Zipper Interactive's latest SOCOM videogame, dubbed Combined Assault, is not going to win an award for best graphics. The characters lack detail and the terrain is a big, blurry mess. It's definitely one of the ugliest games to appear on the PlayStation 2 in some time. Yet despite its retched appearance, this squad-based tactical shooter is still a fun time, all things considered. It's just a shame that Sony didn't include a pair of beer goggles.

Like the previous SOCOM games, Combined Assault charges you with leading a team of Seals into hostile territory and completing a series of objectives. These include, but are certainly not limited to, escorting people, retrieving valuable information, and killing hundreds of dirty terrorists. There's also a sweet multiplayer component with 10 maps where up to 32 people can hop online and blow one another to smithereens, all in the name of freedom. And now, the game includes a new four-player co-op.

Playing solo is certainly enjoyable since the game allows the player to give commands to his squad mates, but nothing beats chatting with some buddies and plotting against the aggressive AI which, while the game's ad campaign lists it as being improved, seems missing. The AI soldiers run for cover and drop to their bellies to avoid being hit, but none of this revolutionary.