Resistance: Retribution Review

The opening cutscenes look like they were rendered using a game engine (a la Machinima), and you think “holy crap the graphics on this game are gunna r0x0rs!”.  Then you actually get to the “real” game engine, where things look more like what you expect from a PSP title.

The graphics of PSP games generally come in one of two flavors: great visuals with simple mechanics, or complex mechanics with “ok” graphics.  Retribution definately falls within the latter category, which are also occupied by Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Wall-E, and Syphon Filter.  The game tries to do too much, and the textures just aren’t as good as they could be.  The engine also overuses dithering and other tricks to make the game look better, but actually makes it feel cheaper.

The enemies  all start to look alike, as well.  There may be as many as eight Chimera on the screen at one time, but there is absolutely no variance in their appearance at all.

I know there’s a lot going on at once, and the PSP, while powerful, can only do so much.  A PSP game either has to have good graphics or complex mechanics, just because of the limited horsepower.  I know that a game can have both, because God of War: Chains of Olympus has the best visuals on the PSP, while still maintiaining great gameplay mechanics.

I know I’ve been riding a bit much on the graphics,but that’s because I expected more from one of Sony’s only good exclusive franchises. They’re not horrible, but I’ve seen better.

Like the other Resistance games, this volume feature excellent voice acting.  The weapon sounds are just as good as in the other games, and the soundtrack is very good as well.