Admittedly, I'm not a big PSP gamer, as I only tend to play it when I either have a little free time that's not conducive to my playing on my PS3, or there's a title that comes out that I actively want to play and make time for. Needless to say, neither of these circumstances happens very much. In the latter case, it tends only to be the `GOD OF WAR' titles for the PSP, and in the former case, I tend to spend my money wisely by purchasing titles that have been reviewed well across the board and if possible, are from a series that I tend to play (again, `GOD OF WAR' or `TOMB RAIDER'). It's in this nice little niche that `RESISTANCE : Retribution' falls. Admittedly, I was skeptical at first of how an FPS game would translate to a handheld device that, 1) didn't have all of the controls the six-axis controller did and 2) was also small enough and not ergonomically designed, to the extent that it can cause hand cramping. Regardless of my skepticism though, I picked it up, and I'm largely glad I did. Here's why....
THE GOOD : Beyond the impressive graphics, cool looking enemies, and appropriately challenging levels, the first and most impressive thing that struck me about the game, was how the designers tackled the problem of aiming and looking around with the lack of a second joystick. For both of these functions, the PSP's four main buttons (circle, square, triangle and X) act as the second joystick. While you might tend to think this would be a serious pain in the @$$ (as did I at first), this skepticism diminishes almost immediately upon actually playing the game. This functionality is split into 2 separate but very similar mechanics. When it comes to walking around and looking in directions, the triangle & X buttons are up and down, respectively and the square & circle buttons are left and right, respectively. Since your hand is basically placed above these buttons as it is, it makes it all that much easier to control your character. Where it really becomes impressive (and easy) is the aiming. The PSP does the majority of the aiming for you. As long as you're pointed in the general direction of your attackers, the reticule will automatically draw itself to the hostile and highlight itself red so you know you're `on target'. If you're not, you'll need to use the four main buttons to get yourself pointed in the proper direction, but it's not problematic in the least bit. But don't let this make you think this game is easy or that it'll be a cakewalk. It's not and there are some points that are downright difficult as all get out. However none of this is due to movement or aiming which makes it acceptable when you get stuck in a certain spot for a longer bit of time than you have at other points in the game. In fact, there are other concessions to the PSP platform this game makes to help the player out, without making the game too easy. The other that comes right to mind is the `snap-to' cover system. If you're unfamiliar with this dynamic, it basically means that instead of approaching cover and crouching or making sure you're properly positioned behind it, simply getting close enough to it and in the right direction, will cause your character to automatically position itself in the appropriate defensive posture so as not to get hit by incoming fire, but to allow for retaliatory fire. And speaking of firing, weapon selection is also handled quite well on the PSP for this game. Simply holding the right arrow on the D-pad pauses the action (sometimes a very handy trick if you need to get your bearings or formulate a strategy!) and brings up the weapons selection display. Then by using the four main symbol buttons and the right bumper button, you can select from any weapon in your inventory. All in all, the very best things about `RESISTANCE : Retribution' on the PSP are the innovative and clever concessions to the platform the developers made. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that this game also comes with the ability to hook it up to your PS3 and, provided you have `RESISTANCE 2', play the game in `infected' mode, where your character gains regenerative health and a powerful magnum sidearm that shoots explosive rounds. Other capabilities exist for this game such as online play and the ability to connect this to your PS3 and play it with a six-axis controller (if you have the right set of cables) but, admittedly, I didn't mess with this option as I prefer to play a game on the platform it's designed for. Of course, there were also some things I would have preferred. Thus....
THE BAD : For a game that's so mechanically sound, that looks so good and that is appropriately challenging........why can it be (at times)so ......uninspired? That's not to say that the game is a lame duck, it's not worth your time, or that it's outright boring, but other than the mechanics, there's very little new here. Most of the enemy chimera are the same as you've seen in the 2 console games, the story plays out basically the same and the protagonist you play may as well be the one from the console shooters as well. Except, well, he talks a lot more and actually has some smarmy dialogue. Even the ability to gather intel is extrapolated from the console games and feels more stale than fresh. But then again, in games like this, that's become par for course, so I suppose it really shouldn't be a sore spot? But what was new, such as the ability to unlock skill points, felt a little forced, like it existed to take your mind away from the fact you were essentially playing a `bite-sized' version of the console games. Maybe it's just that I didn't play this game in a fairly short timeframe and that it was broken up over a couple of months due to time constraints, but even so, I never felt `compelled' to play this game because I just couldn't put it down. It was more like I just enjoyed it when I could. Then again, maybe I'm looking for a little too much when it comes to PSP games that fall into category 2 from my opening paragraph? Like `GOD OF WAR : Chains Of Olympus', `RESISTANCE : Retribution' is simply a `smaller' version of the console games - no more, no less. It basically transports as much of the full experience of the console games down onto the smaller PSP platform. I guess I shouldn't be looking for much more? Having said that, if that's the approach to be had, there really isn't much about this game.
THE BOTTOM LINE: As I just stated, `RESISTANCE : Retribution' not only successfully imports the RESISTANCE experience down onto the PSP, but makes some very innovative and clever mechanic and playability adjustments in doing so. With some of the additional features it has, such as the `infected mode', it's a very worthwhile and challenging game to play on the PSP. Not just for fans of the series, but also for fans of shooter games in general who are looking for a successful interpretation of the genre to a portable device. Overall this is an exceptionally well done game.
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