What makes SOCOM II a great game isn't the stunning graphics, higher quality sound or interesting plot, although those are all great features.
The thing that blew me away was the size and detail of each level of the game. The first SOCOM had levels contained entirely on a ship, or between a few small islands. Its follower opens up with an expansive level that starts crouched in the high brush beside a road and makes its way across a large field, through ruins, under a bridge, across a river, through a series of tunnels and into a town before the level really begins.
It was as I was creeping up a hillside toward a gun turret that I realized how big the level actually was.
The standard features are still there. Native languages are still spoken, including Russian, Albanian and Portuguese. The SEAL teams are still made up of some of the toughest soldiers around who, if you let them, can virtually win a level for you under the right direction.
Where the designers made the most improvements was in both the size of the levels and in the plot line of the game. The first game had little more than intro videos to each level. SOCOM II provides a lengthy video to start each level and introduce the key characters in each setting.
I'll admit that the intro video to the Brazilian stage spooked me. But then again, who isn't afraid of a machete-wielding militant with a roundhouse kick that would make Jean Claude Van Damme wince.
The game play didn't change too much between the two games and the controls are still fairly simple to handle given the complexity of controlling a team of soldiers.
One of the major changes in the two games might be the most appealing to some gamers. The blood and guts is pretty high in this game and I advise getting an up-close peak at this feature if that is what you're looking for. Take a shot with your zoom all the way in and watch the carnage.
The increase in visual violence also translates to the user's blood. When your player takes a bullet in the leg or arm, a trail of blood will follow you wherever you go. This feature was also in the first game but not nearly as prominent. It is possible to see a blood trail in the grass in the second version.
The main downer to the game, and the only reason I don't give it the ultimate rating, is the extra features. The intro videos to each level aren't available until the user completes the preceding level. Other features aren't available until the user beats the game at a level of lieutenant or better.
Considering this game is difficult enough at "ensign," I disagree with making extra features unavailable without beating the game. Extras are, in my opinion, exactly as their name implies, "extras," and shouldn't be contingent on completion of the game.
Reach the reporter at cameron.eickmeyer@asu.edu
