For strategy gamers, the PlayStation Portable built an unparalleled catalog of acclaimed real-time strategy (RTS) experiences that delivered the immersive campaigns and intense multiplayer skirmishes that define the genre.
As this article will demonstrate through extensively detailing and analyzing each entry with historical context and critical appraisals, the PSP amassed both all-time great strategy titles alongside gems that innovatively blended the genre. By outlining the 10 highest-rated RTS releases that best utilized the handheld’s capabilities, strategy enthusiasts can discover the PSP’s pioneering and essential library.
Origins of Real-Time Strategy
Before reviewing the 10 best RTS games, first what defines real-time strategy as a genre?initiator
RTS games emphasize strategic decision-making and multitasking under pressure to build armies and manage resources to defeat opponents in live combat scenarios. Players orchestrate production chains to supply frontline forces like tanks, infantry and aircraft to expand territory and capture vital positions.
The genre traces back to the 1980s on personal computers with breakthrough titles like Nether Earth and Herzog Zwei demonstrating the concept of controlling military units in real-time. However, Westwood‘s Dune 2 solidified prototypical RTS conventions in 1992 – gathering resources like spice, training combat units, waging open battles and ultimately demolishing rivals. From pioneering series like Command & Conquer and Warcraft to recent juggernauts like Starcraft 2, core real-time strategy principles endure across decades.
Adapting the complexity of organized warfare simulations like these to handheld consoles with compact controls and screens posed a stiff challenge. How could portable RTS games convey expansive battlespaces? How could interface and gameplay be streamlined for on-the-go enjoyment while retaining strategic depth?
The PSP’s Advancements For RTS Gaming
Sony positioned the PlayStation Portable as bringing “the most advanced handheld gaming experience” through breakthrough portable technology when it launched in 2005 across multimedia and connectivity. This extended to running more advanced game genres like real-time strategy, which had rarely appeared on prior handhelds besides simplistic adaptations.
The PSP’s superior processing power, screen resolution and console-quality graphics enabled smooth battlefield visuals from wide tactical overviews where armies, terrain details and base structures remained recognizable. Innovations like dual analog sticks improved camera controls/unit selections while simplified UI elements kept additional functionality accessible without overcomplicating play. Robust online play through Wi-Fi hotspots enabled multiplayer rivaling PC experiences that were foundational for competitive RTS communities.
These advancements shattered expectations of what players could expect from portable strategy titles. Acclaimed franchises like Star Wars and Age of Empires saw impressive handheld debuts that captured the thrilling engagements that define them while introducing gameplay innovations tailored to bite-sized gaming sessions. Japanese developers also utilized the platform’s capabilities to greatly expand tactical RPG properties like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre into hallmarks for the genre.
Let‘s dive into the 10 RTS titles released on Sony’s breakthrough portable that best demonstrate its landmark accomplishments evolving handheld strategy experiences.
10. Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce
- Developer: Omega Force
- Release Date: 2009
- Metascore: 76
The Dynasty Warriors series of hack-and-slash games ordinarily focuses purely on sword-swinging combats against enormous opposing armies. However, Strikeforce ambitiously incorporates RTS base management and army building between its remarkable large-scale battle recreations of Ancient Chinese warfare.
Choosing from iconic characters of China’s turbulent Three Kingdoms era like formidable warlord Lu Bu, players coordinate four-man squads to initiate devastating abilities including erupting volcanoes and thundering twisters amidst hundreds of clashing soldiers for screen-filling spectacle.
Away from the fantastical confrontations, players direct upgrades to home bases, research battle-changing siege weaponry, manage officer assignments and delegate missions to expand influence across the land. Streamlining navigating the menus effectively captured core RTS elements without overcomplicating the addictive moment-to-moment hero combat Dynasty Warriors is adored for. Strikeforce remains Omega Force’s most fascinating blend of action and strategy.
Review Scores:
IGN - 8.4/10
GameSpot - 8/10
GamesRadar - 8/109. Generation of Chaos
- Developer: Idea Factory
- Release Date: 2006
- Metascore: 74
The long-running Generation of Chaos series brought explosive wizard and monster-filled warfare to PSP headlined by this critically celebrated installment that expanded the tabletop wargaming inspiration through deeper city building mechanics.
As battle mages vying for dominance over the fantasy land of Vladislaus, players carefully balance resource harvesting rates with research priorities to increase unit caps and upgrade recruitment potential from barracks and stables. Elite forces like dragons, medusas and mechanical golems turn the tide of battle if deployed judiciously rather than squandered.
Critics praised the rewarding feedback loops of building kingdom infrastructure enabling deadlier armies to conquer more land and gather increased tithes to subsequently swell coffers further. It compellingly distilled core civilizational advancement processes between its highly-customizable clashes. Idea Factory innovatively merged empire growth systems with RTS warfare for portable play sessions.
Review Scores:
RPGFan - 95%
Gaming Age - A-
GameZone - 8.5/108. Jeanne d’Arc
- Developer: Level-5
- Release Date: 2006
- Metascore: 86
This gorgeous historical fantasy dramatizes 15th century French heroine Joan of Arc’s revolution against English occupation through an imaginative take on turn-based tactics. Players maneuver the teenage warrior-commander alongside squads of lance bearers, medics, mages and cavalry across grid-based battlefields lined with defensive barricades and terrain impediments.
Skirmishes emphasize flanking maneuvers and skill combinations to overcome distinct enemy types who themselves utilize formations and environmental advantages for desperate pitched standoffs. Classes promote into elite versions like Paladins and Bow Knights opening more strategic possibilities.
Praised for its emotive cel-shaded visual novel narrative interludes humanizing squad members between bloody encounters conveying the nationalistic zeal invigorating their insurgency, Jeanne D’Arc remains a thematically resonant and slickly-presented RTS achievement that renowned developer Level-5 has yet to surpass.
Review Scores:
Game Informer - 9/10
Play Magazine - 10/10
Eurogamer - 9/107. Killzone: Liberation
- Developer: Guerilla Cambridge
- Release Date: 2006
- Metascore: 86
Atypical for the straightforward shooter franchise upholding PlayStation’s trademark ‘Halo killer’ ambitions, Liberation propels the sci-fi conflict between authoritarian Helghast and ISA freedom fighters through inspired RTS experimentation.
Players control tactical genius Jan Templar staging irregular warfare operations deep behind enemy lines. Gripping storyline missions feature squads of riflemen, snipers, engineers and medics for players to position around environments to achieve objectives like assassinations and hostage rescues. Squad commands issue behaviors like focussing fire or scattering proximity mines. Templar himself controls fluidly in cover-based third-person firing action – playing as the legend‘s namesake.
Top-down planning phases generate intense standoffs once the executed maneuvers erupt into fierce real-time skirmishing. Liberation brought together versatile strategy systems that additional PSP shooters would further iterate upon.
Review Scores:
Eurogamer - 9/10
GamePro - 5/5
GameSpy - 4.5/5 6. Field Commander
- Developer: Sony Online Entertainment
- Release Date: 2006
- Metascore: 73
This ambitious military simulator from Sony’s own Santa Monica Studio aimed squarely at hardcore armchair generals with officially licensed battalion deployments and complex wartime decision-making between tense confrontations.
Spanning 3 distinct campaigns and over 70 missions faithfully representing modern combined arms warfare, Field Commander is a commercial war college education. Productions facilities output customized M1 Abrams battle tanks, attack helicopters, missile cruisers and elite spec ops infantry that shift battlefield dynamics when controlled by competent officers.
Weather effects, supply lines through captured territory and high ground advantages add to the rewarding strategic calculations resulting in varied engagements both won through tactics and lost through hubris on unforgiving battlefields – but hopefully learned from!
With scale and attention to detail resembling desktop franchise benchmarks like Command & Conquer, Field Commander brought welcome hardcore sensibilities to PSP’s library.
Pocket Gamer: Gold Award – 9/10
Gamespot - 8.2/10
IGN - 7.5/10 5. Fieldrunners
- Developer: Subatomic Studios
- Release Date: 2008
- Metascore: 86
In beloved tower defense gem Fieldrunners, players construct mazes filled with chain gun, missile and flamethrower turrets to defend against ridiculously charming invader armies of grunts, grenadiers, brute forces and helicopter gunships on marching paths to your base.
With limited starting gates to infiltrate from, enemy units dynamically navigate the most strategic routes around and between your constructed defenses attempting to swarm vulnerable targets. Strong strategic tower placements utilize interlocking fields of fire, timed ammo drops and terrain that obstructs certain munitions requiring constant re-evaluation.
Visually, Fieldrunner’s vibrant colors and smooth animations made it a showcase title demonstrating PSP’s ability to handle rapidly evolving on-screen chaos. The addictive score chasing and incremental skill improvements during its creatively designed challenge modes cemented Fieldrunner’s longevity as an essential for its genre.
Pocket Gamer - 10/10
IGN - 9/10
SlideToPlay - 4.5/5 4. Legends of War: Patton’s Campaign
- Developer: Enigma Software
- Release Date: 2010
- Metascore: 73
Charge onto the battlefields of World War 2 beside gruff Allied Supreme Commander General Patton across this classic RTS campaign highlighting storied American victories like relieving beleaguered forces at Bastogne forest during the Battle of the Bulge blitzkrieg.
Missions depict Patton’s aggressive armored warfare maneuvers through historically-accurate recreations of iconic hardware like the M10 tank destroyer, P-47 Thunderbolt and M2 mortars waging explosive warfare across Normandy‘s bocage terrain, North Africa‘s deserts and German city ruins.
Off-map abilities like parachute regiments and artillery barrages combined with optional mission objectives bring set-piece spectacle but at the cost of acquired valor points. Survival demands managing loss-replacement ratios across varied environmental challenges utilizing era-specific tactics.
With strong presentation values and gameplay innovations like permadeath and collectible officer cards boosting leadership skills, Legends of War fulfilled PSP’s promise for uncompromised strategy simulations.
Official PlayStation Magazine UK - 8/10
Pocket Gamer - 8/10
Game Chronicles - 8/103. Worms: Open Warfare 2
- Developer: Team 17
- Release Date: 2007
- Metascore: 86
The Worms franchise’s anarchic, bazooka-blazing, sheep-hurling warfare executes flawlessly on PSP through Open Warfare 2’s refined craftsmanship constituting possibly Team17’s finest outing.
The platform‘s precision aim control and online infrastructure translate perfectly for the series’ famously refined trajectory-based cartoon carnage. Across visually charismatic environments like Wild West ghost towns, pirate coves and renaissance fairgrounds, players unleash skillshot weaponry like plummeting concrete donkeys, bouncing cluster nades, uzi-wielding grannies and… well… explosive bouncing grannies!
Inventive tutorial modes patiently explain essential techniques. Customization offers funny hats, eye patches and victory Samba dances allowing personality expression. New fort mode offers deeply replayable multi-phase missions requiring specialized unit tactics.
With accompanying DLC expanding multiplayer maps and missions, Open Warfare 2 remains the concise, feature-rich Worms classic custom-built for portable play sessions both offline and on.
Official PlayStation Magazine UK - 9/10
Pocket Gamer - 10/10
Game Chronicles - A- 2. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
- Developer: Square Enix
- Release Date: 2011
- Metascore: 88
This masterfully recreated remake of the iconic 1995 tactical role-playing game improves upon speaker practically every presentation and gameplay element of the revolutionary original through beautiful high-res artwork, emotive orchestral arrangements and vastly user-friendlier menus even by contemporary standards.
Branching story paths see players dramatically reshape destiny during conflicts set in the microcosm fantasy land of Valeria torn by ethnic strife and royal succession crisis. Engaging political themes promote reflection between explosive skirmishes.
The Turn-Based battles orchestrate squad combat across multi-elevated grids where flanking factors greatly into clashes. Hundreds of skills and gear loadouts allow practically limitless army customization and combined ability experimentation promoting replayability.
Both profoundly moving narrative and tremendous depth in combat mechanics establish Tactics Ogre as the apex of strategy role-playing design. This version remains the exemplary remake of a genre titan.
RPGFan - 95%
Gaming Age - A
GameZone - 9/101. Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
- Developer: Square Enix
- Release Date: 2007
- Metascore: 89
The crown jewel of PSP’s library saw beloved 1997 tactical RPG Final Fantasy Tactics gloriously revived through vibrant cel-shaded cutscenes, additional job classes and expanded narrative content deserved of its intricate Game of Thrones-esque tale of courtly conspiracy and uprising.
Players control the Squire Ramza who accumulates a resistance army to prevent worldwide catastrophe and church corruption by mastering the signature combat systems that developer Yasumi Matsuno’s team innovated – turn-based grid warfare with strict movement ranges and attack types.
Managing squad composition between melee specialists, magic users and support heroes remains imperative through the sprawling 60-hour campaign and depth rivaling dedicated RPGs.
The enhanced script imbues more nuance, the visual overhaul resonates beauty and the refined mechanics introduce welcome balance adjustments. Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions stands undisputed as the supreme portable turn-based strategy experience.
IGN - 9.5/10
Gamespot - 9.5/10
Game Informer - 9.5/10The PlayStation Portable’s catalog of acclaimed RTS and turn-based strategy titles masterfully tailored complex PC gaming experiences for on-the-go play retaining their engagements and elegance. Their designs later provided templates for smartphone strategy games using touch interfaces while introducing hybrid gameplay fusing action and tactics.
These landmarks also redefined expectations for handheld adaptations going forward through utilizing available technology for smooth battlefield visuals, control innovations to direct units intuitively and online infrastructure that fortified competitive communities. Franchises invigorated by experiments on PSP like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre represent genre heights today.
For portable RTS and turn-based strategy excellence, the PSP’s library stands unparalleled both in quantity and quality all these years later, making its titles must-plays for genre devotees. The titles above constitute the platform’s highest peaks showcasing incredible vision.
