Whatever you do don't call this Resistance Lite! Retribution packs a bigger punch than its console counterpart
User Rating: 9 | Resistance: Retribution PSP
Yeah! I SAID IT! Resistance: Retribution is a better game than Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance 2! Its two console brethen is of course visually superior...but that's where the superiority stops imo. The storytelling and character development are far greater in Retribution. I actually had fun playing as James Grayson...who was dynamic character with emotional dilimmas and conflicts that go beyond the Chimerian war. The story in this game actually made you care and wonder what was to become of certain characters. The prior two Resistance games severly failed in these areas and relied more on high quality gameplay. Which brings me to my next point...another reason why I enjoyed playing as Grayson is because he definately makes up for his lack of healing factor with the ability to carry more than two weapons at once and automatically stick to covers to avoid enemy attacks. Plus health packs are plentiful in the game. There were a few things that did bother me about the game. For starters, it is more difficult than its console predecessor but its due to its heavy reliance on, at times, overwhelming swarms of enemies and cheap kills. Also, many players will find themselves developing a love-hate relationship between the auto-cover feature. Some times, you may find yourself taking cover when its least convienent and making yourself highly suseptible to enemy fire. Lastly, the checkpoint feature in this game is pretty useless unless you finish the levels in one playthrough or put or PSP to sleep (which drains battery power). Basically, if you shut your PSP down at any time during a level, you will have to start from the beginning of the level the next time you play despite gaining a checkpoint. I can't comment too much on the "Infected Mode" of the game (the result of integrating the game with Resistance 2 for the PS3) since I never tried it, but the idea behind sound pretty awesome and does highten the chances of me going back to explore the game.
My Breakdown:
What's Good:
- Best story in the series
- Great character development
- Excellent graphical translation of a PS3 hit
- Functions well as a traditional 3rd person shooter
- James Grayson > Nathan Hale
- Being able to carry every weapon at once
- Auto-cover
- The infected mode option
What's Not-So-Good:
- Grayson not having a healing factor was a bit of a disappointment initally
- The auto-cover can work against you many times in the game
What's Bad:
- The uselessness of checkpoints. Only useful for one sitting.
- The game's difficulty relying on throwing seemingly endless amount of enemies at the player and cheap deaths.
In all, Resistance: Retribution definately sets a new standard for PSP ports from console series and proves that some times portal games can be overall better than console games. This leaves me really hopeful for what to expect in Resistance 3 since Retribution is the last game in the series to be released. I hope many of its features are refined and integrated into future console games and the possible return of James Grayson.
