To start, this review is coming from somebody who has never played the SOCOM series before now. That being said I was truly impressed with this game. For anyone that wants a truly great shooter experience in a handheld, this is the game for you. To start, I was actually pretty impressed with the graphics. I had heard alot of quips about the grapics, but they weren't bad. A lot of the textures are a bit dull and the environments get a bit repeditive, but a great variety of environments and detailed character and weapon models remedy this in my opinion. In terms of the gameplay, I thought it was top notch in this category. The PSP's lack of a second analog has created alot of doubt when it comes to the PSP's capibility to play shooters. This game makes an excelent system, usind R to lock on and X to fire. You would think that this would make the game too easy but there are alot of factors to take into account like the range of your weapon and accuracy depending on stance and distance, which culminates to make a great balance. There are a great variety of weapons including typical US and terrorist cliche weapons like M16's and AK47's which can all be toggled with different fire modes, grenade launchers, silencers and scopes. There are also explosive weapons like rockets and grenades, which also come in a great variety. This being said, you can take a variety of approaches to taking on missions, whether it be long range, stealth, or guns blazing, and you will be rated on your success in each seperate category. This makes the gameplay very open ended and very replyable depending on what approach you want to take. There are a few quips I have with the enemy AI, who will oftem stand completely still after you've just sniped one of their buddies. That being said, they don't use cover very often and will often run straight at you. They also stand completely still out in the open, making it often very easy to snipe them. The AI's not great, but not atrocious either. Overall this is a very solid single player game, especially with the inclusion of an instant action mode that you can taylor to the way you want to play the mission. Lets move on to the multiplayer. This is the main selling point of this game and for very good reason. This is an excelent online multiplayer game. There are a good number of game modes that can be tweaked to your liking. The action is often very intense and requires good teamwork and coordination. My one complaint is that in some situations it can get a bit unbalanced with the auto aim. It doesn't take a whole lot of skill to make a run on someone with auto aim on a get a kill, but there isn't a whole lot you can do to tweak the interface considering the PSP. But, all things considered, with the inclusion of the head set and the variety of game types, this is the best online experience on the system. If you were looking for a shooter to play on the go, or if you want a great multiplayer experience, this one is not to be missed.
Other Helpful Reviews for SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo
Nearly every gamer knows what SOCOM is, and everyone who knows what SOCOM is knows that it's all about it's legendary multiplayer mode. Fireteam Bravo is a nearly flawless effort at introducing the series to the handheld... Read Full Review
Socom for the psp is actually pretty good. This game is supposed to be in link with the 3rd Socom game for ps2, storywise, and for unlocking extras. You and your teammate "lonestar" are fighting in these small missio... Read Full Review
