Ones to Watch on PS3 and PSP for September 2008

By Paul Munn | August 31, 2008

If you’ve read my Ones To Watch before for PS3 and PSP you know I ignore sports titles, so keep that in mind as I give a cross-platform game — Star Wars: The Force Unleashed — the nod for the main game to watch this month. Action gamers who happen to be robot-happy gearheads might like Armored Core: For Answer coming the same day, the 16th, with online play, and some will warm up to the PSN release of Red Baron Arcade on the 18th, but I think the raw power of the dark side channeled through the apprentice will light up gamers’ imaginations long after they’re done with Force Unleashed, even without Trophy support.

I found the demo to be pretty good, reminding me of an excellent superpowered shooter everyone should play — PSI-Ops: The Mindgate Consipracy for PS2 or Xbox — but I’m not so sure the control scheme will be refined enough or the levels not seem too empty in a full game of it. The review in PlayStation: The Official Magazine cited unbalanced gameplay and design ideas rooted in gaming’s distant past as problems and even gave the PSP version a slightly higher rating.

Of course if killing everyone on board a station or outpost by sabering, lightning-bolting, or crushing them under heavy objects to avoid detection isn’t your thing, you can meet your US RDA of video game Nazi slaughter by playing Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway on the 23rd. Someone out there still wants World War II games, I guess. I’ll take my alternate past timeline instead when Resistance 2 comes in a couple of months.

Lego Batman comes this month on the 23rd, and both Legendary and Silent Hill: Homecoming land on the 30th.

The PSN will also have an update to PAIN featuring an Amusement Park level on the 4th. While I haven’t played the game the video preview now available on the PlayStation Store gave me some laughs when I watched it.

On the PSP all I can see being worthwhile are Lego Batman and Pipemania alongside the PSP version of Force Unleashed. Pipemania will have local Wi-Fi multiplayer support.

Release dates courtesy of IGN on PSP and PS3. Image from Amazon.