SOCOM: US Navy Seals (PlayStation 2)

By JON MINIFIE

(Herald rating: * * * * *)

The first-person shooting (FPS) genre is lacking top-quality titles on the PS2. There is nothing to seriously rival Halo or Metroid Prime (Xbox and Gamecube respectively). The Medal of Honor and Red Faction franchises have been popular but you wouldn't describe them as being particularly groundbreaking. SOCOM US Navy Seals, though not strictly a FPS, will go some way towards filling this void.

The entire game can be played as a FPS with the added appeal of being able to switch to a third-person perspective anytime you please.

SOCOM: US Navy Seals ships with a nifty headset that allows you to receive and dish out commands to your squad. Though it feels quite alien at first, barking out orders quickly becomes second nature. Pressing the square button opens a link where you give the squad simple commands using a menu system or by uttering them into your microphone.

It's a buzz at first seeing squad members respond and trot off into the forest, or the snow, or to wherever you sent them. But with leadership comes the added weight of responsibility. Your men follow orders blindly, so if you tell one of them to deploy an explosive charge they'll do it, regardless of who's in the way. They'll also march off into a hail of enemy gunfire if you are careless, so it pays to familiarise yourself with your mission and have clear objectives mapped out. The levels can be complex but there is a tonne of intelligence to wade through before each mission so there is no real excuse for being unprepared.

The 12 missions are nicely varied — the first one is reminiscent of the opening sequence of Metal Gear Solid 2. Set at sea on a barge overrun with terrorists, this is the closest thing SOCOM has to a training level. Then it's off to Alaska to mop up a gang of terrorists camped out on US soil (who thought that was a good idea?).

It's tough to pigeonhole this title into a category. It is part team-based combat, part tactical first-person shooter. It's the first PS2 game to feature voice- recognition technology. And on top of everything else, SOCOM: US Navy Seals is the first PS2 title to be played online in the US. The PS2 broadband adapter is not yet available in New Zealand so online functionality is irrelevant, at least for the time being. Fortunately for us, like so many of the new wave of console titles with temporarily extraneous online features, SOCOM can cut the mustard as a single player game as well.

Price: $149.95 (includes headset)

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