11 Best PlayStation Portable Open World Games

Despite the Sony PSP’s limited hardware, brilliant game developers like Rockstar, Sumo Digital, and London Studio made it possible for gamers to have a decent array of open-world games to play on the go. Developing some of the most ambitious exclusives, ports, and even two full-fledged Grand Theft Auto games. 

Today we are here to offer you a list of the best open-world games on the PlayStation Portable system including action open-world, action-adventure open-world, and racing open-world games.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories / Liberty Cities Stories 2006 / 2005

About
	Full Name Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
	Release Date October 31, 2006
	Developer Rockstar Leeds
	Publisher Rockstar Games
	Franchise Grand Theft Auto
	Genre Open World
	Graphics 3D
	Perspective Third-Person
	Interaction Real-Time
	Concept Crime
	Players Single Player
	Monetization Buy to Play
	Country of Origin United Kingdom

PSP Releases
2006-11
2006-10-31
2006-11-03
2006-11-10

About
	Full Name Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
	Release Date October 24, 2005
	Developer Rockstar Leeds
	Publisher Rockstar Games
	Franchise Grand Theft Auto
	Genre Open World
	Concepts Crime, Modern
	Players Single Player
	Monetization Buy to Play
	Country of Origin United States

PSP Releases
2005-10-24
2005-11-04

Grand Theft Auto Vice City Stories and Liberty City Stories were Rockstar’s attempts to port their amazing series to a portable device, and oh boy did they succeed! Vice city stories follow the story of Victor Vance as he struggles to raise money for his sick brother finding himself in a world full of crime and treason. Liberty city stories follow the story of Toni a gang member returning to liberty city after 5 years of absence, now he must find his way among the gangs of liberty city.

Both games follow the same gameplay formula with a third-person camera and a fully open-world environment, the player can roam the city freely using or stealing other vehicles. Also, the player can use a decent array of weapons including melee weapons, handguns, shotguns, automatic rifles, and many more. Overall, both games are a must-play on the system delivering some of the greatest voice acting in gaming history, and an amazing open-world experience despite the limited hardware.

Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines 2009

About
	Release Date November 17, 2009
	Developer Griptonite Games
	Publisher Ubisoft
	Franchise Assassin's Creed
	Genre Action Adventure
	Concept Medieval
	Players Single Player
	Monetization Buy to Play
	Country of Origin United States

PSP Releases
2009-11-17
2009-11-19
2009-11-20
2009-11-23

Assassin’s Creed Bloodlines was a huge step during its time offering a full-blown triple-A game at the palm of the player’s hands, the game is a spin-off of the main Assassin’s Creed series and acts as a direct sequel of the first game. The player takes control of Altair now venturing to Cyprus, Altair seeks to eliminate the last templars who fled to the island.

The game is mostly similar to its prequel with some minor downgrades, the player can roam the city on foot climbing walls and performing parkour tricks. Just like in the previous game you have a decent array of weapons in your hands including the hidden blade, throwing knives, a sword, and many more. In a word, I consider this game an underrated gem as it was my first exposure to the AC series the game holds a special place in my heart and still amazes me with its details to this day.

Midnight Club: L.A. Remix 2008 Port

About
	Release Date October 21, 2008 Initial Release: October 20, 2008
	Developer Rockstar San Diego
	Publisher Rockstar Games
	Franchise Midnight Club
	Genre Arcade Racing
	Concept Modern
	Players Single Player
	Monetization Buy to Play
	Country of Origin United States

PSP Releases
2008-10-21
2008-10-24

Midnight Club: L.A. Remix represents a portable demake of Midnight Club Los Angeles with some additional small fragments from the previous titles. The game offers a small portion of L.A map using elements from Midnight Club II map. In addition, a small portion of the Tokyo map is also available borrowing elements from Midnight Club 3.

The player competes on a series of street racing events across two huge maps, with the ability to free-roam at ease. Up to 60 fully licensed vehicles can be unlocked and purchased including SUVs, muscle cars, sports cars, and motorcycles. Overall this is a great game combining a lot of the previous game’s elements, resulting in a nicely wrapped package, amazing graphics, and responsive controls.

Gangs of London 2006

About
	Release Date September 01, 2006
	Developer London Studio
	Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment
	Genre Open World
	Concept Modern
	Players Single Player
	Monetization Buy to Play
	Country of Origin United Kingdom

PSP Releases
2006-09-01
2006-09-07
2006-10-03

Gangs Of London was an ambitious title offering an open-world GTA-like game set in London. Taking place in London you have the choice to play as five different gangs, including the Chinese, Russian, Pakistani, British, and Jamaicans.

The game is seen from a third-person perspective offering linear and nonlinear gameplay depending on the game mode. The player takes on various missions to advance the story which is represented in comics-style banners. The missions include car chases, eliminating targets, race missions, kidnapping missions, and many more. Also, the game includes some minor strategy elements like controlling the gang members’ positions and attitudes (offensive, defensive). On the whole, the game offers a solid and unique experience with its own personality despite the gameplay being a bit rough around the edge for this time.

Test Drive®: Unlimited 2006

About
	Release Date September 05, 2006
	Developer Eden Games
	Publisher Atari
	Franchise Test Drive™
	Genre Arcade Racing
	Players Single Player
	Monetization Buy to Play
	Country of Origin France

PSP Releases
2007-03-21

Test Drive Unlimited is an open-world racing game, although the game is a loose port of the amazing PC and Xbox 360 versions, the developers did an excellent job porting such a gigantic game to the hugely inferior PSP hardware.

The game offers the whole map of Oahu to discover including free roams, participating in many events across the island (tournaments, single races, time trials, speed trials, etc..), and a huge arsenal of licensed cars to unlock and buy. In comparison, the PSP version looks hugely inferior to the console counterpart. The graphics look awesome for a handheld device getting the job done and offering tight control, decent physics, and a massive map to explore on the go.

Spider-Man 2 / 3 2004 / 2007

About
	Full Name Spider-Man 2™
	Release Date June 28, 2004
	Developer Vicarious Visions
	Publisher Activision
	Franchise Spider-Man
	Genre Action Adventure
	Concept Superhero
	Players Single Player
	Monetization Buy to Play
	Country of Origin United States

PSP Releases
2005-03-23
2005-09-01

About
	Full Name Spider-Man 3
	Release Date May 04, 2007
	Developer Vicarious Visions
	Publisher Activision
	Franchise Spider-Man
	Genre Action Adventure
	Concept Superhero
	Players Single Player
	Monetization Buy to Play
	Country of Origin United States

PSP Releases
2007-05-04
2007-05-18

Spider-Man 2 and 3 were Activision’s attempts to translate the huge movie’s success into video games. Spide-Man 2 follows the story of Peter Parker as he struggles to keep the balance between his superhero and normal life. Meeting a new friend, Dr. Octavius Peter must face a nuclear threat, a prison riot, and a new supervillain mad scientist. Spider-Man 3 follows the same formula with a new set of characters both from the movie and comic books.

Both games are seen from a third-person standpoint offering an open-world setting, the player can freely roam the city swinging and jumping between the buildings. You can start various missions appearing on the map in any order you desire, once the player has completed a number of missions from the same storyline, the main story mission related to the movie plot will unlock. The player can swing, crawl, and fight enemies using a combination of hand-to-hand and web-based attacks. Overall, both games play amazingly well on the PSP system despite the huge graphical downgrade compared to the console’s port.

Gun Showdown 2006 Port

About
	Release Date October 10, 2006 Initial Release: November 08, 2005
	Developer Neversoft
	Publisher Activision
	Genre Third-Person Shooter
	Graphics 3D
	Perspectives First-Person, Third-Person
	Interaction Real-Time
	Concept Cowboy
	Players Single Player
	Monetization Buy to Play
	Country of Origin United States

PSP Releases
2006-10-10
2006-11-03
2006-11-15

Gun Showdown is a western-themed open-world action-adventure game way before Red Dead Redemption took the gaming world by storm. The player takes control of Colton White a young man seeking revenge against his father’s killers,  fueled with vengeance, Colton set out to the west to investigate the mystery behind his father’s murder.

The game is seen from a third-person perspective with an occasional first-person view using certain guns, the player will encounter several enemies including bandits, wild animals, and Native Americans. You can beat the enemies using a decent selection of weapons including handguns, rifles, throwing knives for silent takedowns, and explosives. While the majority of the combat takes place on foot, some battles take place on a horse allowing the player to shoot while riding. On the whole, Gun Showdown is an amazing port regarding the PSP’s limited hardware the developers did an outstanding job porting the game to the handheld.

Driver™ 76 2007

About
	Release Date May 08, 2007
	Developer Sumo Digital
	Publisher Ubisoft
	Franchise Driver™
	Genre Open World
	Graphics 3D
	Perspective Third-Person
	Interaction Real-Time
	Concepts Modern, Realistic
	Players Single Player
	Monetization Buy to Play
	Country of Origin United Kingdom

PSP Releases
2007-05-08
2007-05-10
2007-05-11

Driver 76 is a GTA-like open-world game developed exclusively for the PSP system, the game is also a sequel to Driver: Parallel lines. The story revolves around Ray a wheelman who has fallen in love with the daughter of a mob boss, determined to impress her father Ray must gather money and gifts to prove he is worthy of the mob’s daughter.

The game is seen from a third-person perspective, most missions take place behind the wheel driving around the town shooting enemies, or escaping the police. But occasionally you can leave your car and hijack other cars GTA-style. Outside of the mission the player can freely roam the city hijacking cars and escaping the police. Overall, Driver 76 is a solid title despite the short story, the game screams out with its own personality and beautiful graphic style, just free roaming and discovering the city will keep you busy for a long time.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars 2009

About
	Release Date March 17, 2009
	Developer Rockstar Leeds
	Publisher Rockstar Games
	Franchise Grand Theft Auto
	Genre Open World
	Concepts Crime, Modern
	Players Single Player
	Monetization Buy to Play
	Country of Origin United Kingdom

PSP Releases
1970-01
2009-10-20
2009-10-23
2009-10-28

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown is a top-down open-world action-adventure video game. The story takes place in liberty city, following the tale of Huang Lee a young Chinese man visiting Liberty City to deliver a special sword to his uncle. Once he arrives at Liberty City the sword gets stolen by a mysterious gang forcing Lee to investigate the incident and venture into the dark side of Liberty City.

The game takes a different approach offering a top-down view and cel-shaded graphics. The game offers an open-world environment where you can explore the map both on foot and on vehicles, different from the main GTA titles hijacking parked or special cars requires the player to complete a mini-game. Also new to the series are the drug submissions where you can make a profit roaming and selling drugs around the city. On the whole, the PSP version is slightly superior to its DS counterpart offering better graphics and extra content, making the PSP version the definitive way to play the game.

The Warriors 2005

About
	Release Date October 17, 2005
	Developer Rockstar Toronto
	Publisher Rockstar Games
	Genre Beat 'Em Up
	Players Single Player
	Monetization Buy to Play
	Country of Origin United States

PSP Releases
2007-02-12
2007-02-23

The Warriors was Rockstar’s attempt to bring a good brawler game with a strong background and story. The game is a loose adaptation of a classic movie holding the same name. The player takes control of a Warrior gang member starting three months before the events of the movie and eventually catching the movie events further up in the story.

While the game focuses heavily on the beat-them-up elements, forcing the player to fight off other gangs member on the team-to-team brawler-based combat system. Rockstar made sure to paint this game with style including an open world environment with the chance to free-roam Coney Island outside of missions. The story progresses after completing the main missions usually followed up by a cutscene enriching the narrative.  Overall, the PSP port of The Warriors is mostly playable especially if you like portable gaming, and you can overlook some minor camera movement clunkiness.

Way of the Samurai 2002 侍 (Samurai)

About
	Release Date February 07, 2002
	Developer Acquire
	Publisher Spike
	Franchise Way of the Samurai
	Genre Hack & Slash
	Concepts Medieval, Samurai
	Players Single Player
	Monetization Buy to Play
	Country of Origin Japan

PSP Releases
2008-09-18

Way of The Samurai is a beautiful samurai game offering an amazing look at feudal japan, and the struggle Samurai warriors faced during that era. You take control of a Ronin, visiting a new land he finds himself stuck in a bloodstained war between three rival Clans, each with its own motives and agenda.

The game is seen from a third-person view focusing both on narrative and combat. You roam different places of the city with a full night and day cycle and specific story events depending on the time and place. The story depends heavily on the player’s decision you can be extremely kind or even extremely evil, the choice is yours your action will determine which side you’ll eventually take, and finally, which ending you will get. Overall, the game is a joy to play on the system especially if you love heavy Japanese-themed games just like I do!