We recently attended a private Sony Media Event showing off some of their upcoming titles, one of them the new SOCOM for the PlayStation Portable. Check out the jump for a small preview we’ve put together and videos from the event.

NATE AGUILERA

Set in the midst of rising instability in South America, your team is called in to rescue the ambassador to Panama who was abducted by the radical insurgent forces. With the consent of the Panamanian government, you will guide your team as they are drawn through Panama’s urban and industrial centers and then cut deep into the jungle surrounding the Panama Canal.

SOCOM Tactical Strike is a new approach for the series, having you control a team of four NAVY SEALS. Rather than direct control of each team member, you issue commands which go to each member of the team. You can have them move together as one, in groups of two, or separately as individuals. Theoretically speaking, you can create silent, sniper, or even stealth configurations.

Movement is done through a ghost system. Moving your cursor to a spot ahead of you will show how your SEALS will be positioned if they go to a certain point. From here, you can envision how each team member will be facing, giving good idea of where they’ll be at. If your team is split in two, you can have one team go to one point, and while they’re doing their thing, you can switch back to your other team and have that team do another action. In other words, you don’t have to waste time waiting for members of your group to get into position before giving commands to another. The game itself is set in real-time, carrying a “console next-gen A.I. system,” so an enormous advantage is to be had by multi-task-maneuvering your team. You can also stop your members while they’re still moving to change direction to a new waypoint or take advantage of an enemy attack opportunity. When a task is accomplished, you can issue a regroup command to have all members meet up for the next task at hand.

With each member, you can switch between each of their eyes. Enemies that show up within their views show up as red dots on the map. You can strategically surround an area to gain a good vantage point of all enemies before performing your strike.

There are also timed jobs like unlocking a door or reviving a downed SEAL. In these situations, you’ll need to have your team act cooperatively to keep the member protected while performing the task. In the stages we played, there were also several rescue missions where you would have to escort individuals to safety.

The game will also offer multiplayer options with up to 16 characters per map, so up to 4 players of 4 SEALS each. Players can also play as international Special Forces from the UK, Australia, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, South Korea, and the Netherlands, all supported with their native languages. Matches can be team vs team or all out skirmishes in both Ad Hoc and Infrastructure modes.

From our time at the event, SOCOM Tactical Strike is looking fantastic, was easy to pick up once you get used to the controls, and is definitely one to look out for for the PlayStation Portable library. The game is currently set for an October release.

Last but not least, enjoy the vids!

This entry was posted on Monday, August 20th, 2007 at 2:25 pm and is filed under PSP, SCEA, SOCOM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.