Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced that the North American release of Gangs of London will only be available for the Sony Play Station Portable (PSP) system.

The game itself is similar to the ever-popular Vice City. In Gangs of London, you can go through several missions to take you throughout modern-day London’s criminal underworld. The game is wisely rated M, for it uses gritty narratives along with graphic-novel style graphics that make it look like a full-color version of Frank Miller’s Sin City. Gamers can play single, or war with other PSP players.

The games features several modes of play. One of them is Story Mode, where you can choose a gang you want to lead and then go on missions in order to take over the Queen’s captial. Players can then engage in Gang Battle mode, which uses an interactive map as well as criminal strategies in order to defend or take more turf. There are many other surprises in the seven Free Roaming Modes which allow you to explore 25 miles of virtual London within the game. These modes allow a player a game with specific goals, and even allow mini-games like pub pool and darts.

Another interesting feature is that PSP Game Share will kick in to generate a new level that is unique to every PSP user. Players in this mode will have new missions, environments, characters, and even weaponry.

It sounds like Sony is predicting that Gangs of London will be quite a hit, and is obviously targeted toward those who are better off waging virtual turf wars then real ones. However, I can’t help but wonder why this is just being targeted toward the PSP. A game like this should be for the PlayStation 2, and maybe a cooler version for the PlayStation 3 when it finally comes out. Is this just a way to increase PSP sales in order to beat the rising sales of the Nintendo DS Lite? I wonder.