Thanks to the trendy popularity of Tactics-style RPGs, a lot of games that offer styles of game play far different from Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea, have been trying to fit the “tactics” label into their titles. SOCOM: Tactical Strike for PSP is one such example.

Anyone addicted to SOCOM games that are action based might feel like playing SOCOM: Tactical Strike is like utilizing a squad of soldiers who all have fibromyalgia. Yet the style of combat found here is nothing like Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea. More properly, S:TS is more on the order of a real-time military strategy game. Fortunately, as long as that’s what you’re expecting, it’s not a bad example of that genre.

The player controls a squad of four solders but never takes direct control of them. Instead, you get to issue action orders that they follow, such as shoot, snipe, move, throw grenades and so forth. Fortunately, the AI executes these commands rather effectively, so you won’t spend a lot of time wishing that game would just let you take direct control.

The main problem is that the multiplayer mode, whether online or localized, gets extremely laggy. Since snappy multiplayer play is a key strength of the series, this is a huge Achilles heel for this game. While it’s not quite bad enough to ruin the game, it does sap some energy out of the experience.

In terms of general game design, SOCOM: Tactical Strike does offer large area maps that offer flexibility when it comes to accomplishing objectives; the same goals can be reached through multiple approaches. The game plays out at a decent pace, although the storyline is nothing special or particularly interesting.

Graphically, the game offers more eye candy than one might expect, stuffing an impressive amount of detail and atmosphere onto the PSP screen. Whether it is rendering lush jungles, old churches or military bases, the areas are both massive and massively detailed. Certainly, the game measures up to the heritage of the series’ PS2-era titles and delivers an experience that is deeper than one might expect on the PSP portable platform.

SOCOM: Tactical Strike for PSP has flaws, sure; but they are not deal-breakers. The game is a fun design if you enjoy this sort of RTS genre, and graphically it deserves to be part of the series, even with the high standards set by the games that came before it. It would be more enjoyable if not for the lag issue, but all in all, fans of the SOCOM series won’t find too much to gripe about.