Resistance: Retribution (PSP) Review

After the “Meh” Resistance: Fall of Man and the good looks and multiplayer goodness of Resistance 2 we have the little brother striding in to town with a cheeky cockney grin and a big FUCK YOU attitude.  So do we embrace this offspring or bitch slap the little cockney sparrow?

Set in the weeks after first title on PS3, Resistance: Fall of Man, Retribution follows the story of a former British Marine, James Grayson – and what a prick he is, but more on that later.  After being forced to kill his own brother inside a Chimeran conversion center Grayson goes on a vendetta to destroy every conversion center he can find. Grayson is captured and sentenced to court martial for going AWOL even though he single handedly destroyed multiple Chimeran centres across the UK.  Luckily for Grayson he is freed by a member of the French resistance to help them deal with the conversions centres in mainland Europe.  Grayson learns that his earlier efforts have been futile… in Western Europe the Chimera have evolved a new method of converting humans. Whilst a member os the European resistance – the Maquis –  he joins Cartwright and Parker in Operation Overstrike and so the war to retake the European continent has begun.

Graphically this title rocks bells on the PSP.  Sure it’s no God of War but it recreates the world and environments from the PS3 big brothers very well indeed.  The graphics are a notch above Sony Bends Syphon Filter titles on the platform but they do feel a little “workman” like at times and glitches are occasional rather than frequent.  There are plenty of bells and whistles on display as well as sparks fly and light blooms all around you get the feeling they wanted to make you feel you were not getting short changed by the handheld edition – and you certainly don’t.  Sure you have the usual PSP “grainy” effect over the screen but that is a platform issue not a developer one.  All the models have been faithfully recreated and animation is also top notch.

Now on to the real meat of the game – how it plays.  Switching from first to the third person perspective has suited Sony’s Bend studio well in the past and they pull it off again here with stoic delivery.  If you have played either of the Syphon Filter game son the PSP then you know exactly how this title plays – EXACTLY.  Note that.   At times I really felt like I was playing Syphon Filter with a skin-change MOD applied to it.  That’s no bad thing by the way – just an observation.  The game relies, as did Syphon, on the heavy use of cover to keep you alive.  This is no run and gun session my friends oh no.  You make your way though the levels dipping in and out of cover whilst you take down the various Chimeran death machines.  This mechanic works very well, a it did in previous titles, and is mapped well to the PSP control scheme.

You move Grayson with your analogue nub, then use the four face button (T, S, X, O) to move your field of vision.  Bend have given you a massive “kill box” on the screen that extend around 2/3s of the area of the screen.  This means that any enemy in this kill zone will be auto targeted.  This might sound like a real pain in the arse and a total cheap but believe me you need the help.  That is no slight against the PSP and its lack of a second analogue nub.  No it has to do with the sheer volume and strength of the enemy.

As you progress through the games multiple levels you really get the feeling of connecting with the characters in the game.  Grayson has been taken from the Jason Statham school of action hero.  He is generally a bad who humps and kills pretty much anything that gets in his way – not normally at the same time I hasten to add!  He is a real dick but you kinda like his style.  The other characters are rounded enough for supporting roles and it all hangs together well.

There is a selection of extra content you can access if you own a copy of Resistance 2. You can “infect” your PSP by connecting it to R2, which also infects Grayson with the Chimeran virus.  This changes some minor lot points and in game play terms this allows Grayson to regenerate his health and breathe underwater.  Also, and this is a bit harsh, gives him access to a few powerful new weapons you can’t get any other way – like a tasty Magnum.

Sound wise the voice acting is OK – Grayson could of been less derivative of Jason Statham and the dialogue is piss poor a lot of the time.  Oh and PLEASE stop using the English to bash the French for fucks sake!  Music wise this game out does the platform is resides on.  The orchestral score that soars and dips as you head in to battle is simple wonderful.  The whole score just brings the game up a level on its own merits and is a credit to Sony Bends music department.

The single player will take you a fair amount of time for a portable game (I took roughly 10 hours in total) and each section of the game has small extra objectives for you to complete to give you incentive to return for another play though.  As well as that layer this title has probably the best multiplayer on the PSP.  You are involved in intense eight player multiplayer gameplay with five game modes including Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Containment and Assimilation which are all available via the PSP’s available via ad-hoc and infrastructure modes.  Admittedly, as with all online PSP titles, finding a game was sometimes hit and miss but for the most part there are a fair few people playing this.

Final Thoughts:

This is a superb 3rd-person shooter – by any standard.  The fact that they have managed to squeeze the Resistance universe down into the PSP is a feat in itself but Sony Bend have wrapped this round their tried and tested Syphone Filter engine and mechanics and what you have left is a Resistance themed Syphon Filter title.  For those still wondering that is a VERY good thing.  The game is not perfect, the graphics could of done with more work and the PSP is still shite for these kind of games control wise but Sony Bend are the masters of this now and bring it all together so well that it remains highly playable at all times.  Go grab it now for the PSP – it is not like the system is awash with top quality titles at the moment – though hopefully this is the sign of things to come.

Find more Resistance Retribution reviews over at Test Freaks

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