On Strike
SOCOM meets Full Spectrum Warrior, all made portable with SOCOM: Tactical Strike.
Published: August 17, 2007
Though they weren't exactly bad games, the two existing PSP SOCOM games weren't really exact replications of what you get with the PS2 versions. Whether that's good or bad is largely up to the kind of superfan playing the game, but for what they were, the Fireteam Bravo games at least offered a decent approximation of what you'd get on consoles -- particularly since they did stuff like support headsets and offered real Infrastructure online play, an admirable accomplishment to say the least.
Still, it's clear that the PSP wasn't the best fit for the traditional gameplay of SOCOM, what with its lack of a second analog stick and lighter horsepower. The solution, according to developer Slant Six (who have worked with series creators Zipper Interactive on previous SOCOM titles), was to completely re-imagine using the four-man SEAL squads and their interaction with the world.
Instead of a straight shooter, why not try a squad-based stealth shooter that let you control specific team members and give you access to their unique abilities while allowing you to do things like issue move orders or take cover with a graphical representation? Thus, SOCOM: Tactical Strike was born, and it's surprisingly familiar yet a completely new direction for the series all at the same time.
Though you control a four-man squad and you can issue orders to all of them at the same time, things are further broken up into two-man Able and Bravo teams. The idea is to send each two man out, leapfrogging over the last pair so that there's always someone to cover your back. The full squad is customized for each situation, meaning you'll have a sniper, a demo man, and so on, though the full group will be up to you, even going so far as to include international squads like the French GIGN and British SAS. As you complete missions, you'll earn credits that can be used to upgrade your squads, giving them more ammo or health, for example.
The same context-sensitive system that was in previous SOCOM entries is here too, allowing you to either tap a button for the default move or fire actions, or hold for more advanced moves like stealthing to a target or providing a cone of fire where your squad will open up on an enemy if they cross into it. Tactical Strike situates itself in South and Central America, with the opening mission we scooted around in taking place in Panama. It was fairly straight forward -- your standard drop-in, clean up, extract-style mission -- but the game's strict adherence to finding cover (you can't actually move the characters on their own) and covering angles made it quite tactical indeed.
Though the multiplayer aspect of the game is in, it's still something that Slant Six and Sony are holding off, on, so as soon as we know more, we'll make sure you do too.
Still, it's clear that the PSP wasn't the best fit for the traditional gameplay of SOCOM, what with its lack of a second analog stick and lighter horsepower. The solution, according to developer Slant Six (who have worked with series creators Zipper Interactive on previous SOCOM titles), was to completely re-imagine using the four-man SEAL squads and their interaction with the world.
Instead of a straight shooter, why not try a squad-based stealth shooter that let you control specific team members and give you access to their unique abilities while allowing you to do things like issue move orders or take cover with a graphical representation? Thus, SOCOM: Tactical Strike was born, and it's surprisingly familiar yet a completely new direction for the series all at the same time.
Though you control a four-man squad and you can issue orders to all of them at the same time, things are further broken up into two-man Able and Bravo teams. The idea is to send each two man out, leapfrogging over the last pair so that there's always someone to cover your back. The full squad is customized for each situation, meaning you'll have a sniper, a demo man, and so on, though the full group will be up to you, even going so far as to include international squads like the French GIGN and British SAS. As you complete missions, you'll earn credits that can be used to upgrade your squads, giving them more ammo or health, for example.
The same context-sensitive system that was in previous SOCOM entries is here too, allowing you to either tap a button for the default move or fire actions, or hold for more advanced moves like stealthing to a target or providing a cone of fire where your squad will open up on an enemy if they cross into it. Tactical Strike situates itself in South and Central America, with the opening mission we scooted around in taking place in Panama. It was fairly straight forward -- your standard drop-in, clean up, extract-style mission -- but the game's strict adherence to finding cover (you can't actually move the characters on their own) and covering angles made it quite tactical indeed.
Though the multiplayer aspect of the game is in, it's still something that Slant Six and Sony are holding off, on, so as soon as we know more, we'll make sure you do too.
