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We all know handheld games are good clean fun, but handheld shooters make about as much sense as a pig in high heels and are usually just as uncomfortable. Considering that, setting out to review a shooter on the Sony PlayStation Portable with the word "resistance" in the title seemed psychologically fitting.
Resistance: Retribution is the third game in the Resistance series and revisits the same alternate alien-infested, retro world as its predecessors. The game is set in the 1950s and concerns humanity's resistance to an alien race called the Chimera who, after occupying most of the world, is busily converting human beings into slavering monstrosities. Retribution follows the adventures of ex-British Marine James Grayson, a man with a personal vendetta against the Chimera and a talent for killing them.
Resistance: Retribution's third-person gameplay will be very familiar to shooter fanatics, consisting mainly of running around with a wide array of firearms, looking for Intel, and shooting anything that moves. Weapons are standard issue and include rifles, chain guns, grenades, missile launchers and the Augur, an effective little beauty that throws a protective shield and shoots through walls. This range of weapons is put to good use. In some shooters, you'll find one gun to be the most efficient and never need the other ones. In Retribution, as you encounter a smorgasbord of ugly, alien-made grunts ranging from the wall-crawling to the head-exploding, you'll find the different weapon types are not a luxury, they're a necessity.
Fun as it is to mow down the baddies, key to the gameplay is evasion and cover. In many instances you'll be overwhelmed by numbers and getting through some of the particularly hot firefights takes strategy and patience. Thankfully, the game's Aim Assist and cover mechanics work with you, not against you. Aiming is done using the square, triangle, circle and X buttons and is somewhat awkward. Luckily, the reticle (most of the time) auto-snaps to the nearest target, making targeting easy. Taking cover is also easy since Grayson moves seamlessly into and out of cover behind walls and barriers just by using the analog stick to move him toward or away from them.
These are good things about Resistance: Retribution and the good doesn't stop there. The level design is solid, sometimes creative, (there's an underwater boss fight) and presents enough variety to prevent the dreaded "hallway deja vu". The pacing of the game is also good and due to the smart distribution of health, ammo drops, and checkpoints, it skillfully walks the line between exciting and exhausting by giving you a breather when you need it. What's nicest about the intervals between action sequences is that you get to appreciate the graphics. The environment art is high quality for something seen on a five- inch screen, and for the most part, the character art and motion capture animation lives up to the same standard. There are a surprising number of well-done cut scenes in the game too, making it clear that the same effort was made for the PSP as for the previous PlayStation 3 titles.
That's the good news about Resistance: Retribution. Now for the bad news. Remember that mention at the start of the review about pigs in high heels? Well unfortunately, Resistance: Retribution's controls are just as awkward and painful as they might be. The difficulty of using the buttons to aim, the analog nubbin to move, the directional pad to switch weapons and the R button to fire while trying to support the weight of the PSP with your remaining fingers is a pain in the...hand. Aside from the physical discomfort, the controls often undermine you during the most heated battles in a way the PS3 controller never would. There just doesn't seem to be an elegant control solution yet for shooters on the handheld, or at least on the PSP.
The second negative of the game is the too-long narrative. Each level is separated by a lengthy slideshow and voiceover explaining the extremely involved storyline It's too easy to zone out, like during those endless trade embargo sequences in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Sure, story is great, but sometimes it's just TMI.
Graphics were mentioned before as getting a thumbs up, but if you recall, there was a little "for the most part" qualifier attached. The first and most obvious example of—to use the technical term— "not good" art is the hero James Grayson. More specifically, his hair, which looks like a $3 toupee. Worse than his bad rug, are the women in the game. Poor Lieutenant Bouchard, poor Colonel Parker! You were supposed to be hot babes but your vaguely-reptilian ventriloquist's dummy mouths held you back. Oh and speaking of these ahem...lovely ladies, the final uneven aspect of the game is the voiceover. The British characters in the game sound great but get a load of the phony French accents of Bouchard and Grayson's nemesis Colonel Mallery! They're pretty ridiculous.
Resistance: Retribution offers gamers a single-player story campaign as well as eight-player online multiplayer with Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Containment, and Assimilation modes. Two other unique modes are included in the game as well and are dependent on linking your PSP to your PS3 via USB. Resistance Retribution Plus mode allows you to use your DualShock controller to play the game at a more challenging level of difficulty while Infected mode creates an alternate history and gives Grayson regenerative health and the ability to breath underwater.
In spite of some problems, Resistance: Retribution is a challenging, well-designed third-person shooter with lots of replayability. If you don't mind cheesy accents and hand cramps, it's a title worth picking up.
Fun Factor: Aside from being a little too hard on the fingers, Retribution is a solid shooter.
Game Length: Depending on difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard), 10-16 hours.
Difficulty: Challenging on Normal but has three settings to choose from.
On the Negative Side: Controls are awkward and painful.
Bang for Your Buck: Lots of replayability found in redoing levels to improve skill points, gathering Intel items, engaging in multiplayer battles and enjoying bonus Retribution Plus and Infection modes. A whole heap o' gameplay for $39.99.
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