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

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3 box art

System: PSP	Review Rating Legend
Dev: Slant Six Games	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: SONY	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Feb. 16, 2010	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1 (16 Online)	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Teen	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

Thankfully, though, FB3 isn't a single-player-only title since it comes with some enjoyable multiplayer options as well. FB3's four-player co-op and sixteen-player competitive multiplayer can both be played either ad hoc or online in infrastructure mode. While the co-op mode still suffers from some of the aspects that take away from the single-player campaign, at least you can actually feel like a valued and necessary member of the team when playing with your buddies. Playing cooperatively through custom missions can also be quite a bit of fun, as it will allow you to tweak any mission you've already beaten to better suit your preferences. You can do things such as change how many enemies will populate them, what weapons they'll carry, how difficult they'll be to take down, and even things like what type of objective you wish to complete.

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3 screenshot

Custom missions can also be a great way to accumulate Command Equity (CE) points. CE points are essentially the in-game currency that you'll use to buy things to customize your character, weapons, etc. for use in multiplayer. While you'll also earn CE points when playing in single-player, creating your own custom missions will allow you to see exactly how many points you'll earn depending on the choices you make concerning your enemies and their difficulty. If you want to go for a ton of CE points in order to buy better customization options, then you can make your custom mission's adversaries into crazy killing machines.

While FB3's competitive multiplayer doesn't really provide players with anything completely original, it does supply you with enough modes and customization options to keep things interesting. You've got five modes total including Free-For-All, Suppression, Demolition, Tug of War, and Team Leader. Essentially these are just fancy names for the standard multiplayer mode types you'd expect like deathmatch, team deathmatch, blowing up objectives, holding control points, and protecting a specific team member. To me, the most entertaining was the Team Leader mode, which has one player being assigned as the leader who the other team is gunning for while also being protected by his teammates. If the leader gets killed, then whoever killed him becomes the leader and the chase begins again.

It is truly a shame that the single-player component of this game is so disappointing because the multiplayer is actually fairly decent and entertaining. Honestly, if there was no multiplayer involved I would urge you to stay far, far away from this game. However, if you go into the title looking only for the online experience that the game provides, you should be able to find a fairly enjoyable time. Still, if you're hoping for a game with both a good single and multiplayer experience, then you may want to take a look at some of your other options.

By Adam Brown
CCC Staff Contributor

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

3.8

Graphics
The visuals are pretty good despite some bland environments and reused enemies.

2.6

Control
The precise and intuitive controls you'll want to have for this experience have been shoehorned to work on a system that lacks a second analog stick. As such, things that should be easy are made more difficult and you'll never feel like you're as in control as you'd like to be.

3.8

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Good music, sound effects, and voice work help to somewhat spruce up the otherwise uninteresting single-player campaign.

3.4

Play Value
While I found the single-player campaign to be extremely lacking and short, the multiplayer component of FB3 helps to salvage this package by providing a replayable and enjoyable experience.

3.2

Overall Rating - Fair
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Enjoy access to over 70 weapons and items. Weapons can be customized for use in the game's four loadout slots, as can the three available squad mates available in single-player mode.

An almost limitless combination of custom missions, gear, weapons, and difficulty settings.

Allows new ways for players to interact, expanding on the team-orientated, authentic, military action that the SOCOM US Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo franchise is famous for.

Unlock gear and weapons, and earn medals and ribbons as you complete objectives, either offline or by teaming up online.

Engage in online versus fire fights of up to 16 players, as well as four-player co-op battles across eight maps via ad hoc and infrastructure connections.