Summary
No matter the platform, horror remains a popular genre in gaming, andthe PlayStation Portable (PSP)is no exception. Though there aren’t as many options as there are on later PlayStation consoles, there are still some great horror games on the PSP that are sure to fuel your love of all things scary.
From zombies to dead anime girls, these games attempt to deliver on the promise of the PSP to bring console-quality to handheld gaming. There are survival horror games, combat-heavy games, darkly comedic games, and even a few games from big-name series.
8The 3rd Birthday
Killing Monsters With A Twist
While this game is the third installment in the Japanese Parasite Eve series, you don’t need to have played the first two to enjoy this one. You play as the amnesiac Aya Brea, who is part of an organization fighting monsters that came up from underground called the Twisted, and she has a special ability called Overdrive, which allows you to transport between the bodies of NPCs and is a key part of the combat.
Despite criticisms about some of the mechanics, like the camera angle, the game remains highly playable for anyone looking for a PSP game that’s more challenging and creative than your standard shooter. Especially if you’re looking for a game with a lot of monsters ready to be killed.
7Obscure: The Aftermath
A Descent Into Mutant Madness
A sequel to the first game, Obscure, this is the only one of the two to get a PSP port. In the first game, a group of students had to stay alive in a high school filled with mutated students, and in the sequel, you play as those same students and some new faces they encounter all the way, now dealing with the same problem but at a university.
Both are survival horror games with brief mini-games and puzzles, and even though they’re not very scary, they still have a creepy atmosphere and plenty of monsters to fight. And, for anyone who enjoys a bit of humor with their horror, the dialogue adds some levity to the monster-killing.
6Corpse Party
A Disturbing Trip Through A Haunted High School
In this version of Corpse Party, which was updated for release on the PSP, a group of students performs the Sachiko Ever After charm, which is supposed to ensure they stay friends forever. Instead, the charm transports them, and their teacher, to a nightmare version of their school, filled with the trapped souls and corpses of other students who had previously been killed; to anyone curious about this title, that does mean this game is full to the brim of dead children, so be aware of that.
Because this game heavily relies on dialogue and animated story sequences, the game is moreakin to a visual novel,but that doesn’t mean that you’ll only responsible for clicking through text. There’s a mystery you have to solve (why this haunted school exists), and you’re tasked with figuring out puzzles via different characters and avoiding monsters, to advance the story.
5Silent Hill: Origins
A Bite-Sized Silent Hill Game
No horror series took to the PSP quite like the Silent Hill series, which had not one but two games on the console. Created to be a prequel to the original game, and the fifth installment in the series, this PSP chapter follows a truck driver who saves a girl from a burning house in the town of Silent Hill, staying to see if she survived the fire after he passed out.
The game, while short, is heavily inspired by the other Silent Hill games, incorporating the same exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat mechanics. If you’re a fan of the series, odds are you’ll enjoy this one just as much, even if it’s not bringing anything new to the table.
4Corpse Party: Book of Shadows
Since this game branches off from one of the original game’s “wrong endings,” it won’t make much sense to you if you haven’t first played Corpse Party. All the characters are sent back in time, with only Satoshi remembering what happened; when he can’t dissuade his friends from doing the charm that transports them to the haunted Heavenly Host, he goes with them again, and this inspires alternate events.
Considered even more of a visual novel than its predecessor, this game delves more into the backstories of the characters. There aren’t any chase sequences, but it does keep some of the puzzle elements, and it also sets up the sequel game, Blood Drive.
3Infected (2005)
Fast-Paced Zombie Killing
The premise of this game is very simple; you’re a cop in New York City during a zombie outbreak who is immune.You have to blast your way through hordes of zombiesto get your blood to the people who can use it to possibly create a cure, and on your way to do this, you run various missions like clearing out areas or rescuing civilians.
In this fast-paced shooter, you have two guns and an “Infected” bar that determines your interactions with the environment. You use one gun to lower the health of an enemy, then the second “viral” gun to kill them, while your Infected bar keeps track of the zombie level, civilian level, and area threat, which must stay balanced to keep more rushes of zombies from overtaking your location.
Dark Comedy Meets Noir Undead
A little to the left of conventional horror, Dead Head Fred was designed for the PSP with a darkly comedic noir environment with plenty of violence. Because of all the radiation in the city, there are also, of course, undead monsters and various mutations, and you play as one of these strange occurrences; a private investigator who was murdered and beheaded, and who now can take over people’s heads.
Instead of having weapons, these heads give you different abilities that you can then navigate the city with, trying to solve your own murder. There are puzzle elements, platforming levels, boss fights, and a handful of mini-games you can keep coming back to, like fishing.
1Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
A Reimagining Of Silent Hill
If you know anything about horror, odds areyou know something about the plot of Silent Hill.Shattered Memories is a reimagining of the plot of the first game, with protagonist Harry looking for his daughter in the terrifying town of Silent Hill, but in a new universe that has new enemies and introduces new characters.
There are two halves to the game: a psychotherapy session and the journey through the town that combines familiar gameplay with combat-less survival sequences. And with multiple endings that will have you exploring the whole map, it’s the horror game that comes the closest to delivering on the PSP’s promise of console-quality games.
