Available exclusively for PSP, SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Tactical Strike promises to take the actionfest to a more strategic game play offering, rather than the gung-ho gun-toting stance of the PS2 titles. But will this approach work? We get planning to find out.
Our quick take
Socom on the PSP plays on the tactical name in the title and you'll have to be tactical if you want to succeed.
Because of the this the action due to the gameplay style certainly doesn't have the pace of the GRAW or Rainbow Six titles, that said those looking for that Breech, Bang, Clear experience, won't be disappointed.
SOCOM - 3.5 / 5
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SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Tactical Strike allows players to assume the role of an entire team of elite Special Forces and gives them more time to approach and execute their strategy than having to make it up on the fly.
Because of this gameplay is notably slower. It's not as slow as turn-based offerings but there is no pace here. Patience and a methodical gaming frame of mind will win the day as you instruct your on-screen characters into their positions ready for a strike.
It's the usual breech, bang, clear stuff with you having full control over the four men on-screen. Via the interface you can control their movement, aggressive stance, whether they follow, act on their own and the ability to heal players on the move, something that comes in very handy after a gun fight.
The game presents the usual array of guns and grenades at your disposal all of which can be customised before you get into the level itself. Overall Sony has done good job in implementing the plethora of controls into something fairly understandable and although most keys on the PSP offer a different command from moving to throwing grenades, it shouldn't take you long to get to grips with them.
It might be called SOCOM, but strangely that hasn't stopped Sony allowing you to choose to play as international Special Forces from the UK, Australia, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, South Korea and the Netherlands.
As for the storyline it's the usual same-old same-old as you're sent in to rescue an ambassador, this time in South America, who has been abducted by radical insurgent forces and taken into the jungle.
The storyline gives the game a good choice of backgrounds and landscapes to play out against and the terrain varies from inner city to the jungle and beyond.
SOCOM has always been strong on online gaming and here Sony has not failed to include multiplayer options.
Up to four players in both Ad Hoc and online Infrastructure modes can play as one four soldiers in the team as you work together to complete the missions at hand.
To recap
SOCOM on the PSP plays on the tactical name in the title and you'll have to be tactical if you want to succeed