Review: SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3

PSP

By James Heffield / Tuesday, June 01 2010

Slant Six Games’ SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3 is a perfect example of why first person shooters aren’t usually at their best on the PSP. Targeting enemies using the device’s mini joystick instead of a mouse or a more advanced PS3 or Xbox 360 controller is clunky and the PSP’s audio doesn’t do explosions and ricocheting bullets justice.

Fireteam Bravo 3 gets around the targeting issue by making the PSP’s right shoulder button “auto target” whenever an enemy is within accurate range of the weapon you are using. This works well enough but it takes a lot of the challenge out of the game and ensures success in its single player campaign is a foregone conclusion.

Speaking of the single player campaign, its plot is a little tired. You are thrust into the action as the leader of a four-strong US Navy SEAL team which is charged with battling corrupt ex-KGB agents in a hunt for weapons of mass destruction. The game lets you kit out your team and set their tactics during each mission, determining their weapons and ordering them where to take cover and when to engage (using hold fire, fire at will or stealth orders).

There’s not a lot of depth to it all and the single player campaign is relatively short, but Fireteam Bravo 3’s one redeeming factor is its multiplayer mode. If you have friends with PSPs, or a wireless internet connection in your house, you can battle it out via Wi-Fi or online in 4-player co-op or 16-player deathmatch modes. This is sure to provide more challenge and variety and even includes voice chat so you can bark orders, or jibes, at other players nearby.

If you’ve got some money to burn this game might entertain you during your next eight hour bus trip, but if you’re a bit more discerning, this one is probably best avoided.