Is this single player good?

Ya in my opinion it's a great single player. Many weapons to choose from and to unlock. Also there is the feature of commanding your team. Online is the best though, but still worth it to buy for single player.

Actually he couldn't get past the first level and never got a kill online because he is a noob and plays halo.

I would never buy the game for the single player alone even though I played it before going online and had all the customes.

I loved Socom I and II. The Socom games had their own look and feel. To me Socom 3 looks and feels more like one of the Tom Clancy games now. They just gave up on what made them unique. The music is lame, the menu for commanding the squad is clumsy and the missions are blah. I don't have the network adapter so I've never played online and I'm guessing the game is completely geared for online play. As a single player I am very let down. I wish I would have rented it before I bought it and saved the $50.