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IGN Review of SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike is an upsetting game. Not because it's a poor title - not in the least, nor is it terribly difficult (though it can be frustrating). Rather, Tactical Strike is upsetting to us because it's a perfect example of a game that could have been lot of fun, had it not been damaged by several seemingly obvious mechanical problems that take away from the overall experience. But these matters are much more complex than that and require further exploration. Move out!
Tactical Strike, developed by Slant Six Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, is a tactical action game that takes up the SOCOM name and pushes it in a very different direction. Instead of a traditional shooter, a genre that many SOCOM fans are quite accustomed to, Tactical Strike places you in control of a four-man team of SEALs that you command indirectly, in an attempt to suppress an insurgence in the Panamanian government and rescue an ambassador from captivity. And while this drastic change in mechanics may be bothersome for long-time SOCOM aficionados, we generally found the change to be refreshing and enjoyable. But that change comes at a price, which we'll get to shortly.
First, we have to say that the story in Tactical Strike is pretty weak. We do respect and appreciate the fact that it's very straightforward and tries to keep in line with actual world conflict, but it's difficult to be interested in a story when so many other more fascinating, fantastical or science fiction-esque stories are being told. Generally speaking, if you're going to tell an entirely "normal" tale, it's helpful to tell it in an abnormal or exceptional way. Unfortunately, that's not the case with Tactical Strike, because most of the story is told through a somewhat dry interchange between your team and their HQ, which is anything but exciting. Some will subsequently argue that "story" isn't important in a game like SOCOM, but we think it is because the gameplay is driven and dictated by what's happening in the story. This isn't a purely gameplay-centric title, so story counts.
Fortunately, it doesn't count too much, so the somewhat bland events of the game don't ruin the experience - it just would have been nice to get some background or personality on the courageous men of your team. Regardless of this setup though, Tactical Strike can be approached in a variety of ways. The main bulk of the game plays out through a campaign system, which is structured around individual missions with briefings in-between. Each singular mission could be treated like a level, and contains several objectives to complete before you can extract your squad. This mission-based method worked just fine for Tactical Strike so there's no problem there. One nice thing we noticed right from the start was the ability to replay previous missions as many times as you'd like, as well as jump into Instant Action missions, which are essentially modified versions of the campaign missions that give you varying (and more specific) objectives.
When you start a campaign, you'll become immediately aware of the time and energy that was put into designing the various squads you can select from. After picking a difficulty level, you can select a particular country's Special Forces unit to use, and each unit (besides having slightly different models for the soldiers) has a completely different language track, including voices in Italian, German, French and Korean. The mere fact that this option is included, and changes the language dialogue for the entire game (at least in regards to your team and HQ representative) is extremely impressive. This sort of multi-lingual approach is more than welcome and a real treat to listen to.
Tapping the R button will alternate between Alpha and Bravo elements of your squad, while holding R will select your whole team. With this sort of functionality, control of your Special Forces unit is always just a few button presses away, and that's very helpful.
The face buttons all represent a particular category of command. For example, X is used for attack commands and O is used for movement. When you hold down the proper button, a menu will come up with a list of options that you can select with the D-pad. Your degree of control is accentuated even more because you can also queue up commands for each member of your team, and execute them simultaneously with one button. When you take your time and set something up right, the result can be pretty satisfying.
But, as we mentioned a few times before, there are some very serious problems with the game's mechanics that put noticeable cracks in Tactical Strike's otherwise solid foundation. First, the camera control is very disorienting and navigating the interior of buildings can be a royal pain. The problem is rooted in the fact that the camera is locked into the perspective of one member of your team. Trying to peer around corners or rotate your angle of view is nearly impossible, which is a huge problem for a strategy game.
Also frustrating is, ironically, moving the movement skimmer, which is a small icon that you direct on the field to issue movement commands to your squad. This scheme is just clunky and counter-intuitive, sending the camera spiraling in different directions. If, for example, you want to send your team down a few flights of stairs, you actually need to drag the skimmer all the way down the stairs, around the corner, and then down the hall. It's locked to the ground, so your control of it is very restricted.
The worst problem with Tactical Strike, and it really is a big concern, is the A.I. It's just not very good. You're supposed to be commanding incredibly skilled Special Forces agents, not a bunch of incompetent automatons. Your team will often stand up completely out of cover in a firefight, try and shoot through walls or boxes, stand eerily still as they're peppered with bullets, and a number of other embarrassing actions. Our sniper, who's supposed to be one of the best members of our team, actually couldn't take out his mark. Why? He said he couldn't see the target. Why? Because he was sitting behind a box. Why he didn't just stand up or move to the side is beyond us, but we're sure he had his reasons.
A number of other elements in Tactical Strike can be equally frustrating/confusing. For example, a portable game generally offers a quick save option, or something similar. Unfortunately, during the sometimes hour + long missions that you must engage in, you can't save at all. You will occasionally reach checkpoints, but that's entirely beyond your control, and if you happen to die during the mission, you don't actually restart from your last checkpoint. You fail, back out to the menu, and have to boot up your game again. There's no way for a quick restart or anything, which eats up a lot of time if you get caught up in a difficult segment of the mission (considering the somewhat lengthy load times).
As we said at the beginning of our review, these factors are very upsetting because the game is otherwise fun and very well put-together. It's unfortunate to see a neat and relatively solid idea hurt by so many technical issues. However, there is a rather robust multiplayer mode to enjoy that definitely helps Tactical Strike in the long run. You can connect through either ad hoc or infrastructure and play with up to four other people, each with their own team of four. These modes, granted, are played on isolated sections of the campaign maps, but they're still fun and offer a variety of gameplay options, including team games, VIP escort missions and other similar multiplayer fare. Tactical Strike also supports voice chat, which is a great addition and helps you coordinate with the other members of your team.
©2007-11-01, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Tactical Strike, developed by Slant Six Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, is a tactical action game that takes up the SOCOM name and pushes it in a very different direction. Instead of a traditional shooter, a genre that many SOCOM fans are quite accustomed to, Tactical Strike places you in control of a four-man team of SEALs that you command indirectly, in an attempt to suppress an insurgence in the Panamanian government and rescue an ambassador from captivity. And while this drastic change in mechanics may be bothersome for long-time SOCOM aficionados, we generally found the change to be refreshing and enjoyable. But that change comes at a price, which we'll get to shortly.
First, we have to say that the story in Tactical Strike is pretty weak. We do respect and appreciate the fact that it's very straightforward and tries to keep in line with actual world conflict, but it's difficult to be interested in a story when so many other more fascinating, fantastical or science fiction-esque stories are being told. Generally speaking, if you're going to tell an entirely "normal" tale, it's helpful to tell it in an abnormal or exceptional way. Unfortunately, that's not the case with Tactical Strike, because most of the story is told through a somewhat dry interchange between your team and their HQ, which is anything but exciting. Some will subsequently argue that "story" isn't important in a game like SOCOM, but we think it is because the gameplay is driven and dictated by what's happening in the story. This isn't a purely gameplay-centric title, so story counts.
Fortunately, it doesn't count too much, so the somewhat bland events of the game don't ruin the experience - it just would have been nice to get some background or personality on the courageous men of your team. Regardless of this setup though, Tactical Strike can be approached in a variety of ways. The main bulk of the game plays out through a campaign system, which is structured around individual missions with briefings in-between. Each singular mission could be treated like a level, and contains several objectives to complete before you can extract your squad. This mission-based method worked just fine for Tactical Strike so there's no problem there. One nice thing we noticed right from the start was the ability to replay previous missions as many times as you'd like, as well as jump into Instant Action missions, which are essentially modified versions of the campaign missions that give you varying (and more specific) objectives.
When you start a campaign, you'll become immediately aware of the time and energy that was put into designing the various squads you can select from. After picking a difficulty level, you can select a particular country's Special Forces unit to use, and each unit (besides having slightly different models for the soldiers) has a completely different language track, including voices in Italian, German, French and Korean. The mere fact that this option is included, and changes the language dialogue for the entire game (at least in regards to your team and HQ representative) is extremely impressive. This sort of multi-lingual approach is more than welcome and a real treat to listen to.
Tapping the R button will alternate between Alpha and Bravo elements of your squad, while holding R will select your whole team. With this sort of functionality, control of your Special Forces unit is always just a few button presses away, and that's very helpful.
The face buttons all represent a particular category of command. For example, X is used for attack commands and O is used for movement. When you hold down the proper button, a menu will come up with a list of options that you can select with the D-pad. Your degree of control is accentuated even more because you can also queue up commands for each member of your team, and execute them simultaneously with one button. When you take your time and set something up right, the result can be pretty satisfying.
But, as we mentioned a few times before, there are some very serious problems with the game's mechanics that put noticeable cracks in Tactical Strike's otherwise solid foundation. First, the camera control is very disorienting and navigating the interior of buildings can be a royal pain. The problem is rooted in the fact that the camera is locked into the perspective of one member of your team. Trying to peer around corners or rotate your angle of view is nearly impossible, which is a huge problem for a strategy game.
Also frustrating is, ironically, moving the movement skimmer, which is a small icon that you direct on the field to issue movement commands to your squad. This scheme is just clunky and counter-intuitive, sending the camera spiraling in different directions. If, for example, you want to send your team down a few flights of stairs, you actually need to drag the skimmer all the way down the stairs, around the corner, and then down the hall. It's locked to the ground, so your control of it is very restricted.
The worst problem with Tactical Strike, and it really is a big concern, is the A.I. It's just not very good. You're supposed to be commanding incredibly skilled Special Forces agents, not a bunch of incompetent automatons. Your team will often stand up completely out of cover in a firefight, try and shoot through walls or boxes, stand eerily still as they're peppered with bullets, and a number of other embarrassing actions. Our sniper, who's supposed to be one of the best members of our team, actually couldn't take out his mark. Why? He said he couldn't see the target. Why? Because he was sitting behind a box. Why he didn't just stand up or move to the side is beyond us, but we're sure he had his reasons.
A number of other elements in Tactical Strike can be equally frustrating/confusing. For example, a portable game generally offers a quick save option, or something similar. Unfortunately, during the sometimes hour + long missions that you must engage in, you can't save at all. You will occasionally reach checkpoints, but that's entirely beyond your control, and if you happen to die during the mission, you don't actually restart from your last checkpoint. You fail, back out to the menu, and have to boot up your game again. There's no way for a quick restart or anything, which eats up a lot of time if you get caught up in a difficult segment of the mission (considering the somewhat lengthy load times).
As we said at the beginning of our review, these factors are very upsetting because the game is otherwise fun and very well put-together. It's unfortunate to see a neat and relatively solid idea hurt by so many technical issues. However, there is a rather robust multiplayer mode to enjoy that definitely helps Tactical Strike in the long run. You can connect through either ad hoc or infrastructure and play with up to four other people, each with their own team of four. These modes, granted, are played on isolated sections of the campaign maps, but they're still fun and offer a variety of gameplay options, including team games, VIP escort missions and other similar multiplayer fare. Tactical Strike also supports voice chat, which is a great addition and helps you coordinate with the other members of your team.
©2007-11-01, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved