Three years ago Sony's Bend studio, originator of Syphon Filter, released the PSP exclusive Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror. Not only was it the pinnacle of that series, good enough to be ported to the PlayStation 2, but it was also one of the best games created for the PSP. Three years (and one sequel, Logan's Shadow) later, Dark Mirror is still one of the best games on the portable. Which makes Resistance: Retribution of particular interest. Can Sony Bend transplant Dark Mirror's replayable, intense action to the Resistance universe?

Wait, this is a PSP game? Nice work, Sony Bend.

Retribution tracks James Grayson, a court-martialed British soldier who went slightly AWOL after finding (and killing) his brother, who was locked deep within a Chimera conversion center. He ends up working both with and against a French resistance force, but primarily spends the game blasting the hell out of hundreds of Chimera.

Here's my admission: I'm bringing arguably unreasonable hopes to the table. Dark Mirror is a layered tactical shooter, equally capable in terms of action and stealth. It has a wealth of unlockable skills and weapons, and the short missions each have several avenues to success, which invites several replays.

Downside of portable system play: you won't face many enemies on-screen at once.

Retribution does not have most of these things. Because it is part of the Resistance timeline, there was evidently some need to place it within the series' gameplay bounds. Rather than a tactical shooter, this is a fairly straightforward first-person shooter. That form doesn't do well on the PSP, so Bend has added an aim assist that generally keeps your reticule on top of enemies that are within a broad targeting window. You can turn the system off, or zoom in for precision shots, but to get the most out of the run-and-gun gameplay, you'll want it enabled.

What Retribution does bring over is a great control design and some excellent gameplay systems. The PSP's Syphon Filter games used a "sticky" cover system that has been refined and improved in Retribution. When close to a doorjamb or low wall, Grayson will easily "stick" to it to take cover, and if necessary he'll kneel automatically do to so. Leaning out to target and shoot is easy, too, which shows Bend's deep experience with the system.

As long as it's in that rough yellow box, the game will do most of your aiming.

So the basic movement and shooting controls feel great, and you can easily interact with other characters and the environment in context-sensitive situations. As in Dark Mirror and the other Syphon Filter games on the PSP, the face buttons fine-tune your aim, and the shoulder buttons and d-pad controls make selecting and using weapons about as painless an operation as you'll find in a PSP shooter.

All of which makes the basic action surprisingly pleasant. Yes, compared to both the big-brother Resistance games and Bend's other PSP efforts, the action feels a bit simple, and rarely challenging. But it works, and when you realize how much detail has been packed into the environments, and how rough character models are cleverly camouflaged by well-drawn skins, it's hard not to admire the craft.

The only place the action falters is in encounters with new enemies called Boilers. These are pretty classic "aliens who blow up," and should be shot in the head, preferably from a distance. The precision required takes learning and patience, and seems too demanding for the control set. But eventually, having built skills over time, I was able to knock out most Boilers quickly and safely.

Talking!

One ambition that has often failed Sony Bend (to one degree or another) is narrative. The studio's scripts are generally too verbose, and not particularly driving or intriguing. That's the case again with Retribution, which always goes for more rather than less as it tells Grayson's story. The plentiful voice acting is not particularly good, and I was usually seized by the desperate desire to button through most cut scenes.

Small system, big enemies. Good things.

The simplified action works quite well in the multiplayer, which does a fine job of replicating console deathmatches on the portable system. The Assimilation mode, in which human players killed by aliens in turn become aliens, is particularly frantic and compelling. Regular players can also earn badges and perks. Badges are awarded for things like using stealth or completing missions without firing a shot, and often came with corresponding weapons, which gave a serious advantage in on- or offline play. It's these rewards that made Dark Mirror so much fun to replay, and I long for similar details in the Retribution solo campaign.

PlayStation 3 owners get a few extra perks. By connecting the PSP to a console running Resistance 2, you can "infect" the PSP, which removes little concerns like health management, and offers extra weapons and game modes. You can also control the game with a DualShock 3, either while looking at the display on the PSP or, if you've got the proper cable, via the second- and third-generation PSPs' video out option.

I haz PS3. I is infected. I hard to kill.

That's a neat trick, but I'd rather the studio had just embraced the portable. The PSP is already a system with an identity crisis; why exacerbate things by offering the option to bypass the built-in hardware controls? That plays like a tacit admission that they're deficient. This is mostly true, but Sony Bend is one of the few studios that has really worked with the PSP's limitations rather than against or around them.

As Sony is very openly trying to build the PSP as a competitive gaming platform in the West (only a few years too late), Retribution is a sort of first salvo in the war for attention. It's a potent one, and a solid piece of proof that the portable is worth keeping out of mothballs.

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.