Holiday Guide: Shooter’s Paradise

Get Loco: Holiday Guide 2006
Shooter’s Paradise

Yet another comprehensive holiday guide, this time for PSP owners who can’t get enough of good shooters. Whether they be futuristic, FPS, online/multiplayer, etc., etc. Time to get shooting! This year alone, MANY shooters have graced the PSP, so the big question is: which one of all of them should you buy?

EDIT: There’s some dispute over our picks. Many wondered if Killzone or GUN were viable choices for the bottom of our list and others wondered if GTA should be considered a shooter when half of the time, it implements many other features besides action and adeventure…so drumroll because we have a replacement…

5: GUN Showdown ($39.99) Rated M for mature

Don’t despair! No shooter fanatic should go without GUN Showdown. The PS2-port continues all the western showdowns and interesting shootouts with some more action and fun. The game is not short of action at anytime–at every corner, brace yourself for western chit-chat and horrifying gore. Don’t you just love shooting games?

4: Killzone: Liberation ($39.99) Rated T for teen

Killzone: Liberation is another PS2-port, but still, don’t despair! The game has enough futuristic gameplay to keep you on your toes time after time. No game is perfect, but if you can handle the annoying third-person angle (though you ironically play first-person), then this could be the game for you. It’s rated teen, so it obviously gives enough action for those who are younger than the majority of games on our list.

3: SOCOM Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo 2 ($39.99) Rated T for teen

SOCOM, a game that graced the PSP last year, is back for a sequel to the PSP hit. Like its predecessor, it continues the lovely infrastructure gameplay that we counted on, and you can use that stylish headset we showed you earlier to enjoy the game. While it doesn’t live up to the predecessor, it offers you a teen-safe game that is obviously a lot of shooting, a lot of tactics, and a lot of strategy–feast your eyes on your character, a US navy seal whose not giving up on those darned enemies, yet!

2: Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror ($39.99) Rated M for mature

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror is the first and {currently} the only installment of Syphon Filter on the PSP and it incorporates infrastructure capabilities so everyone can join in on the shooting fun. Once again, you’re out to investigate terrorist organizations and destroy them. While the game can be fairly disappointing in campaign mode, its multiplayer features are satisfying enough to make it a very competitive second.

1: Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops ($39.99) Rated M for mature

Why is this our #1 pick? It’s $39.99. It’s Metal Gear Solid. It has Snake in it. It’s violent. It’s portable. Metal Gear Solid finally arrives to the PSP after the lackluster Ac!d series that was a yawn last year. Snake is here and this time he’s been kidnapped by some South American weirdos and he escapes. But, the selling point of this game is its awesome use of the GPS peripheral and its infrastructure capabilities. All this and more makes it a bargain for the $39.99 it’s selling for. This is, by the way, the must-have PSP game of the holiday season so don’t despair and pick up a copy. Lyke nao.