Resistance: Retribution

Resistance: Retribution is a third-person shooter developed exclusively for the PlayStation Portable. It was announced just under a year ago at Sony's E3 press conference and here we are now with only a few weeks between us and its release date.

Retribution takes place during the weeks following the conclusion of Resistance: Fall of Man through the eyes of a former British Royal Marine named James Grayson. At the beginning of the game James comes across his brother Jonny inside a Chimeran conversion center (for the uninitiated, this is a place that turns humans into monsters) and is forced to... put him down. As you'd expect, this takes a toll on James' mental state and he is later imprisoned for desertion. Poor guy!

Similar to how Fenix from Gears of War is enlisted from jail to fight an alien threat, so is James. This resistance, the Marquis, intend to take back Europe with James' help (as he's conveniently an expert at destroying Conversion Centers). This, to him, is also a way for him to cathartically avenge his brother's death.

The controls are fairly awkward and it took us some time getting used to but this is caveat of a 3D game on a system without two analogue sticks. To simplify the controls and remove the need for a third arm there is an aim assist option and a cover system which is largely automatic; walk up to cover and James'll cling to it. Again, it takes a bit of getting used to but once you come to grips with it the control scheme works quite well.

If this is still a bit bothersome then PSP+ mode may interest you. With a copy of Resistance 2 in your PlayStation 3, while having your PSP 2000 or 3000 connected via AV output to the television, you can play Resistance: Retribution with a DualShock 3 controller. The offset to this is that auto-aim gets disabled, which is fair enough. The icing on the cake is that this mode supports rumble too.

There is also another mode available via PSP to PS3 connectivity called Infected. By connecting Resistance: Retribution to Resistance 2 using a USB cable, going into the Resistance 2 options screen, and selecting "Infect your PSP!" you get an alternate story within the Retribution story arc. While in prison for desertion, James is recruited by Specter Lieutenant David LaSalle (a character from Resistance 2) and is infected with a mutated version of the Chimeran virus, a slightly different version of the virus that infects the protagonist, Nathan Hale, of the console Resistance.

While in Infected mode you get to use one of the new weapons from Resistance 2, the HE .44 Magnum, which fires explosive rounds that can be triggered remotely. James also gains regenerative health thus removing the need to search for health packs. There are also secret "intel" items to be found and once all have been collected you'll unlock another Resistance 2 weapon: the Plasma Grenades. The connectivity is more than just a gimmick, there's a lot of depth to the bonuses and it's something I certainly hope the PSP LittleBigPlanet developers take a note of.

The game is still very noticeably a Resistance title despite being translated into a portable platform. Right from the menu design to general look and feel of the environments you exchange gunfire with Chimerans in, it's all very familiar. We've only seen a small amount of the game but the full retail version which will be available at the end of March promises to take us all over Europe.

There's a demo currently available on the PS Store which will give you a good idea of how the game plays. Give the controls a bit of time and you're bound to enjoy it.