SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs -- Fireteam Bravo [PSP]

It's a good time to be a SOCOM fan; and, if sales numbers are any indication, there are a lot of us out there. This has become one of Sony's premiere first-party franchises. SOCOM 3 just released, completing the PS2 trilogy. With larger levels and vehicles, and swimming integrated into gameplay, it's a great installment of the series. Even more exciting, however, is the first portable SOCOM game, Fireteam Bravo, for the PlayStation Portable. We sat down with the developers for a first-hand look at how this title is coming along.

As associate producer Torin Rettig says, "We wanted to make the full SOCOM experience on the PSP." That means you have a team mechanic and tactical gameplay, a satisfying single-player campaign, and plenty of multiplayer fun. It may be on a smaller machine, but Fireteam Bravo offers just about everything you expect out of a console SOCOM release.

The storyline of SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo ties in closely with that of SOCOM 3. On PSP, your two-man squad works in the same world as the PS2 foursome, and there's an even closer relationship than that. In a first, you can use a USB cable to connect both platforms together to do something called cross-talk. When synched up, each game accesses the progress you've made on the other, and unlocks various things. For example, if you tore it up on a stage in SOCOM 3, a corresponding stage in Fireteam Bravo may have weaker enemies. Also, item stash points will be revealed to give you a jump on the bad guys, and you can unlock multiplayer skins.

Crafting intuitive control required some creativity. With only one analog stick, it's not going to handle exactly the same. "We decided early on that we would need some sort of lock-on system," said Rettig, "so you could target enemies and still walk around and have the kind of control you did on the PS2. This is also catering to the fact that it's a portable game, and we want people to be able to jump in and not have the need for the dexterity you would on the PS2 game."

This lock-on mechanic doesn't mean a kill is assured, however; your accuracy drops when you're moving or standing. It also targets different sections of an enemy's body depending on the situation.

The control in general is really ambitious in that it lets you do a lot of things with a few less buttons available. Many of the game's functions require either tapping or holding a face button. It will take some adjustment on the part of hardcore SOCOM players, but it definitely makes the most of the controller at hand.

No SOCOM game would be complete without issuing commands -- that's the cool thing about being in charge. Though you only have one SEAL with you on missions in Fireteam Bravo, you can feel free to order him around all day long. This is done with the same intuitive screen as in SOCOM 3, and contains all the commands from that game. There's even a new one: kill target. This makes your partner focus on one target, and then hold his fire; it's especially useful in stealthier missions.