy, good for killing someone durring their reload time.
Now, this is how many bullets each gun has per clip.
M4A1,M4A1SD,RA-14,IW-80 A2,AK-105, HK5, HK5K, HK5SD, AK-47, AKS-74, STG-77, 552, 552SD, M16A2: ALL HAVE 30 BULLETS
9mm SUB: 60 BULLETS
M14: 20 BULLETS
M63A: 60 or 65 BULLETS ( sorry, i'm not sure )
M60E3: 100 BULLETS
12 GAUGE PUMP: 8 BULLETS
M3 12 GAUGE: 12 BULLETS ( I think. )
TA 12 GAUGE: 12 BULLETS ( I think. )
Well, I did not include PISTOLS or SNIPERS in there, but i will now.
For SEALs, use the MARK 23, MARK 23 SD, or SP-10 for a pistol, and a M87ELR for a sniper.
For Terrorists, use the DE.50 or MAYBE the Model 18 ( the only automatic gun in the game ) for a pistol, and the M82A1A for a sniper.
That is finally the END of my LOOOONG SOCOM2 review, and I hoped it helped you out. If you want to send me a friends invite, when I am online, add:
_.-*[NoS]*-._
to your friends list. So long!
