Konami unveils PSP quintet

Three may be the magic number, but publisher Konami has announced five new productions it plans to bring to the PSP crowd. And so, in no particular order:

Steel Horizons (working title) is an epic turn-based realtime strategy affair giving you control of naval fleets for a series of fictitious missions based on infamous WWII battles. As the captain of one of three supersecret US Navy vessels you command battleships, destroyers, submarines and aircraft carriers against a vast enemy force in an effort to save the world by. Granted, not the most original game objective but this Steel Horizons is a welcome addition given this genre is currently under-represented on Sony’s handheld and should be emerging between late 2006 and early 2007 (the game is also destined to appear on DS – see Jon’s A long voyage ahead [Mike, can this be a link to JJ’s story or is that too much hassle?]).

Strictly speaking, The Silent Hill Experience (another working title) isn’t a game but rather a virtual tour of the psychological horror series which has terrified console players since 1999 and which is currently undergoing the Hollywood treatment for a celluloid release later this year. Don’t feel short changed, though. The package offers a couple of interactive comic books (similar to Konami’s equally orthodox piece of entertainment, Metal Gear Solid Digital Comic [another link, if possible]), one of which is entirely new having been specifically created for the PSP. Beyond that, there’s also cutscene footage and 20 music tracks from the four SH games to date as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes content of the forthcoming SH film and an interview with Christopher Gans, its director. No release date yet.

Though it may sound like it, Pocket Racers isn’t actually anything to do with us. And yet, astonishingly, it still comes across as though it’ll be a lot of fun. We’ll spare you the silly plot and instead focus on the important bit: you control a tiny car and wiz around normal size environments such as a messy teenager’s bedroom or a hazard-filled kitchen. Along the way you’ll find short cuts and weapons – nitro boosts, missiles, ice and so on – to give you an advantage over the fierce competition. Granted, it’s nothing new (some among you may remember the various Micro Machines games to have appeared over the last 20 years) but it’s not something we’ve seen on PSP. With the promise of fourplayer wireless support for a variety of multiplayer modes (Tag and Soccer have been disclosed) expect some frantic combat racing action this spring.

Sneaking its way back onto the PSP this summer is Metal Gear Ac!d 2, sequel to the card-based action title starring master of stealth, Solid Snake. This latest venture boasts more than double the number of cards (500, in total), which include new features such as an upgrade ability in order to increase their power. If all this card business is new territory for you, don’t worry – the game’s tutorial system will teach you everything you’ve ever wanted to know about card battling but were afraid to ask, so you’ll soon be challenging complete strangers to wireless one-on-one tag matches. There’s improvements elsewhere, too. The revised control system offering a more intuitive and more immediate control of Snake now also delivers a wider range of moves (crawling, slinging and fighting, to name three), while the graphics have undergone the full beauty treatment and stepped out of the salon with a unique 3D viewing system. All in all, a fully decked out package, then.

Autumn is often a time for contemplation. A time, perhaps, for PSP owners to (momentarily) cast aside the bright, fizzy arcade adventures so suited to the summer months and instead check the release schedule for a strategy game to play with a mate. On it this year you’ll find Chess Battle (working title) which should get budding Kasparovs excitedly eyeing up their pawn collection and polishing their bishops in anticipation. Everyone else should still be reading, though, because if you’re one of the people who think the game boring you’re in for a treat. Forget having to visualize the brutality and intensity of the battle a great game of chess can provide – here it’s all done for you in glorious 3D as the board comes alive through extensive animated clash sequences every time a key piece falls. If that still fails to convince you of the game’s merits, then consider the “unique story mode” also on offer – five types of chess sets representing five distinct ancient regimes (from magicians to servants of chaos, no less) fighting for supremacy… you get the idea. Back at Chess Club there’ll be cries of utter joy at the fact Chess Battle takes things suitably seriously, too. Traditionalists can therefore revert to a standard stark 2D top-down view while experts should take great delight from the Speed Chess option, and both will no doubt welcome the game’s wireless play options, either in single match and online tournament (with worldwide ranking) form.

A diverse and promising line-up, then, and one that should slot effortlessly into the ever-growing PSP software catalogue.