Already the best mutiplayer game on the PS2 just got better with co-op and some great new maps.
User Rating: 9.1 | SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs: Combined Assault PS2
Socom: combined assault, is the newest and last SOCOM game to hit the PS2. Although the game has a decent campaign mode (somehow made much better with the recently added co-op), the games biggest gun still is still the multiplayer aspect, which now makes the mercenaries and the SEALs, fight in some of the best multiplayer action you will find on the aging PS2. You can also play with players on SOCOM 3 and keep all your friends list from SOCOM 3 to, making combined assualt a SOCOM 3 1/2. Single player in SOCOM: CA is almost worthless, and in general, this game is worthless without online play. Enemies are slightly harder to beat, and it is cool how the gun the enimy is holding affects what they do. For example, snipers never rush yo and sub machine gunners never ssnipe you. Machine gunners go prone and try to keep you down, while they have submachine gunners rush you (these guys can be dangerous at times, usually resulting in the enemy type that kills you most), while assualt gunners can do all 3. Probably the biggest reason the rushing submachine gunners kill you the most is your SEAL teammates, who are putting the special back into special forces. When your getting rushed by submachine gunners, they will fire at them if they feel like it, and the enemys go for you before them, so this makes it frustrating. Getting killed from the back because a guy ran past your teammates and killed you. If your not getting shot at, its your teammates who are. They rarely take cover, waste your medpacks, and get stuck on walls, in which case you have to push them off. They would make great cover, if enemy bullets didn't go through them, so all those teammates are for is to waste your medpacks. They don't even use m203's and underslung shotguns. Their is also another single player type called instant action, where you get to select a spot to start, and select what ever objective you want to do. It can be fun, but is also kinda boring with AI teammates. However, their is a solution... Co-op. CO-op is a great addition to SOCOM, because the campaign missions can actually be fun with a buddy or a human being. Granted, you do get people who are worse than the teammate AI, but atleast its not the games fault. Another cool thing is that you can play instant action games co-op to, and this saves to your profile. Making it easier to earn badges. Co-op was definately a welcome and highly wanted addition to the series. But the bulk of the fun is multiplayer, with maps highly improved over the SOCOM 3 maps. Their are actually snowmaps this time around (SOCOM 3 surprisingly didnt have a single one). The maps are more thought out and less bland than the SOCOM 3 maps. Newer vehicles such as the BMP and scout cars are also present to. Multiplayer still keeps the same formula as in SOCOM 3, but the maps make it better. Much better. Graphics arent that great (it got an 8 because you cant expect much from the PS2 anymore). The graphics do the job atleast, with explosinons, cars, and better character models. Terrain is still muddy and looks like a kindergardner who dosn't know how paint brushes work did them. Colors can be sloshed around at times, making people hard to see. The sound in SOCOM is actually pretty good. A few guns may not sound like they do in real life, but not a single gun sounds the same. From the MP7 sparin out 20 bullets in 2 seconds, to the frightening noise of the M82 in the distance. The guns sound great, and you can tell the power of the gun and even what gun it is by hearing the sound. SOCOM: combined assualt is a great game, giving the PS2 something that people will be playing well into the days of the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360. With great multiplayer gameplay and some maps that over shadow any SOCOM 3 map, this game will be something yoo will enjoy... if you have an inteernet connection to your PS2. 
