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SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo Mini Review
Jon Wilcox
24/04/2006
The PlayStation2 tactical shooter arrives on PSP with full online functionality...
If Xbox owners had Halo 2 as a first-party title to gun down their enemies online, there's little doubt that the PlayStation2 equivalent is Zipper Interactive's third person tactical military shooter SOCOM US Navy SEALs series. First released on PlayStation2s in Europe during 2003, the franchise's PSP debut aims to bring the same strong tactical shooter experience with engaging multiplayer options to the portable platform.
Beginning in the Chilean countryside, Fireteam Bravo's campaign features fourteen missions that take players from Chile, across the Atlantic to three other areas: Poland, Morocco, and South Asia. Dropping the standard four-man SOCOM team, Fireteam Bravo consists of two soldiers codenamed Sandman and Lonestar, with players controlling the former and issuing orders to the latter. Tied into the storyline of SOCOM 3: US Navy SEALs, which has been released simultaneously on PlayStation2, the links between the two titles go a little deeper than just a parallel storyline with skins and weapons becoming unlocked when such 'Cross-Talk' missions are accomplished. Visually the game of course retains that SOCOM style with a sufficient amount of detail paid to the characters, though some of the animations in Fireteam Bravo do seem a little rough around the edges at times. There's a variety in the maps across the four locations, and the game also benefits from the widescreen of the PSP, which means that the various HUD elements never feel like they clutter the view.
Of course one of the key fundamental differences between Fireteam Bravo and the PlayStation2 instalments of SOCOM is the control system. With the mono-analogue PSP, Zipper was always going to have to be inventive when it came to creating fluid and effective controls for the game. With second analogue sticks used for camera control in home consoles, Zipper has created a locking-on system mapped to the right shoulder button in an attempt to counteract the lack of a second 'nipple'. If the button is held down to target an enemy, its equivalent on the left allows players to switch between multiple targets. Whilst the system does over-simplify the gameplay, too much at times, it's worth noting that the effectiveness of the lock-on is directly linked to a number of factors including weapon type and player stance. Sniper rifles with their multi-zoom sights will be far more effective if a player is lying down rather than standing (as it helps steady the aim), whilst pistols won't be able to lock onto an opponent beyond a certain distance. Zipper has evidently tried to balance out the issue of free aiming, and for the most part it works as well as can be expected, though it remains quite clumsy. That said it's difficult to think of an alternative solution (unless there's a way of drilling and hardwiring a second 'nipple' to your PSP.)
What is a bit of a shame is that Fireteam Bravo doesn't feature voice-command functionality in the single-player game, especially when it enjoys voice chat through the rarely used Infrastructure. Almost a trademark of the series, the function would have brought something certainly unique to the PSP platform if Zipper had managed to squeeze the required technologies onto a UMD. Instead, tapping a certain button enables gamers to issue Lonestar with an appropriate order from a dial-like command list. Context sensitive orders including a Breach command are also available with a single button hold.
Enemy AI is perhaps one of the niggles encountered in the single-player campaign, with the 'eye-sight' of an opponent shifting between one extreme to another; at times they won't see the player from a distance of sixteen metres when Sandman is crouching just off in front of them, whilst at other instances they will spot the two-man team from fifty metres - sometimes before they're even noticeable on screen! Obviously such an issue isn't relevant in the bloodbaths that are Fireteam Bravo's multiplayer modes, but it's quite significant in the campaign when gamers can just quickly lock-on in a split-second. They additionally have the rather annoying habit of just standing there waiting to be shot at times, even when a fellow soldier/terrorist is gunned down a matter of metres away; they do occasionally take cover but on the whole it seems as if some of them have a death wish.
Elsewhere, Fireteam Bravo also enjoys an Instant Action mode, which comes in handy if you haven't got time to track down the bad guys in the main missions, and of course the two multiplayer modes: Ad Hoc and Infrastructure. Randomising locations, objectives, and difficulty settings players can find themselves trying to disable radio transmitters in the face of strong opposition, extract a number of hostages, engaging in a straightforward time-restricted elimination objective, and others depending on the difficulty setting. It's all about quick fix action, and it's successful in doing that, but aside from the single-player campaign, the real bulk of extra longevity lays with the online multiplayer.
Despite having the functionality, very few titles actually utilise the PSP's Infrastructure mode, which enables gamers to play each other across the world like Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Most games for PSP choose to use the Ad Hoc 'local Wi-Fi' option instead, and whilst that remains an option in Fireteam Bravo where up to ten players can hook up and battle it out, it's the sixteen player Infrastructure gameplay that will interest PSP owning SOCOM fans. Making use of the included headset, gamers can engage in voice-chat enabled action in their own territory specific universe, which requires a registered Handle and password in order to work. So what modes are there in online Fireteam Bravo? Well, being a shooter (tactical or not), it perhaps comes as no surprise that a Team Deathmatch mode (here called Suppression) features amongst the available gametypes along with Extraction (a hostage rescue mode) and Free-for-All (exactly what it says.) If you've access to a Wi-Fi network, then this is what SOCOM US Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo will be all about since it brings the same online experience (helped by the voice chat) as its bigger brother.
The lack of second analogue once again limits the experience of a PSP title, but Zipper has tried to make the best of the situation. Some gamers will complete the campaign mode fairly quickly, but thankfully the addition of the Infrastructure modes and the voice chat lift the game to a strong comparative position to its PS2 cousins. Then again, if you don't have access to a Wi-Fi point or have nine other PSP owning SOCOM friends, you might want to reconsider your purchase.
