Games for Lunch: Resistance: Retribution

In a nutshell: Oh look, another Chimera to auto-aim at.
6/22/2009 6:34 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 3

Developer: Sony Bend
Publisher: SCEA
Release Date: March 17, 2009
System: PSP
ESRB Rating: M
Official Web site

0:00 I'm really interested to see how the intensely detailed PS3 dual-stick shooter makes the conversion to the diminutive, less powerful handheld.

0:01 The title appears over a yellowed map of Europe and a skull and crossbones, only the crossbones aren't crossbones ... they're GUNS! YIKES!

0:02 Looks like the face buttons take the place of the second analog stick. I'm not fully convinced this'll work well. My fresh-faced protagonist looks out, rifle in hand, as I choose "Campaign" from the menu. I'm constantly amazed that a portable system can turn out 3-D graphics like these.

0:03 I choose Normal difficulty because I don't wanna be a wuss. "I had heard of Grayson, of course," says an unseen narrator. "Everyone had, in those days leading up to the fall of the London tower." One night in Manchester, Grayson's life changed forever. We see a mutant tower over a human on a slab. "We got a live one here. No. No, Johnny. No! Johnny..." Grayson's brother has been "changed." "We can't let him live." Bang! Bro's death sent Grayson over the edge, apparently. He deserted and tried to destroy conversion centers on his own. Months later, at the trials, he found "the law makes no exception" for desertion.

0:06 Grayson would have died in prison except for the intervention of ... Raine Bouchard, of the French Maquis. She wants help taking out a Chimera Tower in Paris. "Taking orders from frogs and a broad. No thanks, sister?" he says in his best "Rebel Without a Cause" impression. "So you lost your family," Bouchard responds. "Look around, we all lost family." Decent writing and presentation, here.

0:09 The Chimera aren't dying, they're evolving. Bouchard's dad has a new serum that stops the new conversion process. She needs help getting the stuff to finish it, though. "Tell Cartwright I want my brother's jacket back," says Grayson. He's joining "Operation Overstrike." Two squadrons, four hours apart, attacking fortifications along the Western European coast. They'll infilitrate Paris through Luxembourg. As they fly in, huge energy weapon takes out a propeller plane. "Bail out, bail out!" We do, just as the plane explodes behind us.

0:12 "Operation Overstrike is off to a piss-poor start," reads Grayson's diary. That's putting it mildly... Gun towers are "chewing us up." He lands hard in a rotting building. "Rotterdam is crawling with Chimera..." says Bouchard. "I left death row for this?" responds Grayson. Screw the rendezvous point, we're gonna take out the energy gun so the next parachuting squad doesn't take the same fire.

0:15 In control now, shooting Chimera from a window. Doesn't seem as lively as in the PS3 game yet ... the enemies just stand there. I like the digital aiming ... slower, but easier to place my shots accurately.

0:18 I'm wondering why my movement is so sluggish, until I realize I have the "manual aim" turned on. Once that's off, I can mosey around at a good clip, with the camera over my shoulder. Still wondering where to go, though.

0:19 A handprint on a wardrobe. Tap down on the d-pad, then tap X repeatedly to move it. Why can't I just press X once? Is hitting the button 10 times really more "interactive"?