SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Combined Assault

6.1
Average

Gameplay	8.0	"Been there, shot those terrorists before."
Graphics	5.0
Sound	6.5
Value	5.0

By Sam Waldron

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Mitch Hedberg had this joke that I enjoy: “I saw a commercial for an aboveground pool. It was thirty seconds long. You know why? Because that’s the maximum length of time you can depict yourself having fun in an aboveground pool.” Unfortunately, I had to play SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Combined Assault in similarly short bursts – because thirty minutes is the maximum amount of time I can pretend to care about a shooter on the PS2, particularly one that’s re-treading ground to the extent that this is.

There are plenty of things I could say about SOCOM, good and bad. But the most important thing is how intensely average it is - and how much it feels like you’ve already been there, and done it all before.

The gameplay is pretty solid. Even with my control-pad aversion, I find myself aiming in the right place more often than not. The training missions are probably the most banal I’ve ever encountered, but they do set you up well. And I’m impressed with the simplicity of ordering your team around. (You’ll be trailed by three squad mates for the whole game, provided your gung ho idiocy doesn’t get them killed early in the mission; this is a tactical shooter – remember that.)

Mostly, though, after playing a few short sessions, I just want to ask: why? Why pick up the control pad and actually play this thing?

So you can shoot at an all-new bunch of disgruntled rebels in a fictional Eastern-European-slash-ex-southern-Russian nation, struggling with its newfound democracy! American-style democracy, of course. I wanted to think there was a certain self-awareness in the first mission’s intro video, where the newscast actually uses the words “American-style democracy”. But then I remembered I was playing a shooter - and not a particularly edgy one, at that. So it’s doubtful.

Maybe now I’m spoiled by the graphics of the next generation, but SOCOM has me wildly unimpressed in this department. It isn’t just an old-console thing, though. The textures are rough. The game clips pretty badly in places. Visually, nothing has really been brought to the table. It’s like they aren’t really trying. Even busting up a radio with the butt of your gun (oh – sorry – “disabling the enemy’s communications”) just looks, well… lame.

In terms of its single-player mode, Combined Assault is in fact a step down from its immediate predecessor. Adding choice to the mission order is an attempt at variety that largely serves to undermine the game’s story – which pretty much falls flat. This, however, may or may not be a problem for you.

And, after all, if you’re really psyched about SOCOM, you likely have the multiplayer bug. In that case, you’ll be please to know that Combined Assault delivers much more pleasingly here. 32-player support, brand-spanking-new maps (good ones, too): these make for a very worthwhile online experience.

…But not one that’s very much different from SOCOM 3. It has been pointed out by other reviewers that Combined Assault is almost more like an expansion pack to the previous title. But there seems to be a lack of criticism attached to this. I guess die-hard fans are perfectly willing to pay good money for a little bit extra. But to my mind the improvements aren’t really enough – not when combined with the lacklustre single player experience.

In its favour, though, the game is compatible with SOCOM 3 for online play. Small factors like this actually go a long way to clawing back my respect. (Boy! If only our version of the PlayStation 3 had that kind of backwards compatibility…) SOCOM does score some points for its bells and whistles. Features like unlock-able achievements don’t smack of extra substance, but they aren’t to be sneered at – some of us really enjoy goal-based fun. And the ‘Crosstalk’ feature, which links Combined Assault to its PSP brother, is admirable, and surprisingly well-implemented.

But it’s still not enough. If you want multiplayer, then yes, this is an improvement on that last instalment. But if you already have SOCOM 3… well, you know whether you’re enough of a fan to buy this latest iteration whatever its flaws. For those on the sidelines: it’s all a bit bland. There’s nothing here that wows me, nothing I haven’t seen before. I really can’t get past the question, “Why bother?”

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