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SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike
Sony reninvents its classic war title.
November 8, 2007 | 11:38 PM PSTby: Matt Furtado
AMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What's the Game About
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike is the third SOCOM title to land on the PSP, but this isn't your typical SOCOM title. Unlike the previous two installments that appeared on the PSP, this title is more heavily concentrated on tactical teamwork as opposed to solo missions. SOCOM: Tactical Strike has the U.S. SEALs moving into Panama during an uprising of insurgents to safely remove the ambassador. You'll be able to call all the shots as you control the entire SEAL squad in combat and decide the best plan of action.
What's Hot
SOCOM Tactical Strike offers a new, refreshing look at the series. With player's calling the shots this time around, this gives you complete control over the entire SEAL squad and makes you think of a strategy and actions to complete the mission. Although you won't control any of your Squad-mates directly, you'll be able to issue commands such as shoot, move, toss grenade, snipe, or stay. Once you issue your commands, it's up to the AI to take care of the rest.
Naturally, many people would worry about this because allied AI isn't always that bright, but in this case you'll feel at ease with the AI. The allied AI does a remarkable job at getting the job done and without much worry to the player. When you get fired upon, the AI will duck into cover, run from grenades, and return fire once the enemy pops into the open. However, the enemy AI is also very solid. You'll notice that they'll reposition themselves to get better angles to shoot at and quickly jump behind cover. The enemy AI may not be perfect but it'll offer a lot of challenge when in battles or when you decide to use stealth to infiltrate.
Since you have total control over your team, you can strategize as much as you want. Tactical Strike really pushes you to think your actions through. With the ability to split the squad into two groups of two, you can device strategies where one team sneaks around the enemy where the other waits back and snipes long range targets. The game features very vast open levels where you'll have a lot of options for hiding and sneaking up on the enemy.
Outside of the single-player campaign the game utilizes a robust online multiplayer mode. Allowing for both Ad/Hoc and Infrastructure multiplayer, Tactical Strike allows anyone to enjoy the multiplayer. Tactical Strike give four players control of a squad in several game modes. The modes include VIP escort missions, Demolition an attack-and-defend mode where you'll need to defend various locations and objects, think Annex Mode from Gears of War, and several others. The online also supports voice-chat, so be sure to have your PSP headset ready when playing online because it really adds to the experience.
Tactical Strike is a great-looking game. The levels are full of detail and great textures. Since the worlds are so open and vast, you'll notice a lot of surrounding buildings and plant-life. Everything is extremely well-detailed and looks great for a portable title.
What's Not
Since you are in control of the squad and need to command them, the camera can prove to be a pain at times. This only becomes a problem when you are trying to look into a corner and the camera doesn't allow you to because the camera is locked on one of your squad members. This makes thing harder than they need to be.
With the great visual aspect of the game comes the great load times. They are frustrating because if you fail a mission you'll need to experience the loading all over. Roughly the loads can last anywhere between 15-20 seconds before a level, so it can become tedious when you want to get back into the game after failing a mission.
Outside of the load times, the online suffers from some lag issues. At times, you'll freeze for a few seconds or there will be a delay for your squad to receive commands. Hopefully Sony is able to fix the lag before it becomes a long standing issue.
Final Word
Tactical Strike offers a new look at the series and does a good job reinventing the series with more emphasis on stealth and strategy. SOCOM veterans will enjoy the new gameplay and fans of stealth/strategy games may find a new interest in the franchise.
What's the Game About
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike is the third SOCOM title to land on the PSP, but this isn't your typical SOCOM title. Unlike the previous two installments that appeared on the PSP, this title is more heavily concentrated on tactical teamwork as opposed to solo missions. SOCOM: Tactical Strike has the U.S. SEALs moving into Panama during an uprising of insurgents to safely remove the ambassador. You'll be able to call all the shots as you control the entire SEAL squad in combat and decide the best plan of action.
What's Hot
SOCOM Tactical Strike offers a new, refreshing look at the series. With player's calling the shots this time around, this gives you complete control over the entire SEAL squad and makes you think of a strategy and actions to complete the mission. Although you won't control any of your Squad-mates directly, you'll be able to issue commands such as shoot, move, toss grenade, snipe, or stay. Once you issue your commands, it's up to the AI to take care of the rest.
Naturally, many people would worry about this because allied AI isn't always that bright, but in this case you'll feel at ease with the AI. The allied AI does a remarkable job at getting the job done and without much worry to the player. When you get fired upon, the AI will duck into cover, run from grenades, and return fire once the enemy pops into the open. However, the enemy AI is also very solid. You'll notice that they'll reposition themselves to get better angles to shoot at and quickly jump behind cover. The enemy AI may not be perfect but it'll offer a lot of challenge when in battles or when you decide to use stealth to infiltrate.
Since you have total control over your team, you can strategize as much as you want. Tactical Strike really pushes you to think your actions through. With the ability to split the squad into two groups of two, you can device strategies where one team sneaks around the enemy where the other waits back and snipes long range targets. The game features very vast open levels where you'll have a lot of options for hiding and sneaking up on the enemy.
Outside of the single-player campaign the game utilizes a robust online multiplayer mode. Allowing for both Ad/Hoc and Infrastructure multiplayer, Tactical Strike allows anyone to enjoy the multiplayer. Tactical Strike give four players control of a squad in several game modes. The modes include VIP escort missions, Demolition an attack-and-defend mode where you'll need to defend various locations and objects, think Annex Mode from Gears of War, and several others. The online also supports voice-chat, so be sure to have your PSP headset ready when playing online because it really adds to the experience.
Tactical Strike is a great-looking game. The levels are full of detail and great textures. Since the worlds are so open and vast, you'll notice a lot of surrounding buildings and plant-life. Everything is extremely well-detailed and looks great for a portable title.
What's Not
Since you are in control of the squad and need to command them, the camera can prove to be a pain at times. This only becomes a problem when you are trying to look into a corner and the camera doesn't allow you to because the camera is locked on one of your squad members. This makes thing harder than they need to be.
With the great visual aspect of the game comes the great load times. They are frustrating because if you fail a mission you'll need to experience the loading all over. Roughly the loads can last anywhere between 15-20 seconds before a level, so it can become tedious when you want to get back into the game after failing a mission.
Outside of the load times, the online suffers from some lag issues. At times, you'll freeze for a few seconds or there will be a delay for your squad to receive commands. Hopefully Sony is able to fix the lag before it becomes a long standing issue.
Final Word
Tactical Strike offers a new look at the series and does a good job reinventing the series with more emphasis on stealth and strategy. SOCOM veterans will enjoy the new gameplay and fans of stealth/strategy games may find a new interest in the franchise.
November 20, 2009
