Categories: Top ::

Gaming: A good time for PSP gamers
Tue, 07 Nov 2006

So much geekery to talk about of late, and yet so little time. Apologies to any non-gamers who may be reading ;) Another quick entry scrawled out on the poor phone!

With the initial launch of the PSP few classy titles were presented -- Lumines and Wipeout:Pure were excellent for day-zero releases but mostly there were lackluster titles. In the following months not many platform-making titles became available, though some good and not-so-good games strolled leisurely out to the poolside. Grand Theft Auto made a nice splash, and it was nice to have SOCOM and Katamari finger-crampers but oldie titles like Lemmings only helped to keep the flailing nostrils at the waters surface. Everyone was anticipating the big-named titles to dive in .. the titles people would line up for. Sony was busy stabbing themselves in the back, neck, cranium and lowly pereneum at every opportunity, but the PSP division struggled to show some glimmer of the companies past.. when they were respected.

I would hazard to say that these months leading up to Christmas are what PSP gamers have been waiting for. Some great titles are on the shelves right now, and more to come.

I should make an effort to mini-review the titles I have -- without having too too many games I do have some doozies; Field Commander is still a great little time waster for the tactical wargamer, and I've already reviewed Ghosts and Goblins. Fine games. Mercury and others will have to wait.. But without getting to proper reviews let met give you a couple synopsis, on the off chance it'll help with your Christmas shopping. (Can you believe malls have their decorations up already?)

Recent releases

Killzone: Liberation -- I've only fiddled with a friends hot-off-the receiving-truck, but it looks to be excellent so I'll be picking it up the second I see one on the shelf over at EBGames. Not a first person game like the home console brand, but an isometric-perspective smooth motion run-and-shooter. Good looking artwork, some strategy elements, some puzzle solving. Winner.

Dungeon Siege -- listed as just being sent from the factories and in-store soon, I'll be keeping my eyes open. Too many titles, not enough free time to open them, or money to buy them :)

Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception -- a combat non-sim oriented flight-sim. I don't recall modern fighters carrying a payload of 40 air-to-air missiles, but thats not what this title is about. Air to air dogfights, ground missions and stealth under the radar .. classy flight-sim fun without the bother of watching the cockpit controls. Really just a distant cousin to arcade pseudo-3d shooters, but fun all the same. Sometimes I really really really love a very accurate flight-sim that includes a 3" thick manual (I'm looking at you Falcon 4.0!), but with life only giving you 10 minute chunks of time here or there, you take what you can handle, and Ace Combat is pretty darned entertaining.

Snoopy Vs The Red Baron -- yes, I was amazed as well, that I'd even look at such a title; but after checking the previews at the big game websites (IGN and Gamespot etc), I thought I'd check it out; like Ace Combat, but in a cartoony cute way and set with WW1 aircraft; chasing the baron around with Woodstock (the bird!) powered missiles and shooting at ground-targets like drilling-machines trying to knock over the rootbeer factory.. great rediculous fun!

Medal of Honor: Heroes -- first person shooters are hard to pull off with a handheld.. trust me, I mucked around when porting Quake to PDAs enough to know. Medal of Honor does pretty well here.. best so far on the PSP really. Analog stick to move, and using the right-side 'd-pad' buttons to point your head (turn, look up, etc) works pretty well, while using the triggers for firing. There are many options to play with but thats the default configuration. Anyway, after only playing the first mission I'm looking forward to tossing some grenades and sniping or blasting through the trenches. (Apologies to real veterans for using such terminology.. I'm in a hurry here :) Still, I'm a little ashamed to talk about a war themed action 3D shooter right before Remembrance Day.)

Star Trek: Tactical Assault -- I wish this was more in depth like Star Fleet Battles (the tabletop wargame), but I think it will be an arcade shooter. Still, its set in Kirks time, which warms my spirit.

Worms -- probably a so-so title but I always enjoyed the simple play of the Worms (and Snails clones on PDAs) games. Like Solitaire or Bejewelled, these are simple but very playable classics. Not tried it yet, but its on the shelf already.

There are a few others too.. X-Men, Marvel Heroes, Battlezone, Lumines II, Capcom Classics, Taito Remix, SOCOM II, Eragon, Metal Slug Anthology..

Good times.

[ Category: / entertainment / gaming / psp ] [link] [Comments]