Some people should look at the game itself, and not judge from it's older titles.
But by itself, the 3rd Birthday is an excellent game, and so far one of the only good shooters I've seen on the PSP.
The game starts with a boring and gritty tutorial, which in an instant makes you think that this is a horrid shooter with no skill needed whatsoever.
This because the aim system is more of a lock-on system, meaning you really don't actually aim.
Once you notice all of the special abilities with the battle system, you realize this is no ordinary shooter, and that more shooting games should learn a thing or two from it.
You first notice an awesome technique called the overdive, which allows you to change place with any soldier in your party.
So say you've just been killed, not a problem!
Simply use the overdive and replace yourself with a soldier.
Or if you're stuck somewhere on the map and a soldier is standing in a significant place, easily use the overdive.
The overdive can also work as an attack, where you jump into a monsters body and somewhat implode it, but this can only be done on occasion.
Next is a special technique where you can charge your aim on a foe, and end up having your whole party do an endless blitz of attacks on the enemy.
And among all of this, is even the liberation mode, which is somewhat like a limit break.
You can charge your liberation by continuously attacking until the gauge is filled.
And like any other action/shooter game, the liberation is mainly a strong transformation that can save your skin.
Now even though your handgun is pretty much worthless, it helps you significantly because it's the only weapon in the game that can charge the liberation as fast as it does.
So this game in a nutshell, is the only shooter I have ever seen that requires this much strategy.
I wont go much more into detail, but if your curiosity is peaked, take a look into it.