Long gone are the old days of circle strafing, rocket jumping and gravity defying physics. The FPS genre we have known has been gradually transforming into a more strategic, realistic type of game, and SOCOM II: U.S. Navy Seals is yet another excellent entry into that growing category.

The original SOCOM was a somewhat groundbreaking game for Sony. Not only did it introduce the voice communicator headset for offline and online play, but it also jump-started the PlayStation 2's online community with excellent multiplayer support. SOCOM II just builds on the success of the original with improved visuals, even more in-depth single player missions, and of course even better online gameplay for up to 16 players. The game still suffers from a few nagging issues, but ends up still being quite the experience in the end.

Like Rainbow 6, SOCOM II is based around a squad of anti-terrorist agents who are needed to take on sensitive missions scattered about the globe. SOCOM specifically focuses on the always-cool U.S. Navy Seals, but the game also includes British SAS and Russian Spetznaz Special Forces who provide support during certain missions. Your squad consists of 4 units; Yourself (as the commander) and another soldier make up the Able element, and 2 other soldiers make up the Brave element. Your little squad is assigned to take on a dozen missions, which are divided among 4 areas: Brazil, Russia, Albania and Algeria. Each mission is further broken down into various primary and secondary objectives, most of which need to be successfully completed in order to finish the mission.

The missions are extremely well put together, and the tactics required to complete them seem authentic. Believe it or not, Sony and Zipper Interactive worked closely with U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command in order to keep the game fairly realistic, and I do believe it has paid off. And just like the first game SOCOM II definitely does not skimp on the realistic difficulty factor. The game provides no real training besides the popup hints that appear during the first mission, so you are more or less on your own. The manual does an OK job describing the basics, although the real game experience is decidedly much more complex. As the commander of the squad, you must not only be able to shoot and sneak around, but also strategize and order your units to perform important actions depending on the circumstances. SOCOM II is difficult enough, even at the easiest level, but without the knowledge of how to command the squad, the game becomes impossible. Rushing the enemy with all guns a-blazing and grenades flying will not work at all. You are basically forced to learn how to play the game as you play it. A real in-depth training mode, complete with tactical missions and a weapons range, for example, would have been so incredibly helpful. The buttons are all used, and nearly every one ahs an important function, including both analog sticks (the clicks also) and the digital pad.

The voice headset, which is not included with SOCOM II, is a very important piece of the game. The headset which was bundled with SOCOM I, or the new and improved headset which is now only sold separately, is integral for really experiencing the game as it was meant to be. In addition to vocally commanding your units to perform certain actions (Examples: "Bravo..Deploy..Read Smoke" or "Fireteam..Lead to..Charlie"), Central Command and your Teammates speak to you directly through the headset. Of course, without the headset the voices would come through your TV speakers, but having all spoken radio communications, which are directed to you, emanate from the headset really puts you in the middle of the action. Of course, like any new piece of technology introduced into gaming, everything does not always work perfectly. Once you learn the proper tone of voice and speed to speak at (the game really needs a tutorial on that aspect alone), voice commands seem to work only 95% of the time when first given. For example, when ordering Fireteam to perform a command, sometimes only Able or only Bravo element will respond accordingly. Or even worse, sometimes when clearly ordering Able to perform an Action, Bravo will respond instead of Able, or vice versa. Sometimes the units commanded will respond with the OK, and just dumbly continue to follow you. A half-hour into a mission when your units start heading in the wrong direction, getting caught up in enemy crossfire or blowing a mission objective which requires a mission restart, things get frustrating. And on a side note, I've also witnessed a few of the units get repeatedly and permanently "stuck" on environmental objects, which usually also requires a mission restart. Thankfully it is possible to manually use button commands to make sure things are done correctly, but it takes a bit longer and is less convenient. When it works great, the voice command feature is absolutely awesome, but when things start to bug out, frustration ensues. I still expect the voice communication/command feature to be used more and more regularly, and so far SOCOM II and Rainbow Six 3 are leading the way.

SOCOM II definitely excels in the audio department. Your squad has individual voices and personality, and you actually care about them when sending them out into dangerous territory. Even the enemy units are usually not simply mindless and voiceless drones. When sneaking up on a group of them, they will usually be chatting about information, which may or may not be vital to your mission. Along with the voice aspect of the game is a surprisingly great soundtrack. A lot of the game is mostly silent environmental sounds and radio chatter, but when the music kicks in, it is pretty intense motion picture-quality stuff.

Besides the surprisingly deep and difficult single-player mode, is of course the online mode. The game is already packed with players, and I've witnessed in excess of 22,000 players online on one server, simultaneously. That's pretty impressive for an online console title. The game requires the Network Adapter and a broadband connection. The headset is optional (though most users seem to have one), though it is possible to chat with others, to an extent, using an onscreen keyboard or a real USB keyboard. The online features of SOCOM II are quite robust for a console game. Along with the five mission types (one thankfully being a free-for-all style deathmatch), there is the ability to create a clan, view clan and individual rankings and Medals of Merit, create game filters, and create/edit friends' lists. The experience has been thoroughly lag free and smooth, and the competition pretty fierce. There are certain rooms which only allow complete beginners, novices and experts, and newbies can get a feel for the experience before taking on the difficult missions with a squad of experienced SEALS or Terrorists. Those expecting a Quake/Doom/Unreal type experience may be disappointed, as the weapons, equipment, physics and tactics all lean to the more realistic side. With most online missions, if you are gunned down, you are out until the mission is over.

Graphically, SOCOM II is quite improved over the first game. The environments are larger, much more detailed, and sport a ton of interactive objects. The SEALS and the enemies are also even better looking than previously. The game does suffer from an occasionally "rough", low-resolution look, but it seems to mostly depend on the mission's location and color palette more than anything. Also, the framerate does takes a bit of a hit when the action gets intense, though nothing that sacrifices gameplay terribly. Overall, the in-game action and cutscenes do a really nice job in putting you right in the heat of Spec Ops warfare.

In the rapidly growing genre of squad-based warfare, SOCOM II: U.S. Navy Seals definitely stands out as among the best. The game suffers from some obvious bugs here and there, but the enthralling single-player missions and addictive online multi-player modes offset the problems to an extent. The game absolutely has to be experienced with the USB headset for full effect. Highly recommended for fans of the genre or SOCOM series, and definitely worth a try for those who do not fall into those categories.