SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo 3 Review (PSP)

It's a pretty staggering technical achievement, providing all the staples you'd expect from a standard console multiplayer shooter, on a system that fits inside your pocket. The campaign is fine, but it's the multiplayer that'll hook you.

In SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3's single-player campaign, you'll play as Wraith, a US SEAL squad leader embarking on a strictly hush-hush mission. Wraith is one part of a four-man squad sent on a mission behind Soviet lines. It's a more isolated SOCOM experience, where there is very little tactical planning and squad support. You're on your own, and that's a nice change. Sadly, the dialogue and plot focus squarely at the "USA" chanting patriot crowd, and it all becomes a bit predictable from a narrative and dialogue stance. However, the plot serves as a tidy means to drive you through a variety of locales and shoot-outs, and so in that sense is a success. The presentation before missions is also pretty neat, showing your team hovered over a map relaying the mission objectives. Tonally, this SOCOM is raw.

The shooting feels great in SOCOM: FTB3, largely thanks to some decent control choices. You'll move with the analogue nub, strafe while holding the L button, and lock-on to opponents with the R button. The guns have a great sound to them, giving them a real sense of power and genuinely making them fun to use. You're also able to command your four-man squad, like in other SOCOM games. Holding Circle brings up the command reel, allowing you to quickly switch between a variety of tactical situations. For a PSP game, Fireteam Bravo 3's controls feel particularly well considered. They are not as perfect as holding a DualShock, but they feel comfortable and intuitive.

The campaign's perhaps a little easy in single-player, but with wi-fi and infrastructure co-op, it really comes into its own. The atmosphere is much more tense here, making communication a must — which is particularly awesome if four of you are grouped together on a train for example. Custom missions essentially make the co-operative gameplay last forever, as you're able to tweak every element of a mission, practically resulting in a sandbox.

Aside from co-op, competitive multiplayer is where you'll spend your most time. Amazingly, the multiplayer includes everything you'd expect from a home console shooter. There's voice chat, clan support, lobbies and leaderboards. It's rather impressive. The modes are fairly standard multiplayer fare, but the game retains that SOCOM feel well, with no respawns and tactical communication essential.