The game's story is as follows: The world's terrorists have targeted America and her allies. As an elite SEAL commander, your team's orders are simple- strike targets of importance within 12 intense international missions quietly and successfully, and protect freedom across the globe. Utilizing the best weaponry, technology and training available, accept no outcome but victory.
The first thing I'd like to mention is that I never played the original SOCOM, but am very much aware of its commercial success. Everyone who played it seemed to enjoy it, especially those with Network Adapters.
The visual presentation of SOCOM II is very nice. Environments look great, clothing and weapons look real, and real-time cut-scenes help move the story along smoothly. The sound effects and dialogs are also good, and sound like you're actually there on the battlefield. The musical score is especially good.
The controls get some time to get used to, but you eventually get the hang of it. I missed too many shots because the control stick was too sensitive, but luckily my teammates helped me out whenever I got in a jam. And that's my favorite aspect of SOCOM II, you never feel alone. Your teammates can do all sorts of things for you, from providing cover to retrieving items. They even alert you when enemies are near. But if you don't feel like paying attention to them you can check your radar, which works great and will help you find your way to safety.
I did face some glitches in the demo I played. There's a barn-like building with a tall ladder inside that you can climb up. Well, one of my teammates tried to climb it before I did and when my character started to climb the poor guy got pushed to the side, floating in midair and couldn't get down. That looked very stupid. The other glitch happened when I tried to jump down a 4 foot deep hole near a bunker. My character got stuck in the ground and I had to reset my PS2 to get him out. It really bothered me because I was having a good mission. I also felt that the loading times were too long. I hope this gets fixed.
This sequel will be another hit, no doubt. It's fun as a single player game, but I'm sure it's much more enjoyable as an online multiplayer game between 16 people. SOCOM II US Navy Seals will arrive at a store near you on November 4, 2003.
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