Review: Resistance Retribution

One of the Sony big hitter exclusives of the current generation is the Resistance series, starting with Resistance: Fall of Man as a PS3 launch title and continuing with the recently released Resistance 2 on the same format. Technically very proficient with great production values and an interesting enough story, the games have settled in to being a competitor to the Xbox’s Gears of War series, despite different gameplay styles and a tonne of fanboyism. Ironically, it’s this title, the first of perhaps many on the PSP format that takes a step closer to Gears, in gameplay at least.

Naturally, throwing a first person shooter onto the PSP’s rather limited control scheme with only one analogue nub makes little sense, which is why the game is in third person view. The aiming is performed by pushing the face buttons, and to offset the rather unruly controls, there is a large box in the screen which your character, James Grayson, will auto target anything within. It’s a simplistic mechanism that seems to work well to keep a sense of fast paced and frantic combat, while avoiding the problems of the PSP’s limitations.

Where do we fit into this

Adding to the Resistance mythology well, the game takes place in the time between the PS3 games and follows the aforementioned Grayson as he rampages around trying to kill as many Chimera as possible in revenge of his brother’s death. Production values are expectedly top notch with some strongly accented but well acted voice work, and dramatic music, especially when heard through headphones. The dialogue all seems pretty well written, but doesn’t hide from a surprising amount of bad language; parents be warned.

The level design is also excellent given the system limitations. While avoiding the enormous sweeping detailed vistas from the PS3 equivalents, Resistance: Retribution manages to pull some great performance and iconic imagery out of the PSP, varying the locations and challenges well throughout the game.

Further controls

The Gears of War analogy starts and ends with the inclusion of a simple to use, but effective cover system. Run into cover and you’ll automatically hide behind, ready to pop out when you hit the right shoulder button, which shoots your currently selected weapon. A decent selection of weapons will be right at home to fans of the series, with the familiar Auger, Fareye and LAARK missile launcher added to the genre’s staple inclusions of shotguns, and machine guns.

In general there can be no doubting that the right design decisions have been made to facilitate the transfer of the franchise to the portable format, and thankfully this means the combat is satisfying. Beyond that however, if you link up your PSP to your PS3, running Resistance 2, you’ll be able to ‘infect’ your copy of the game allowing for different features (from recharging health to extra weapons) and it even lets you play the game using your PS3 controller and the removal of the auto aim. Through this, there’s a lot of replayability, even before you consider the standard single player enticements.

Collectables and Skill points

Dotted around the more obscure areas of each location are intel documents which add to the story of the game, and give the gold digger player reason to explore completely and revisit the game to pick them all up. If you manage, you’ll unlock another weapon to use, but perhaps the biggest draw for completists is the achievement/trophy like Skill Point system. Based upon varying hidden objectives (though once you’ve played a level, you can check out the list from the main menu) such as defeating a string of enemies without losing health, or using specific weapons against specific foes, accomplishing them unlocks a skill point, which gives further tasks beyond ‘get through each level’ and dramatically increases the pull for replayability.

Again, scoring them all will net you a new weapon, so if you add that to the 8-10 hour campaign there’s a lot of bang here for your buck. Then there’s multiplayer too. Available in both Ad Hoc and Infrastructure mode, your standard (Team or normal) Deathmatch and Capture The Flag options remain present, and well executed, with the addition of Containment (and its rather unfortunate shortened name) and Assimilation as modes to enjoy.

The more the merrier

Containment puts you in two teams and essentially involves holding objectives for as long as possible, gradually draining the enemy team’s energy bar. Assimilation does pretty much what it says on the tin. The endlessly respawning Cloven side must kill the Marquis, which causes any fatality to join their side. A countdown limits the action in case the Marquis are too well holed up, but it all makes for a fun and interesting set of game types.

The multiplayer system supports friend lists and voice chat if you’ve got a microphone available. Five maps are available, and can be used on any game type, while a ranking system with unlockable features makes it worthwhile, and has worked well to attract me back whenever the opportunity has arisen.

Clichés aren’t all bad

The campaign is host to the almost obligatory turret sequences and vehicular combat moments (which all seem very easy, but fun) to shake things up a bit, and the boss fights are generally very well designed if a little unspectacular when compared to Resistance 2’s building sized foes. Even the conclusion builds up well to an ambiguous but satisfying finale.

Overall, there is little to complain about with Resistance: Retribution, and if you’re a fan of the series already, you’ll have plenty here to keep you occupied for a fair chunk of time. The game is definitely worth the cash. The only thing that could turn off potential buyers might be the departure from first person view, but while you can still zoom in to this method of aiming to pick off specific targets and headshot certain enemies that go down much quicker that way, it’s never really missed too much. This PSP inception of the franchise will definitely be remembered as an important part of it, rather than a bastard child desperate to cash in.