Resistance: Retribution

Insomniac Games is no stranger to handheld spin-offs of their games being developed by other studios, and Resistance is no exception. Following the release of Resistance 2, the first of these spin-offs, Resistance: Retribution (Retribution), was developed for the PSP by Bend Studio. When I first played the original Insomniac trilogy of games, I didn’t have any interest in playing this game, however news of the PlayStation Store closures (before that decision was reversed) led me to panic buy a physical copy with the intent of playing it at some point in the future. Now that I have, I was pleasantly surprised by the overall quality of the game to where I wonder why I didn’t play it sooner.

Set between the events of Resistance: Fall of Man (Fall of Man) and Resistance 2, Lieutenant James Grayson takes down a Chimera to save his brother from the conversion process. However, his brother begins to turn, leading to the difficult decision to kill him out of protocol. In an act of revenge against the Chimera, Grayson goes off on his own to take down as many conversion centers as possible, though despite his success he is put on trial for desertion. In his cell, Lieutenant Raine Bouchard visits him with the proposition of working for the Maquis to set him free. Grayson rejects her offer out of his own principles, however he is convinced when he’s told they need his help to find ingredients for a serum that will halt the conversion process.

While largely made without the involvement of Insomniac, the story is still compelling and well-written in its own right, expanding on the events of the main series without interfering with their respective campaigns. The decision to focus on a new character, James Grayson, was a good idea in this case, helped by Robin Atkin Downes’ voice acting as well as Grayson having an interesting character arc and his personality shining through more than Nathan Hale’s in Fall of Man on account of being fully voiced from the start. The events of Retribution are further expanded upon in loading screens and collectible Intel, which increase the immersion by presenting information from Grayson’s perspective exclusively.

The core gameplay is similar to that of Fall of Man, complete with a multilayered Weapon Wheel to change your strategies on the fly, however it’s strategically and creatively adjusted to account for the PSP’s lack of buttons compared to a DualShock 3. Unusually for a Resistance game, Retribution is presented in a third-person perspective, which works well for its handheld nature and gameplay adjustments. To compensate for this, there is an aim assist turned on by default where it locks on to an enemy based on their position within a designated zone, plus you automatically take cover when you move next to an appropriate spot in the environment. The lone analog stick is used for movement while the face buttons adjust the camera, which manages to feel natural, though an alternate control scheme exists that swaps these for those who prefer it.

The aim assist works well for the portable space, though this can be turned off.

Much of the other actions are mapped to the D-Pad, namely zooming and swapping weapons as well as environmental interactions. Holding right freezes time and summons the Weapon Wheel, in which you can use the shoulder buttons and face buttons to navigate and select the weapon you want. Outside of this, the shoulder buttons act as primary and secondary fire. Though I was able to adjust to the new controls rather quickly, there was the occasional moment where my muscle memory from the other games slipped through and I accidentally pressed Triangle to summon the Weapon Wheel instead.

Additionally, Retribution features two forms of connectivity with Resistance 2, by connecting the PSP to the PS3 through a USB cable while in the main menu for both games. One of these is Resistance: Retribution Plus, which lets you use a DualShock 3 to play Retribution while still tethered to the PS3, with the controls adjusted for use with a full controller. For starters, you can finally use the right analog stick to control the camera, though the aim assist is inaccessible in this mode. L2 and R2 swap weapons while holding either of them summons the Weapon Wheel, though L1/R1 and the face buttons are still used for navigation. Additionally, all commands that require pressing down on the D-Pad are remapped to Cross. While the PSP controls are good on their own, I found the DualShock 3 controls a lot more natural, even at the cost of portability. You may also need to find some way to hold the PSP upright to avoid neck strain, and in this case I improvised by propping it up with a drawing tablet.

The other connectivity option is Infected Mode, which requires the USB connection to infect Retribution and can be played entirely un-tethered, though this mode is deactivated as soon as you turn the PSP off. This creates an alternate timeline in which Grayson is infected by a unique strain of the Chimera virus, with Grayson’s appearance and some dialogue altered to reflect this. The gameplay is the same, however Grayson has regenerating health as Nathan Hale did in Resistance 2, plus there are now Infected Intel that you can pick up exclusively through this mode. In addition, you can also have Retribution Plus active at the same time to enable DualShock 3 support for Infected Mode.

Though the game uses a more realistic art style, the in-game visuals still look presentable despite the PSP’s graphical limitations, with the quality of the cutscenes somewhere between those of Fall of Man and Resistance 2. Health pickups and ammo have distinct designs that make them easily identifiable at a glance and Intel are placed in a way that they don’t blend in with the level design. While the subtitles are good at matching the dialogue for the most part, there was one instance in the intro to the late game River Approach level where the subtitles did not match the dialogue in any capacity. Though rare, there were also two occasions where I got stuck in the environment, including once during a boss fight where I almost won in spite of that.

The graphical limitations somehow do not hold back the realistic art
direction that much.

The game also features a multiplayer component, however the servers have since been shut down, rendering this feature inaccessible for those wishing to play it.

Resistance: Retribution is an example of a handheld spin-off title done right. The gameplay is creatively adjusted for the PSP in a way that feels natural and the storytelling is engaging in its own right, all without losing the identity of the Resistance series in the process. This makes it easy to recommend for Resistance fans, though its self-contained nature makes it a good fit for those looking for a well-executed shooter they can play on the go.