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SOCOM II U.S. Navy SEALs

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SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs
File:Socom2game.jpg
Developer(s)Zipper Interactive and the U.S. Navy
Publisher(s)Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
ReleaseCanada United States November 4, 2003 (Original and Deluxe Versions)
European Union March 5, 2004 (Original and Deluxe Versions)
South Korea June 29, 2004 (Original and Deluxe Versions); October 6, 2005 (Big Hits Series)
Japan Hong Kong Taiwan August 5, 2004
Genre(s)Third-person shooter
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer


SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs is a third person tactical shooter video game for the PlayStation 2 and a sequel to SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs. The game was developed by Zipper Interactive in collaboration with the Naval Special Warfare Command and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. SOCOM II was released on November 4th, 2003.

Basic Gameplay

SOCOM II is a third person tactical shooter for the PS2 that combines the elements of strategy, stealth, reflex and hand-eye coordination. There are 12 different single-player missions: 3 in Albania, 3 in Brazil, 3 in Algeria, and 3 in Russia. There are 5 different ranks that can be played in the game: Ensign, Lieutenant, Commander, Captain, and Admiral. The player starts with the first three ranks unlocked, but must must finish the entire single player game on Commander to unlock Captain and on Captain to unlock Admiral. Players can unlock new models for multiplayer, as well as movies, music, concept art, and credits by completing certain objectives. For example, beating the Albania missions on Commander unlocks Pius skin for multiplayer. Each mission has Primary Objectives, Secondary Objectives, and Hidden Bonus Objectives. Players have to complete all the Primary Objectives to win the mission, and Secondary Objectives are optional, but add to the overall score for the mission. The Hidden Bonus Objectives usually help make other missions easier. For example, finding a map in one mission means the player will not have to work to find that place in the next mission. A letter grade is received at the end of each mission based on 4 categories of score: Stealth, Accuracy, Teamwork, and Objective Completion.

In single player, commands can be administered to the rest of the team. This can be done using either command menu on which the player chooses WHO, WHAT, and WHERE (example: Fireteam, Attack to, Charlie) or a USB headset. This menu features new command options such as GET DOWN, which orders your teammates to drop to the ground and hold position when out doors, and there are additional unlisted commands such as INTIMIDATE.

The AI for both sides has generally improved during single player play. Terrorists, for example, will now side-strafe and lie prone in foliage. Zipper stated that they integrated some tactics from the online portion into the new AI, while squadmates who are in the "Fire at Will" state will take down the opposing force in an efficient manner. There are a few problems such as when teammates run into walls because the player has gotten too far ahead.

Online Play

The online multiplayer portion of SOCOM II requires a broadband connection for play. This mode sets two teams of eight each, SEALs and Terrorists, against each other. The default round time is 6 minutes, and each game is decided based on the first team to win 6 of 11 possible rounds. Each round plays out in a manner similar to the Counter-Strike: Each team "spawns" at opposite sides of the map, and proceeds to pursue its objective. When a character dies, the player must wait for the next round to resume play (this isn't true of "respawn" games - see below). While dead, the player may monitor the status of his teammates, and may change his weapon load. In a room created by a given SOCOM II user, factors such as the number of rounds, round type, round time, weapon restrictions, and friendly fire can all be adjusted to the creator's liking.

SOCOM II supports voice chat in game lobbies and between teammates during gameplay. Voice chat is not permitted in server lobbies or while in the armory of game lobbies. There are in-game options to mute certain players and to switch to different channels of communication (offense, defense, etc.).

Problems with locating acquaintances in the original SOCOM online lead to the development of both a Friend List and a Clan Roster. If one is a member of a clan or recognized friend of another player, he/she may view the statistics, status, and server and game location of anybody on the respective lists, as well as the other user's "Description" and "Hometown" at that user's discretion.

Online Maps

All of the Original Socom maps were carried over for online play with a few minor changes such as:
Turrets
Breaches
Previous maps that were day are now night (Rat's Nest, Abandoned)
Some paths have been blocked (Rat's nest), while others have been opened (Frost Fire)

  • Frost Fire- Suppression- Alaska- Night, but well lit
  • Blizzard- Demolition- Alaska- Evening, due to cloud cover, Snowing
  • NightStalker- Demolition- Turkmenistan- Night
  • Desert Glory- Extraction- Turkmenistan- Day
  • Rats Nest- Suppression- Turkmenistan- Night
  • Abandoned- Suppression- Thailand- Night
  • The Ruins- Demolition- Thailand- Day, Raining
  • Blood Lake- Extraction- Congo- Day
  • Bitter Jungle- Demolition- Congo- Day
  • Death Trap- Extraction- Congo- Day
  • Sandstorm- Breach- Algeria- Night
  • Fish Hook- Extraction- Algeria- Day
  • Crossroads- Demolition- Algeria- Day, Previously evening
  • Fox Hunt- Escort- Albania- Day
  • The Mixer- Escort- Albania- Day, Raining
  • Vigilance- Suppression- Albania- Day
  • Requiem- Demolition- Russia- Night
  • Guidance- Escort- Russia- Day
  • Chain Reaction- Suppression- Russia- Day
  • Sujo- Breach- Brazil- Night, Raining
  • Enowapi- Breach- Brazil- Day
  • Shadow Falls- Suppression- Brazil- Night

(These Three Maps Are Expansion Maps & Are Avalible For Download On The Official PS Magazine)

  • After Hours- Suppression- Seoul, South Korea- Night
  • Liberation- Escort- Algeria- Day
  • Last Bastion- Breach- Albania- Day


Problems with SOCOM II Online

Hit Detection: The detection of bullets on the characters during a game is something that has been complained about since its release. Zipper has admitted "dead spots" on character models where enemy shots that are on target just don't register, and don't diminish the health of the person hit. Latency (or "Lag") is related to hit detection insomuch as that data packets are dropped with increased latency in a game, possibly causing hit detection problems that are worse than normal. (More information on lag and connection quality at Comparison of latency and bandwidth )

Glitching: As with all online games, glitches are found and exploited. Known glitches include multiple ways to get through walls and be protected inside them while shooting others who are outside the wall, and throwing grenades through walls. Some glitches are so powerful that they overload the Playstation 2, causing it to reset. In fact, glitches have become so popular, that some rooms are deemed "Glitch No Kill" (which is often shortened to GNK). In these types of rooms, one is not allowed to kill, but explore and exploit many game features and bugs. [citation needed] Other methods of glitching involve using homemade "lag switches" or "magic switches" to exploit a weakness in the online play.

Code 9: In early 2006, the glitching issue became massive, now dubbed "Code 9". Hackers have managed to find a way to bypass DNAS and use completely new cheats, such as infinite health, automatic grenade launchers/sniper rifles, and other serious problems. One good thing about Code 9 is that it has been confirmed not working for newer SOCOM games. However recently it has proven untrue, as many thousands of players have seen many players jumping into the sky around 100ft firing rockets or spamming grenades all over the map.[citation needed] The first to use "Code 9" were users of the clan cMf.(.22 Cali, Blu3m4n, mikie#b, < PAC-MAN >, jok3r, (c)select and others.) Later on in 2006 "IDOT" a well known Playstation 2 hacker released his cheat device "Code Majic" to the public after a 2 year delay. This increased the amount of cheating involved in Socom II.

Offensive User Names and Text Chats: While there are minor anti-profanity measures in place for keeping language in SOCOM II Online clean, the automatic filters for profanity are unable to detect simple alterations of profane words, such as replacing the letter "A" with "@", or using the alternate characters such as "Á". Also, until recently, the letters "FK" together would "Star out" all the following letters in the word. Certain words such as "Breifcase" and "KFC" would also cause Starout.

Gameplay Bugs: On many occasions there will be a major flaw in gameplay during a game. Issues include players being immune to bullets and explosives [citation needed], a member of one team spawning at the spawn point of the opposing team/ under the map[citation needed], only certain members of each team being able to shoot or throw grenades (which normally occurs after a player's gun shoots grenades instead of bullets and bringing up the message "fire in the hole!" for each shot.)[citation needed] Also, sometimes the player will just freeze permanently for seemingly no reason whatsoever. [citation needed] Other things include players coming alive at the end of the round,[citation needed] talking to people on the live channel when dead, [citation needed]invisibility to certain players, [citation needed]all players going through their own rounds at an alarming rate without anyone else but them spawning[citation needed], and receiving the wrong rank insignia at start up[citation needed]. The most fascinating glitch so far is where one person on the team is actually playing a different map entirely and can see their teammates name tags but cannot do anything to help the game.[citation needed]

Patch: With all of these buys the people of Zipper Interactive and Sony Corp. need to develope a new patch which would be r0005. In this sense it could clear up the entire cheating issue and get this game back where it used to be. Some rumors have been said that March 23-25th, 2007 there would be a new patch, however this is highly doubtful because of the age of this game, and of course the fact this it is just a rumor.

Mod discs: The most recent tool is a modified version of the game, edited via a computer and re-written onto a disc and bypasses the DNAS using the code-9. It has been sited in both Socom:Combined Assault and Socom 3.

Authentication and Updates

In order to play SOCOM II online, one must have their "DNAS Data" authenticated. This process prevents the use of mass cheat devices to use in online gameplay nonetheless people have created ways to mass cheat. Devices such as "Code9" and CodeMajic. This process scans the user's Playstation for added internal chips that modify the Playstation's functioning (mod chip), hacking devices (Gameshark, Codebreaker), and unoriginal versions of game discs that may otherwise affect online play. Although Sony scans the hardware of each user logging on to SOCOM online, there is no evidence that it will take action against users with unauthorized modifications or peripherals. Many SOCOM online players have expressed opinions in favor of Sony banning from online play the hardware address of anybody found cheating in-game or using a cheating device.

SOCOM II online is occasionally updated by Sony through the use of patches – downloadable updates to the game saved to a memory card. These include fixes for bugs such as the exploits that allowed terrorist players to carry twice the maximum number of mines and "wall-jumping" (where a player would run along a wall and hit the jump button in order to move much more quickly than in a normal run).

Weapons

SOCOM II features an array of modern day armaments (most of which carry their real world names). Both teams—Seals and Terrorists—carry distinct weapon sets with only a few similarities. When selecting the weapons, the player chooses a primary weapon, such as an assault rifle or sub-machine gun, a secondary weapon (pistol), and is given three slots to fill with various tactical devices (such as a thermal scope for sniper rifles) and grenades. Upon completing the single-player campaign on a selected difficulty level (Ensign, Lieutenant, Commander, Captain, Admiral) the player will unlock certain weapons for use in the single-player portion of the game, along with playable characters for the online missions.

During on-line play the following weapons are available:

Terrorists

Primary weapons

Pistols

Other

SEALs

Primaries

Pistols

Other

For legal reasons, several of the weapons representing real life counterparts have had letters of their real life name replaced with initials of the real life manufacturer. Such as the F90 representing the FN P90, and the HK5 representing the H&K MP5. Other weapons have been renamed in other ways, such as the Model 18 representing a Glock model 18 and the 9mm Sub representing an UZI submachine gun. The OICW is a primary weapon only obtainable through illicit methods (such as a Pelican accessories codebreaker or through glitching), but it is available for use in single player once the game has been beaten on the "Admiral" Difficulty level.

Trivia

Wardog and Vandal are not seen or mentioned in the next game, SOCOM 3. SOCOM: Combined Assault, the next game after SOCOM 3, reveals that Vandal was later promoted and transferred to operations in Asia. Wardog's fate remains a mystery.

Community & Multiplayer Competition

Official Links

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