PSN PSone Roundup

Command & Conquer

• Developer: Westwood (ahhh)
• Compatible with: PS3, PSP
• Price: GBP 3.49

Real-time strategy on a console is a grail that many developers are still chasing, so what are the chances that this 1997 attempt to port Command & Conquer to the PSone will have weathered the years successfully?

Pretty good, actually.

It's about as basic as RTS gets, but that's not really such a bad thing. So many games since have mistaken "lots of stuff" for "deep gameplay", but the core mechanism of harvesting like crazy, churning out troops and vehicles galore and then tank-rushing the enemy still endures. Seeing as that's essentially all you have to do in this version, it can feel refreshingly unpretentious.

Control is solely via the d-pad, with no analogue support, but that's not the problem you might think. Precision selection is a chore, but also mostly unnecessary. This is RTS in broad strokes, and chucking everything you've got into the fray is as good a tactic as any. The learning curve is nicely judged, and evolves in line with this stripped-down style of play. You'll romp through the first few missions, before starting to struggle. Then you realise that some basic military thinking is required and you start to flank and fortify fallback positions and other clever stuff.

It's the creaky AI that really holds the game back in 2008. We've become so used to commanding pretty smart little soldiers that it takes some getting used to when your troops sit there in plain sight of the enemy, sometimes even taking fire, but not actually doing anything about it. Occasionally they'll engage on their own, but a lot of the time you'll be the one informing them that the tank currently putting shells in their ranks should probably be blown up, pronto.

So for experienced RTS players this is really of interest only as a historical curiosity. For more casual players who like the idea of real-time strategy but are intimidated by the daunting way the genre has evolved, this is probably worth a look.

6/10

Reel Fishing

• Developer: Natsume
• Compatible with: PS3, PSP
• Price: GBP 3.49

Another curious addition to the PS Store, this Japanese angling simulator certainly stands out alongside the platformers, racers and shooters, but is none the worse for its outsider status.

The first in Natsume's long-running fishing series (two new entries arrived on the PSP only a few years ago) Reel Fishing distinguishes itself by mixing actual video footage of streams and lakes with digitised fish. Operating from an eerily deserted fishing lodge, you can carefully select your bait, rods and hooks - or just guess, that seems to work pretty well - and then head outdoors to try and land some finny friends.

As with most games of this type, you cast the line, wait for a nibble and then find the balance between letting the fish run with the line, and reeling it in when it tires. To begin with you end up with a lot of gobbled bait, lost hooks and snapped lines, but once you find the rhythm for each fish, success is within any angler's grasp. Once you catch enough fish at one location, you can move on to the next. Fish can also be transferred from your livewell into two fish tanks in the lodge, where you can name them and feed them and generally look after them.

The presentation is fairly crude, especially when compared to SEGA Bass Fishing and its inviting 3D depths, but it does a decent job of simulating fish behaviour and I certainly found myself lulled into a relaxed mood by the ambient music, tinkling water and gentle challenge. You may want to wait and see if the slightly superior Reel Fishing II is going to be added, but for the price this will easily keep console-loving fishermen (or fisherladies) happy for a while.

7/10