Summary

  • The PSP was ahead of its time, capable of running graphically demanding games and featuring a thumb stick for easier movement.
  • Sony focused on fast-paced and gritty shooter games for the PSP, appealing to an older audience than Nintendo's family-friendly games.
  • These include titles like King Kong, Coded Arms, and Medal Of Honor: Heroes.

The PSP is often considered to be a handheld system that was far ahead of its time. Not only was it capable of running graphically demanding games that were usually only reserved for consoles, but it was also the first of its kind to feature a thumb stick, which allowed for much easier movement on the players' part, something that would help out tremendously when playing first-person shooter games.

Aqua in Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep and Cloud in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
6 Best Square Enix PSP Games, Ranked

Whilst the PSP may be a distant memory, it still had a collection of great Square Enix games.

While Nintendo was busy focusing on family-friendly first-party games to advertise their Nintendo DS, Sony seized the opportunity to appeal to a slightly older audience by placing more focus on fast-paced and gritty shooter games for the PSP. Not all of these games stuck the landing, but there is still a handful that fans of the genre have gravitated towards, and it's these titles that this list is going to take a closer look at today.

6 King Kong

Metascore: 56

Player aiming a flaming spear at a T-Rex
Peter Jackson's King Kong
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Released
November 17, 2005
Developer(s)
Ubisoft
Platform(s)
PS2, Microsoft Windows, Linux, PSP, Xbox (Original), Xbox 360, Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Genre(s)
Horror, Action

The King Kong game based on the 2005 movie may have been a smash hit on consoles, but its port on the PSP was admittedly a little more rough around the edges than its counterpart. Still, while the game might not be as visually impressive as its other iterations, there's no mistaking that the incredibly intense FPS survival gameplay still carries over very well, especially with how varied the enemies are. From giant spiders to ferocious dinosaurs, Skull Island is packed full of menacing creatures that can easily tear Jack and his team apart if players aren't paying enough attention.

The game does a decent job at re-telling the story of Peter Jackson's movie, but it's really the immersive survival-horror gameplay where the game shines the most. There's a very unnerving and creepy atmosphere to the setting of King Kong that helps set it apart from other more trigger-happy FPS titles, making it an incredibly unique and memorable experience.

5 Coded Arms

Metascore: 59

Screenshot 2023-12-30 at 13.17.44 Cropped-1
Coded Arms
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Released
July 6, 2005
Developer(s)
Konami
Platform(s)
PSP
Genre(s)
FPS

While Coded Arms could be considered a fairly divisive game, with some players being less than satisfied with the bland level design and lackluster story, there are also a lot of people who absolutely adore the hectic, fast-paced core gameplay. Every level in the game is randomly generated, and while they usually always stick to the same gray or brown color palette, the enemies and weapons littered throughout the stages are a lot less predictable, which does a lot to help with the replay value.

Best PSP Strategy Games, Ranked
Best PSP Strategy Games, Ranked

Players had more than a few stellar options to choose from when it came to strategy games on the PSP.

The game also features an interesting weapon system where certain guns will be blessed with specific attributes that can affect enemies in different ways. For example, hitting a robot enemy with a gun that possesses the "Electric" attribute will cause it to break down, while insect and bug-like enemies will cower in fear when shot with a "Light" weapon. The story and characters might not be anything to write home about, but the single-player mode of Coded Arms is still a blast to play through in small bursts.

4 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas

Metascore: 60

Player aiming at an enemy with an assault rifle
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas
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FPS
Tactical
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Released
November 22, 2006
Developer(s)
Ubisoft Montreal
Platform(s)
PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Xbox (Original), Xbox 360
Genre(s)
FPS, Tactical

The very first Rainbow Six Vegas game was received very favorably upon its release, not only for its sleek graphics and engaging story but also for how innovative it was for the genre. Rather than players running in guns blazing, the game instead encourages them to take a more strategic approach to encounters, using their senses and gadgets to neutralize enemy threats without causing a disturbance in the process.

Players will need to make good use of their night vision goggles, stun grenades, and other extra equipment to catch the enemies off guard, but if a full-on gunfight does break out, there's still plenty of heavy weaponry to clear a path forward. The absence of cutscenes and unforgiving difficulty can definitely make the experience feel a little jarring at first, but the positives largely outweigh the negatives in this classic title.

3 Call Of Duty: Roads To Victory

Metascore: 64

Player firing at an enemy from behind cover
Call of Duty: Roads to Victory
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Released
March 13, 2007
Developer(s)
Amaze Entertainment
Platform(s)
PlayStation Portable
Genre(s)
FPS

As the only Call of Duty game to ever be released for the PSP, Roads to Victory is a pretty important game in the series' history, and it was ultimately a huge success both critically and commercially. The tight and focused gunplay that COD has become known for is here in all its glory, along with three pretty lengthy campaigns that showcase World War 2 through the eyes of a different nation, providing the player with plenty of content to get stuck into.

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Of course, it wouldn't be a Call of Duty game without a multiplayer feature, and while the PSP often struggled to integrate multiplayer into games, it was very easy and fun to play in Roads to Victory, especially because there were so many maps and game modes to choose from. It's more or less inevitable that players will encounter a few glitches during a playthrough of this game, but so long as they can look past these technical hiccups, they'll have an extremely fun and intense FPS title on their hands.

2 Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Metascore: 66

Major firing at an enemy from afar with an LMG
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
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Released
October 25, 2005
Developer(s)
G-Artists
Platform(s)
PSP
Genre(s)
FPS

While Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is fairly straightforward in its gameplay, with the player blasting their way through hordes of enemies to reach the end of a level, what really helps the game stand out is the sheer amount of customization and replay value it offers. Alongside the Major, there are three other playable characters in the game who can be used on every level in the game, but since they all possess their own stats and personal traits, it freshens up the experience to ensure it never becomes too stale or predictable.

The game also contains some visually stunning cutscenes for the time it came out, and the plot itself, while only a sub-story of the movie, still provides an intriguing look into the dangers of a cyberpunk society and the blurry line between humans and AI. Players are also able to call on a Tachikoma robot to act as their AI companion who can help out with some of the trickier stages, and while the game is, unfortunately, a little on the shorter side, it's still never a bad idea to run through it with a different character to see how the experience plays out differently.

1 Medal Of Honor: Heroes

Metascore: 71

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Medal of Honor: Heroes
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Released
October 20, 2006
Developer(s)
Team Fusion
Platform(s)
PSP
Genre(s)
FPS

Throughout each of the three campaigns in Medal of Honor: Heroes, players will be trotting all around the globe as part of the war effort, leading to some truly astonishing environments and locales that can be admired when taking a break between gunfights. Speaking of gunfights, while players will be firing away at enemy soldiers with their wide array of weapons for most of the game, they'll also be tasked with completing certain objectives that help add some urgency and strategy to the gameplay.

Whether it's infiltrating an enemy base, blowing up a specific vehicle, or simply finding a set of weapon schematics, every mission comes with several of these kinds of objectives that can be completed to improve the final score, alongside the player's accuracy and overall kill count. This rating system encourages players to master the levels by running through them over and over again, making the game very replayable and fun for both casual players but also those who are interested in speedrunning.

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