Just as Killzone 2 had a successful release on the PSP with Liberation, Resistance: Retribution tries to replicate the success, bringing the first-person shooter into third-person and making some concessions to make the game work without that second analogue stick.
This game sets the fight against the Chimera in Europe. As a soldier named James Grayson, you find yourself facing the firing squad after going a bit loopy after having to shoot your brother dead before he changes into one of the Chimera himself. Luckily, you’re bailed out of this sticky situation when asked to fight for the cause by a French group called the Maquis and so off you go to shoot lots of stuff.
To compensate for the lack of control you’d get with a DualShock pad, Sony have employed an auto-aim system which attempts to lock onto the nearest thing to your reticle, leaving you to aim, look and strafe using the action buttons on the right of the PSP. After a couple of minutes getting used to the control system, it works really well. Sometimes the auto aim can get confused and lock onto an enemy that’s far away when there are ones about to bash you over the head but it certainly didn’t mar my enjoyment of the game.
There’s also a fair selection of weapons to use. There’s the standard shotguns, rifles and machine guns and the Chimera’s guns which use alien technology such as shields and bullets which go through walls. You can even slow down the action when using your sniper rifle for some satisfying head shots.
Each level is short and snappy and it’s all very well balanced for short bursts of gameplay on the move, which, remember, is when handheld games work their best.
The enemy AI could do with being a bit cleverer but to be honest, it was as dumb as I expected it to be in a release of this nature. Most enemies just run towards you kamikaze style and ones with guns tend to pop out of cover and back until they’re eventually killed.
I really enjoyed this game, ok the voice acting is a little bit over-the-top but it ranks alongside the recent Syphon Filter game, also on the PSP. Resistance: Retribution gets a very good 7 out of 10.
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Related: Resistance 2 review, Killzone 2, Youtube Resistance Retribution review
