Well, I’ve finally played the Resistance game which came out on the PSP in 2009, only took sixteen years and official emulation to PS4 and PS5 to do so but hey. The version which Sony released on the PSN store is not really a emulation of the PSP version but rather the PS3 controller controlled version which could be accessed by attaching the PSP running Retribution to a PS3 which had Resistance 2 running which unlocked the “infected” mode in Retribution.
This port to the PS4 and PS5 includes both the standard story mode and the infected mode in which the player has access to regenerating health rather than just relying on traditional health packs. Like all other Playstation Classic titles, Retribution includes manual saves, a rewind feature when you mess up (which I did lean a bit on during boss fights) as well as different visual filters and downscaling. The Trophy system is also fully integrated.
So how does the game hold up when transported from on the go to the TV? Pretty well if you keep your expectations tempered. Retribution clearly is not up to the standards of the era; this is no portable Gears of War or Uncharted. The cover system works 90% of the time but on occasion Grayson just refuses to stick to surface even when it looks like he should or will also take cover when you’re just walking past objects in the environment. Visually the game looks ok at the up scaled resolutions but the increased resolution does also extenuate the issues with putting PSP games on the TV. There is also one major difference in this version compared to the PSP original.
This difference is that the PS3 controller version removed the aim box where Grayson would lock on to enemies within the box; this was done to get around the problem of the PSP not being equipped with two analog sticks. The PS3 modification is carried over to the version on PS4 and PS5. All aiming is done by the right analog stick, while this gives the player more precise controls, I did have to increase the sensitivity to remove the sluggishness of the original settings. The removal of the aim box does have one down side, one enemy, Leapers feel like they were designed for the aim box as I found them annoying to deal with as they moved in a way which made them difficult to hit when using the right stick. On the PS4, Retribution includes pretty numerous frame rate drops and stutters. These issues are probably lessened significantly on the PS5 due to the increased raw power available compared to the original PS4.
The game is set after the events of Resistance Fall of Man; Retribution follows James Grayson, who is enlisted into the Maquis, the French Resistance to help in their fight against the Chimera. The game then hops around Mainland Western Europe as British and French forces attempt to defeat the Chimera in Europe.
The characterisation of James Grayson is certainly an acquired taste. I felt the writing for Grayson and the new cast leads to them being quite unlikeable alongside the use of words and phrases which seem quite unlikely for a British or French person to use. Though the inconsistent writing didn’t seem to impact the returning cast for the most part as they act much like they did in Fall of Man. Nolan North doing a French accent for his role as Roland Mallery was a bit of a highlight.
Despite the limitations of translating the game to the TV, the controls are decent enough although the Chimera do take a ton of damage before being defeated. The flying drones are also a bit spongy. As the cover system is a central part of the gameplay being in the open leads to defeat incredibly quickly. So for the most part the game is the traditional third person whack a mole gameplay loop. There is a couple of mech levels which allows for a nice change of pace and gameplay.
Other than these minor issues, Retribution is pretty decent time if you understand the inherent limitations of the game’s origins. It is also pretty short at about 10 hours in length and with a nice little platinum trophy for completing the game. So overall it is really not a bad time after all and at £7.99 there isn’t much reason to not at least give it a go.