Metal Gear Acid burns stores

Konami of America announced today that it has shipped its first US game for the Sony PSP, which will go on sale at the stroke of midnight on March 24. The debut game is Metal Gear Acid, a scaled-down cousin of the Metal Gear Solid series, which debuted on the PlayStation and PlayStation 2. Rated M for Mature, the game retails for $39.99.

Unlike the console Metal Gear games, which focus on stealth action, Metal Gear Acid's gameplay centers on card-strategy battles. Players will have a certain number of points per turn that they can expend on actions that will help them complete the mission--when they have zero points, they must rest while opponents take their turns. To invoke a particular action, players need to play its corresponding card, which is lost after being used. Most cards correspond to equipment from the MGS series, including a silenced SOCOM pistol card, a body armor card, and so on.

The full review of Metal Gear Acid will go up Thursday as part of GameSpot's complete US PSP Launch coverage. In the meantime, peruse the previous coverage of the game for more information.