The Best War and Military-Themed Games on PS1

There’s a strong case to be made for the Sony PlayStation being the most important console of all time. Between its launch on December 3, 1994, and its eventual discontinuation on March 23, 2006, the PS1 was a groundbreaking piece of hardware responsible for ushering gaming from being a niche hobby to a mainstream entertainment powerhouse and cultural force. Consequently, the PS1 is also the first console in history to sell over 100 million units, establishing Sony as a major player in the industry and one of the pillars of the medium well into the modern era. The backbone of the PS1’s success was its massive and wide-ranging library of games, which just so happens to include some of the best war and military-themed games of the era, capitalizing on popular settings and genres that have resonated with players for as long as video games have existed.

While most players are quick to associate military or war games with actual conflicts that have occurred throughout history, zooming out the lens a bit to include fictional modern-day conflicts or looking into what war in the future might look like affords players some amazing playgrounds to get lost in. Some of the best military and war games on the PS1 have no basis in reality other than using it as a jumping-off point to imagine one of an infinite number of potential futures. As such, these games empower players with the type of escapism that makes video games such an engaging hobby in the first place. From third-person and first-person shooters, real-time strategy games, and flight combat sims to one of the most important and pivotal games ever made, these are the best war and military-themed titles on the PS1.

Army Men: Air Attack

• Release Date — November 3, 1999
• Publisher — The 3DO Company
• Developer — The 3DO Company
• Review Aggregate Score — 71% (Mixed or Average)
• Setting — Fictional
• Genre — Flight Combat

The Army Men series is one that had a very dedicated fanbase back in its time, recapturing the pure childhood joy and nostalgia of emptying a massive bucket of green and tan plastic soldiers and duking it out on imaginary battlefields with friends. One of the best games in the series is Army Men: Air Attack, which trades the third-person shooter lineage of Army Men 3D for a very solid flight combat game not too far off from Electronic Arts’ excellent Strike series of helicopter combat games. Like most Army Men games, Air Attack doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it does respect the player and their time by delivering a competent flight combat game with strong mechanics and plenty of fun.

Panzer Front

• Release Date — December 22, 1999
• Publisher — Agetec, Inc.
• Developer — Enterbrain
• Review Aggregate Score — 68% (Mixed or Average)
• Setting — World War II
• Genre — Tank Combat

Taking things from up in the sky to down on the ground, Panzer Front is another cult-classic PS1 war game for a reason. While it might have a slightly higher learning curve than other PS1-era vehicular combat games, few titles of the era do as good a job capturing the essence of being a tank pilot during the heat of World War II. Today, games like World of Tanks and Steel Batallion are some of the most popular games set in World War II for a reason, and it all comes down to them offering the same kind of thrills that players have been drawn to since Battlezone on the Atari. Panzer Front is arguably the best tank combat game of the era for how it combines simulation and action, even if it errs more on the former in sacrifice of the latter.

Hogs of War

• Release Date — June 16, 2000
• Publisher — Infogrames
• Developer — Infogrames Sheffield House
• Review Aggregate Score — 62% (Mixed or Average)
• Setting — World War I
• Genre — Turn-Based Tactics

Taking things back to the first Great War, Hogs of War is a charming and surprisingly deep turn-based tactics game set in World War I. As the name implies, you take on the role of a commander of a squad of anthropomorphic pigs, making Hogs of War as close as we’ve ever gotten to a bonafide Animal Farm video game. Similar to the excellent Worms series, Hogs of War is a wartime combat simulator with a great sense of humor to offset its very serious approach to turn-based tactics. But, where most Worms games take place in 2D using hand-drawn or sprite-based graphics, Hogs of War is a full-3D approximation of what a Worms game of the future might look like. In many ways, Hogs of War is still superior to the later 3D Worms games.

Uprising X

• Release Date — December 15, 1998
• Publisher — The 3DO Company
• Developer — Cyclone Studios
• Review Aggregate Score — 72%
• Setting — Future
• Genre — Tank Combat

Cyclone Studios’ Uprising X may have flown under the radar for many. But for those who remember the game, most do so fondly as one of the better tank combat games on the PS1. Rather than put players in the shoes of a tank pilot during a real-world conflict, Uprising X transports players into the future and puts them in control of the fictional Wraith tank. Interestingly, Uprising X is one of the first PS1 games to utilize a dual-analog control scheme that would become standard in console FPS, having players move the Wraith using the left stick and aim the camera with the right. Aside from being an important front-runner in innovating console shooter controls, though, Uprising X is a fun and fast game that never wears out its welcome.

Hidden & Dangerous

• Release Date — November 23, 2001
• Publisher — TalonSoft, Take-Two Interactive
• Developer — Tarantula Studios
• Review Aggregate Score — N/A
• Setting — World War II
• Genre — Tactical First-Person Shooter

Depending on who you ask, Hidden & Dangerous is either one of the best or one of the worst World War II shooters on the PlayStation. A far cry from its contemporaries in the fantastic Medal of Honor games on PS1, Hidden & Dangerous is a deeply complex and difficult tactical shooter that incorporates plenty of realism and strategy. Anyone looking to “spray and pray” in a World War II setting should definitely steer clear. That said, Hidden & Dangerous is another technical marvel on the PlayStation, with the unique version developed for the console (handled by Tarantula Studios) serving as a groundbreaking example of how to implement the normally PC-centric tactical shooter gameplay on a console.

Medal of Honor: Underground

• Release Date — October 24, 2000
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Developer — DreamWorks Interactive
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)
• Setting — World War II
• Genre — First-Person Shooter

As a sequel to one of the most beloved World War II FPS of all time, Medal of Honor: Underground had a lot to live up to. Thankfully, Underground does a great job of honoring the Medal of Honor legacy while also pushing the franchise forward, for the most part. The change in setting certainly helps give the game its own unique identity in comparison to its predecessor, and the story-driven campaign is a high point for the series that later World War II games like The Saboteur would try to replicate, telling harrowing tales of resistance members working to liberate France from German occupation. That said, many of the levels and setpieces in Underground come off feeling like more of the same, albeit a lesser version of what players experienced in Medal of Honor. But when the original is so good, more of a good thing is never bad.

Warhawk

• Release Date — November 10, 1995
• Publisher — Sony Computer Entertainment
• Developer — Sony Interactive Studios America, SingleTrac
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)
• Setting — Future
• Genre — Flight Combat

One of the PlayStation’s North American launch titles, Warhawk is a superb first or third-person flight combat game that takes place in the not-too-distant future. Players get to control the titular vehicle throughout several white-knuckle missions as they attempt to take down a would-be dictator and his army, and the game never lets up on the throttle once until the credits roll. The setting and the warcraft may be futuristic, but anyone with even a passing knowledge of how to play a flight combat game will find plenty familiar and enjoyable about Warhawk, including its clear connections to the Twisted Metal franchise thanks to both titles coming from developer SingleTrac.

In The Hunt

• Release Date — November 10, 1995
• Publisher — Irem
• Developer — Irem
• Review Aggregate Score — 52% (Mixed or Average)
• Setting — Post-Apocalypse
• Genre — Shmup (Shoot ’em Up)

It wouldn’t be a war and military-themed game list without some shoot ’em ups, as the genre has almost always been split between military and space themes. One of the best on the PlayStation is the post-apocalyptic In The Hunt, which trades jets and spaceships for a trusty submarine. Part of what makes In The Hunt unique among other shmups is the fact that the screen does not automatically scroll, with players instead maneuvering their submarine across stages that only scroll as the player advances. Between this and its visuals, In The Hunt actually shares quite a bit of DNA with the excellent Metal Slug, which makes sense given that both games share personnel between them.

Command & Conquer

• Release Date — September 26, 1995
• Publisher — Westwood Studios
• Developer — Westwood Studios
• Review Aggregate Score — 87% (Generally Favorable)
• Setting — Modern Warfare
• Genre — RTS

Westwood’s Command & Conquer is undoubtedly one of the greatest RTS games of the genre’s heyday in the 1990s, and its PS1 version is surprisingly excellent for a genre that typically relies on mouse and keyboard controls to operate correctly. Regardless of needing to use a controller to navigate menus and issue commands to units, the PS1 version ofCommand & Conquer retains all the other hallmarks of what made the 1995 PC original such a classic. Some players might prefer the more future-focused Red Alert as the superior console RTS on the PS1, but for my money, the original Command & Conquer is still the shining example of how to take an RTS and properly implement it on a console.

Front Mission 3

• Release Date — September 2, 1999
• Publisher — Square
• Developer — Square
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)
• Setting — Future
• Genre — TRPG/SRPG

It’s impossible to make a list of the best war games on PS1 and not mention Square’s excellent Front Mission 3. Similar to Namco’s Ace Combat games, the Front Mission series drops players into the not-too-distant future to imagine a semi-realistic conflict between real-world superpowers, albeit with the benefit of them each using super-advanced technology to wage war. In Front Mission‘s case, that technology is massive humanoid robots deployed and controlled by ultra-skilled pilots. Using a grid-based movement system and turn-based battling to take down opponents and meet objectives, Front Mission 3 is an excellent TRPG on the PS1 that really hones in on its RPG elements in a way that its predecessors in the series do not.

Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere

• Release Date — May 27, 1999
• Publisher — Namco
• Developer — Namco
• Review Aggregate Score — 74% (Mixed or Average)
• Setting — Future
• Genre — Flight Combat

Speaking of Ace Combat, the phenomenal Ace Combat 3 belongs on any “best of” list featuring PS1 games, especially where war and military-themed games are concerned. But not all versions of Ace Combat 3 were created equal, with the original Japanese release far outshining the Western localization. If players can get their hands on it either through importing or playing an emulated copy, the Japanese version of Ace Combat 3 has a much more fleshed-out story and additional missions that make it both the definitive versionof Ace Combat 3 and the best game in the series prior to Ace Combat 7. The North American release is still a great flight combat game in line with the rest of the series, but its cut content makes it slightly inferior to the excellent North American release of Ace Combat 2.

Strikers 1945 II

• Release Date — September 9, 2000
• Publisher — Success
• Developer — Psikyo
• Review Aggregate Score — N/A
• Setting — Alternate-History World War II
• Genre — Shmup (Shoot ’em Up)

Not just the best World War II shmup on the PlayStation, Strikers 1945 II might just be the best World War II shmup ever. Taking players through 8 blistering stages in an alternate history World War II setting, Striker 1945 II also has a strong claim to being the best game from developer Psikyo, who is no stranger to developing incredible, timeless shmups. Unfortunately for North American players, Strikers 1945 II would only be released in Japan and PAL regions, with Western players locked into just enjoying its predecessor. Still, if it was possible to get ahold of an imported copy or play it via emulation, it was (and still is) obvious how excellent Striker 1945 II is, and the PlayStation port does a great job of carrying over most of the thrills of the original arcade version.

Syphon Filter

• Release Date — February 16, 1999
• Publisher — 989 Studios
• Developer — Eidetic
• Review Aggregate Score — 90% (Universal Acclaim)
• Setting — Modern Warfare
• Genre — Third-Person Shooter, Stealth

It may have had the unfortunate luck of releasing in the wake of one of the greatest stealth action games ever made, but Syphon Filter is another great entry in the subgenre that deserves a second look all these years later. Ultimately, Syphon Filter‘s focus is way more oriented toward action than Metal Gear Solid. This emphasis on gunplay and fluid movement serves the title well, especially in its more straightforward third-person shooter stages. Sure, some of the stealth-focused segments fall flat in comparison to Metal Gear Solid. But where run n’ gun spy action is concerned, Syphon Filter ekes out a slight edge thanks to its greater focus on combat and accessibility.

Medal of Honor

• Release Date — November 10, 1999
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Developer — DreamWorks Interactive
• Review Aggregate Score — 92% (Universal Acclaim)
• Setting — World War II
• Genre — First-Person Shooter

Were it not for Metal Gear Solid, Medal of Honor would undoubtedly be the best war game on PS1. Both the original game and the series it spawned come from the mind of Steven Spielberg, who wanted to make a World War II shooter after seeing the success of GoldenEye 007 on Nintendo 64. The first Medal of Honor is both an excellent first-person shooter and one of the first console-exclusive FPS games to almost outdo its PC counterparts. The weaponry, settings, level design, and atmosphere are all top-notch, putting players directly into the shoes of an OSS agent sent behind enemy lines and delivering one amazing setpiece after another. Truly, Medal of Honor is. a game that belongs in every PS1 library, regardless of a player’s affinity for shooters or World War II settings.

Metal Gear Solid

• Release Date — September 3, 1998
• Publisher — Konami
• Developer — Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
• Review Aggregate Score — 94% (Universal Acclaim)
• Setting — Modern Warfare
• Genre — Stealth Action

Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid is more than just one of the PS1’s best war games. It’s also one of the most important games ever made, showcasing that interactive media was a format capable of complex and emotional storytelling on par with the best cinema. Aside from its paradigm-shifting properties and historical importance, though, Metal Gear Solid is just a phenomenal game that’s still fun to play more than 25 years later. For those of us who played the NES port of the original MSX Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid felt like the next logical leap in how a stealth game should play, and developers have been playing catch-up with Kojima and this 1998 masterpiece for more than a quarter century. More than just a game with a wartime setting, Metal Gear Solid communicates important lessons about the horrors of war that stick with players long after they finish it.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Metal Gear Solid gameplay screenshot.