SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs
Encyclopedia
SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALS, is a third person
tactical shooter
video game for PlayStation 2
and the sequel to SOCOM II: 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 3 was released on October 11, 2005, and was added to the list of Sony Greatest Hits games on August 4, 2006.
The South Asia
area of operation was originally specified as Bangladesh
, but was changed after a complaint from the Bangladeshi government.
tactical shooter
. There are 14 different single-player missions.
campaign, the player's (Specter) fireteam consists "Jester" as well as SEALS "Killjoy" and "Simple". Specter's SEAL
team battles the North African Patriotic Front (NAPF), the renamed Algerian Patriotic Front from SOCOM II, led by the megalomaniac General Heydar Mahmood and Colonel Sarwat, his second-in-command. Mahmood had gained control of Algeria via a coup during the previous game, and now the NAPF has just launched an offensive into an unnamed country, possibly Morocco, while the SEAL team is enlisted to support local forces trying to repel the NAPF. Upon arriving, Specter rendezvous with local forces, and proceeds to ambush an NAPF convoy, secure a NAPF sanctuary, and demolishes a communications tower. After meeting up with the local fighter leader, the "Sand Lion", Specter's team assists the locals in attacking an NAPF weapons depot. They cut off the NAPF reinforcement route by demolishing a bridge, and unexpectedly encounters an enemy T-72
.En-route to the weapons depot, the SEALs find dozens of civilians killed by the NAPF. After destroying the depot, the SEALs are redeployed following the Coalition for Humanitarian Aid's (CHA) approval of a military intervention in the area. Via the Strait of Gibraltar
, the CHA invades only to be fired upon by NAPF Chinese-made HY-2 cruise missiles. The SEALs rush to deactivate the missile launch sites before the CHA calls off the invasion. The CHA successfully lands, while the SEALs are called to hold off a NAPF preemptive strike against leading CHA forces. Repelling waves of infantry and tanks, reinforcements finally arrive and a counter attack is launched against the NAPF in the ruins of an old fort where troops are amassing. Subsequently, the SEALs enter Mahmood's Field HQ to capture him and Colonel Sarwat, but were delayed due to Marcy Raines, a personnel working for the State Department (from SOCOM II), who was standed and required extraction. Mahmood takes advantage of the delay, and flees in an Mi-24 helicopter leaving Sarwat for the SEALS. Later, the SEALs search for Mahmood whose helicopter was shot down. After fighting two NAPF tanks, Specter search several villages for him, and finally collects enough data to pinpoint his location at a mountain villa. Mahmood is captured and the African Campaign ends.
In the South Asian missions "Killjoy" and "Simple" are replaced by British Special Boat Service
operatives "Flash" and "Chopper". In these missions the player battles a piracy
organization called "The Fist and Fire". In the missions' plot the Fist and Fire have been wreaking havoc on local shipping and recently captured the freighter "Breackneck", which was loaded with missiles and small arms
, in the Bay of Bengal and steered her back to Bangladesh. In the first mission the player assaults a remote Fist and Fire (Often referred to as Raiders by your fireteam)outpost along a river. Once there the team searches for the Breakneck and it's cargo of missiles. The player finds the freighter but the cargo was moved to a second, larger outpost. When the player checks a warehouse a cut-scene plays and the missiles are being loaded onto a small boat that soon leaves it's dock. In the second mission the player meets a local informant "Magpie" who assists him in searching two villages for a "Mole" who had been leaking information to the Raiders and talking to villagers. After the villages have been searched the team dismantles Raider operations in the villages and their surroundings. En-route to the extraction a man runs toward the informant warning him that his village is being looted and burnt by the Raiders. The player and his fireteam then stops the massacre and moves on to complete the final objective. In the last mission, the team enters the Raiders' headquarter on an island in search of their leader, Hari Raman, the Captain and the first mate of the Breakneak who are being held hostage, and the missiles. After securing the beachhead the team finds a small cave system, in these caves and their direct vicinity you locate Raman, the hostages and the missiles.
The last missions take place in Poland
where the SEALS battle a well funded, communist terror organization called the New Slavic Order (NSO). In these missions "Flash" and "Chopper" are replaced by GROM
operatives "Deadpan" and "Coldkill". In the first mission the team performs reconnaissance on an NSO controlled house which is the residence of a local cell leader, Bogdan Kurasz codenamed FATCAT, and bug a laptop and a phone for gathering intel for future operations. The second mission begins when the First Lady
of Poland, Ludmila Zarobska, is at a boat christening ceremony in the port city of Gdansk
when chemical weapon canisters explode and several NSO terrorists move in to kidnap her. Their plan was to take her hostage and use her as a bargaining chip to force the government to agree to their demands. Unable to contact the First Lady's security detail, the fireteam is sent in to rescue and extract her. After a boatchase through the city's canals and a long firefight, the team secures her and proceeds to extract. On the way the team encounters brutal NSO resistance as they have taken control of the city. Once the team has secured the extraction, an Mi-24 comes to extract the first lady. After the player kills some terrorists that were fleeing from Polish Forces, the mission ends. The third mission takes place where the player's team returns to the site of the first mission to eliminate the NSO presence and capture the cell leader, FATCAT. After an extensive search of the surrounding area and buildings, the team find a cave system underneath a barn. The team continues through the caves and out into a forest where they eventually find and apprehend FATCAT. The fourth mission takes place in the city of Wroclaw near the Polish border with the Czech Republic
. The NSO is preparing to flee Poland, because of their recent setbacks, and plan to set up operations elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Fortunately, a storm moved into the region and flooded the city, enabling the team to infiltrate, recon, and pinpoint the creator of the NSO's chemical weapon arsenal, Dr. Mironova, and the NSO's leader, Kryzstof Gryc. Once they're located the team extracts from the area. In the last mission of the game the team goes back to the city to capture or kill all the remaining NSO terrorists as well as Mironova and Gryc, and secure their chemical weapons. The team first clears a safehouse with moderate resistance and then moves on to clear a courtyard where a heavy but brief firefight ensues. The team finally reaches a brewery where the weapons and Mironoava are. Once she is neutralized, H.Q. warns the team that Gryc has led a suicide assault on the brewery to set off the weapons. Once the team mows down waves of NSO assaults and defends the brewery, Gryc leads a small team himself, once he and his team are killed, the mission is complete.
SOCOM 3 is playable on five difficulty levels. At the start, the player can only choose from three of these. If the player completes the game on Commander, they can unlock the Captain difficulty level (which unlocks the Admiral
difficulty level upon successful completion).
Every mission has primary, secondary, bonus, and crosstalk objectives - which are compatible with the Sony PSP game SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo
.
decided to require SOCOM 3 players to verify their identities by using a credit card, debit cards, or VISA gift cards
. If the players do not verify themselves, they will not be granted ranks, allowed to join friends' lists, ranked games or clans. The PAL version of SOCOM 3 did not need to be verified for online play.
The SOCOM blog, set up by the Sony PlayStation team to give players a look at the making of the game, stated that this was meant to keep SOCOM cheaters away from the game, but it has not stopped cheaters. The cheaters can also use credit cards to log on and freely exploit game glitch
es, since no one monitors matches. Zipper, however, does encourage using the in-game exploit forums to report cheaters. Zipper announced that it is too late to change credit card verification and it was also implemented in SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Combined Assault.
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
tactical shooter
Tactical shooter
A tactical shooter is a subgenre of shooter game that includes both first-person shooters and third-person shooters. These games typically simulate realistic combat, thus making tactics and caution more important than quick reflexes in other action games...
video game for PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and the sequel to SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs
SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs
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...
. The game was developed by Zipper Interactive
Zipper Interactive
Zipper Interactive is an American video game developer part of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios and is located in Redmond, Washington. It was founded in 1995 by Jim Bosler and Brian Soderberg. It has created many different games, including the popular SOCOM series of games...
in collaboration with the Naval Special Warfare Command and published by Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
. SOCOM 3 was released on October 11, 2005, and was added to the list of Sony Greatest Hits games on August 4, 2006.
The South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
area of operation was originally specified as Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, but was changed after a complaint from the Bangladeshi government.
Gameplay
SOCOM 3 is a third-personVirtual camera system
A virtual camera system aims at controlling a camera or a set of cameras to display a view of a 3D virtual world. Camera systems are used in videogames where their purpose is to show the action at the best possible angle; more generally, they are used in 3D virtual worlds when a third person view...
tactical shooter
Tactical shooter
A tactical shooter is a subgenre of shooter game that includes both first-person shooters and third-person shooters. These games typically simulate realistic combat, thus making tactics and caution more important than quick reflexes in other action games...
. There are 14 different single-player missions.
Plot
In the North AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
campaign, the player's (Specter) fireteam consists "Jester" as well as SEALS "Killjoy" and "Simple". Specter's SEAL
Seal
Seal commonly refers to:* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals many of which are commonly called seals* Seal , a device which helps prevent leakage, contain pressure, or exclude contamination where two systems join...
team battles the North African Patriotic Front (NAPF), the renamed Algerian Patriotic Front from SOCOM II, led by the megalomaniac General Heydar Mahmood and Colonel Sarwat, his second-in-command. Mahmood had gained control of Algeria via a coup during the previous game, and now the NAPF has just launched an offensive into an unnamed country, possibly Morocco, while the SEAL team is enlisted to support local forces trying to repel the NAPF. Upon arriving, Specter rendezvous with local forces, and proceeds to ambush an NAPF convoy, secure a NAPF sanctuary, and demolishes a communications tower. After meeting up with the local fighter leader, the "Sand Lion", Specter's team assists the locals in attacking an NAPF weapons depot. They cut off the NAPF reinforcement route by demolishing a bridge, and unexpectedly encounters an enemy T-72
T-72
The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...
.En-route to the weapons depot, the SEALs find dozens of civilians killed by the NAPF. After destroying the depot, the SEALs are redeployed following the Coalition for Humanitarian Aid's (CHA) approval of a military intervention in the area. Via the Strait of Gibraltar
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa. The name comes from Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic Jebel Tariq , albeit the Arab name for the Strait is Bab el-Zakat or...
, the CHA invades only to be fired upon by NAPF Chinese-made HY-2 cruise missiles. The SEALs rush to deactivate the missile launch sites before the CHA calls off the invasion. The CHA successfully lands, while the SEALs are called to hold off a NAPF preemptive strike against leading CHA forces. Repelling waves of infantry and tanks, reinforcements finally arrive and a counter attack is launched against the NAPF in the ruins of an old fort where troops are amassing. Subsequently, the SEALs enter Mahmood's Field HQ to capture him and Colonel Sarwat, but were delayed due to Marcy Raines, a personnel working for the State Department (from SOCOM II), who was standed and required extraction. Mahmood takes advantage of the delay, and flees in an Mi-24 helicopter leaving Sarwat for the SEALS. Later, the SEALs search for Mahmood whose helicopter was shot down. After fighting two NAPF tanks, Specter search several villages for him, and finally collects enough data to pinpoint his location at a mountain villa. Mahmood is captured and the African Campaign ends.
In the South Asian missions "Killjoy" and "Simple" are replaced by British Special Boat Service
Special Boat Service
The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...
operatives "Flash" and "Chopper". In these missions the player battles a piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
organization called "The Fist and Fire". In the missions' plot the Fist and Fire have been wreaking havoc on local shipping and recently captured the freighter "Breackneck", which was loaded with missiles and small arms
Small arms
Small arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, battle rifles, multiple barrel firearms, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light...
, in the Bay of Bengal and steered her back to Bangladesh. In the first mission the player assaults a remote Fist and Fire (Often referred to as Raiders by your fireteam)outpost along a river. Once there the team searches for the Breakneck and it's cargo of missiles. The player finds the freighter but the cargo was moved to a second, larger outpost. When the player checks a warehouse a cut-scene plays and the missiles are being loaded onto a small boat that soon leaves it's dock. In the second mission the player meets a local informant "Magpie" who assists him in searching two villages for a "Mole" who had been leaking information to the Raiders and talking to villagers. After the villages have been searched the team dismantles Raider operations in the villages and their surroundings. En-route to the extraction a man runs toward the informant warning him that his village is being looted and burnt by the Raiders. The player and his fireteam then stops the massacre and moves on to complete the final objective. In the last mission, the team enters the Raiders' headquarter on an island in search of their leader, Hari Raman, the Captain and the first mate of the Breakneak who are being held hostage, and the missiles. After securing the beachhead the team finds a small cave system, in these caves and their direct vicinity you locate Raman, the hostages and the missiles.
The last missions take place in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
where the SEALS battle a well funded, communist terror organization called the New Slavic Order (NSO). In these missions "Flash" and "Chopper" are replaced by GROM
GROM
GROM is one of five special forces units of the Polish Armed Forces. It was officially activated on July 8, 1990...
operatives "Deadpan" and "Coldkill". In the first mission the team performs reconnaissance on an NSO controlled house which is the residence of a local cell leader, Bogdan Kurasz codenamed FATCAT, and bug a laptop and a phone for gathering intel for future operations. The second mission begins when the First Lady
First Lady
First Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...
of Poland, Ludmila Zarobska, is at a boat christening ceremony in the port city of Gdansk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
when chemical weapon canisters explode and several NSO terrorists move in to kidnap her. Their plan was to take her hostage and use her as a bargaining chip to force the government to agree to their demands. Unable to contact the First Lady's security detail, the fireteam is sent in to rescue and extract her. After a boatchase through the city's canals and a long firefight, the team secures her and proceeds to extract. On the way the team encounters brutal NSO resistance as they have taken control of the city. Once the team has secured the extraction, an Mi-24 comes to extract the first lady. After the player kills some terrorists that were fleeing from Polish Forces, the mission ends. The third mission takes place where the player's team returns to the site of the first mission to eliminate the NSO presence and capture the cell leader, FATCAT. After an extensive search of the surrounding area and buildings, the team find a cave system underneath a barn. The team continues through the caves and out into a forest where they eventually find and apprehend FATCAT. The fourth mission takes place in the city of Wroclaw near the Polish border with the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. The NSO is preparing to flee Poland, because of their recent setbacks, and plan to set up operations elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Fortunately, a storm moved into the region and flooded the city, enabling the team to infiltrate, recon, and pinpoint the creator of the NSO's chemical weapon arsenal, Dr. Mironova, and the NSO's leader, Kryzstof Gryc. Once they're located the team extracts from the area. In the last mission of the game the team goes back to the city to capture or kill all the remaining NSO terrorists as well as Mironova and Gryc, and secure their chemical weapons. The team first clears a safehouse with moderate resistance and then moves on to clear a courtyard where a heavy but brief firefight ensues. The team finally reaches a brewery where the weapons and Mironoava are. Once she is neutralized, H.Q. warns the team that Gryc has led a suicide assault on the brewery to set off the weapons. Once the team mows down waves of NSO assaults and defends the brewery, Gryc leads a small team himself, once he and his team are killed, the mission is complete.
SOCOM 3 is playable on five difficulty levels. At the start, the player can only choose from three of these. If the player completes the game on Commander, they can unlock the Captain difficulty level (which unlocks the Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
difficulty level upon successful completion).
Every mission has primary, secondary, bonus, and crosstalk objectives - which are compatible with the Sony PSP game SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo is the first SOCOM game for the PlayStation Portable. It has both online play and PSP to PSP play . It is similar to the SOCOM games released for the PlayStation 2. This game is a follow up to SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs for the PS2. Zipper Interactive has...
.
Game modes
- Breach: SEALs attempt to destroy Terrorist strongholds. Terrorists use their fortifications to prevent the SEAL incursion, as SEALs break through barriers and destroy key targets. A team may also win by eliminating the opposition.
- Demolition: Find the bomb and blow up the opposition headquarters. The bomb is placed on a neutral point in the map, easily accessible from both oppositions. Each team prevents the opposing team's demolition of their base. For example, if the terrorists have the bomb, the SEALs are on the defensive, and must ensure their stronghold remains safe. A team may also win by eliminating the opposition.
- Suppression: Fight to the death. This team deathmatchDeathmatchDeathmatch may refer to:*The Death Match, a wartime association football match in 1942 between Soviet POWs and Nazi soldiers*Hardcore wrestling, a form of professional wrestling that eschews traditional concepts of match rules...
ends when one side loses all of their players, or when the timer expires. The team with the most living players wins at the end of the round.
- Escort: Depending on the map either the SEALs or the Terrorists attempt to move key personnel to a secure location. The Offensive team must get at least 2 out of the 3 VIPs to the extraction zone; while the Defensive team must kill at least two VIPs, or run the clock out. A team may also win by eliminating the opposition.
- Extraction: Depending on the map either the SEALs or the Terrorists attempt to rescue and extract hostages. The Offensive team wins by escorting at least two hostages into the extraction zone, and the Defensive team wins by preventing extraction in the allotted time. If Offense kills a hostage, a minute is deducted from the mission timer. If the Defense kills a hostage, the Offense is credited as if they rescued the hostage. If the Offense kills too many hostages, they will lose. A team may also win by eliminating the opposition.
- Control: Place beacons at all control points. The SEALs/Terrorists must plant five beacons on a map. Once a beacon is planted, the enemy can't take it away, but they can plant a beacon at that control point. The team who has all of the control points covered first, wins. If the round ends, the team with the most beacons placed win. Control points consist of Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, and Juliet. A team may also win by eliminating the opposition.
- Convoy: Terrorists guide a convoy to a loading zone and guide it back to a drop zone. The Terrorist team must successfully breach a series of blockades to reach a cargo loading zone. They will have to pick up cargo and continue through another set of blockades to a drop zone. The SEAL's objective is to stop the convoy. If both cargo trucks are destroyed, or if the time runs out, the SEAL team wins. If at least one loaded cargo truck makes it to a drop zone, the terrorists win. A team may also win by eliminating the opposition.
Online account verification
Zipper InteractiveZipper Interactive
Zipper Interactive is an American video game developer part of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios and is located in Redmond, Washington. It was founded in 1995 by Jim Bosler and Brian Soderberg. It has created many different games, including the popular SOCOM series of games...
decided to require SOCOM 3 players to verify their identities by using a credit card, debit cards, or VISA gift cards
Scrip
Scrip is an American term for any substitute for currency which is not legal tender and is often a form of credit. Scrips were created as company payment of employees and also as a means of payment in times where regular money is unavailable, such as remote coal towns, military bases, ships on long...
. If the players do not verify themselves, they will not be granted ranks, allowed to join friends' lists, ranked games or clans. The PAL version of SOCOM 3 did not need to be verified for online play.
The SOCOM blog, set up by the Sony PlayStation team to give players a look at the making of the game, stated that this was meant to keep SOCOM cheaters away from the game, but it has not stopped cheaters. The cheaters can also use credit cards to log on and freely exploit game glitch
Glitch
A glitch is a short-lived fault in a system. It is often used to describe a transient fault that corrects itself, and is therefore difficult to troubleshoot...
es, since no one monitors matches. Zipper, however, does encourage using the in-game exploit forums to report cheaters. Zipper announced that it is too late to change credit card verification and it was also implemented in SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Combined Assault.
Downloadable content
- The first Map Pack was released for a free two week trial on June 27, 2006. After the two week trial (July 11, 2006), players had the opportunity to purchase the map pack through the SOCOM Store in the SOCOM community section. Two more map packs were released containning maps from SOCOM 1 and SOCOM 2