SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs – Fireteam Bravo 3 – PSP Review

Reviewed by Sam Atkins on March 27, 2010

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs - Fireteam Bravo 3 - PSP Review  | read this item

For followers of Sony, the history of the SOCOM franchise has been long and full of surprises. For many, early memories of the first two online tactical shooters will be enough to overshadow the weaknesses of late, especially the technical disaster that was SOCOM Confrontation. Now in its third iteration on PSP, Fireteam Bravo 3 has tried something new with its control scheme, has the risk of putting a fully fledged shooter onto PSP paid off?

If you’ve played any other first or third person action game on the portable system, you would probably expect the once standard analogue stick, face buttons strafe and look control setup. This isn’t the case here though, instead developers Slant Six Games have chosen to put the emphasis on tactical techniques rather than pin point precision in gunplay. Auto Aim is in full effect in Fireteam Bravo 3, movement and turning assigned to the one stick, with strafing and aiming attached to each shoulder button. This creates an interesting setup, and while pressing face buttons to shoot feels plain wrong, the overall experience is much more streamlined, which should allow for a deep tactical element of the 4 man squad gameplay.

Unfortunately this isn’t the case. You can issue commands to your 3 team-mates, such as ho they should breach a door, spitting each up into specific teams, or to send them forward while you take a more conspicuous route. In theory, you can do all of this, but in practise, you rarely engage in this sort of tactical insertion past the mandatory tutorial. Implemented effectively into the control scheme, with the team command menu appearing when you hold circle; it’s a real shame that you never have much use for this tactical way of thinking as the game develops. You’ll mainly be taking cover behind nearby crates and popping out to shoot a barrage of pre-aimed bullets into the enemy. Compared to other PSP action games, such as the Syphon Filter series, the variety of gameplay on offer here is disappointing, never reaching the heights of console versions of the SOCOM series.

Where Fireteam Bravo really comes into its own though is in the multiplayer. With enough variety and extra content such as medals and leaderboards to last for weeks, you can forgive the game for the deficiencies it has elsewhere in its design. Working as a 4 piece team is where the game excels, and being able to play through the main campaign and multiplayer specific sections is a welcome bonus. Getting 3 other PSP owning mates who own the game may be troublesome, but unlike multiplayer focused games such as Monster Hunter, here you can play against others online. There are few lag issues, and the graphical fidelity that makes the game so striking offline in represented effectively while playing through infrastructure.

Speaking of graphical quality, it seems that Sony’s in-house studios have once again outdone themselves. From the original Fireteam Bravo to the Syphon Filter games, third person shooters seem to always look great on PSP. It doesn’t beat Resistance Retribution for environmental detail, thanks to some relatively boring textures especially next to the excellently animated character models. The sound design is brilliant too, with clean and crisp bullet vibrations accompanying well delivered and expressive dialogue it’s a joy for the ears as well as the eyes.

There is a lot that SOCOM Fireteam Bravo 3 does right. From the intuitive online setup to the fantastic graphical quality, the deficiencies the game has when it comes to design will be easily forgotten by fans of the series. Those that aren’t followers of SOCOM however won’t be able to see past the overly simple exterior, and experience the true tactical experience the developers were going for. If only the missions required a bit more intuitive thinking from the player, this could be a stellar PSP title. As is, make sure you’ve played both the excellent Syphon Filters before opting for the lesser option that Fireteam Bravo 3 sadly is.

Tags: Fireteam Bravo 3, PSP Review, Shooter, Slant Six Games, SOCOM, sony