[Xbox]Review GTA IV

Suit em and boot em bitches! After only 5 months all you Resistance junkies have the chance to stick it to those Chimera SOB's once more but this time, you can take the battle on the bus! Sony Bend has been given the doobius task of representing the PS3 exclusive franchise on the PSP. I must say they have done a pretty sweet job. Comparing the two side-by-side is like apples and oranges really so that wouldn't exactly be fair game. Lets just say that Resistance Retribution stands out on it's own without being overshadowed by it's big brothers and provides you with a solid shooter and some great multiplayer action.

Resistance Retribution takes place shortly after the final events of Resistance: Fall of Man. You play as James Grayson, a recently committed crazy dude who went ape shit after having to kill his own bother in a Chimeran conversion centre. While on death row he is recruited to assist the Marquis, a French resistance group attempting to recapture the European continent from the Chimera. The story progresses by means of narration and still images between levels along with some very nice CG cut scenes and in game voice acting. The British voice acting is bang on but the French needed a bit more work. The voice work is never really that bad but at times left a lot to be desired. There are some good banter moments between James and his Marquis counterparts but some at times it can be a little over the top.

The game play is pretty straight forward and is pretty damn fun. The hardware limitations of the PSP (one analog stick and a d-pad) forced the designers to implement an aiming system based on the traditional action buttons and make the action button, normally reserved fororto be down on the d-pad. One thing that really bugged me was that you couldn't use say theandbuttons together to move diagonally down and to the left. Instead you have to move to the right and then down like a damn robot. You can go into manual aiming mode for precise targeting but trying to get something in your sights takes time with the system that's implemented. You move ultra slow and at times you'll be surrounded before you even know it just trying to get a head shot in. If this was your only means of aiming your weapons, you would have tossed your PSP out of a window pretty fast.

All of this takes a bit of getting used to but the good news is that there's a fisher price targeting system built right in for little babies! It's really the only way to hit something because aiming with the buttons is a complete pain. To help you out with this is an auto aim feature that locks onto anything that is in your point of view and doesn't let up. This takes away from any real challenge because you essentially can just hold onto the button the fires your weapons and let er' rip. Once one guy goes down, you're automatically spraying up the next guy in line.

Resistance Retribution does a great job at handling a bunch of enemies on the screen at the same time but you never really feel overwhelmed. This may have something to do with the almost 'cheat code' of an aiming system. The levels are pretty big and detailed enough to impress even some of the harshest critics out there. You can expect a lot of the same old routine of enemies continuously popping out and then a pause in the action then a carbon copied repetition with a new enemy sprinkled in for good measure. Certain levels add some diversity by adding with a bit of swimming here and there and nice stroll in a pretty cool Mech vehicle. There are a few times when you're faced with what can only be described as a boss battle but there's never that sense of urgency or fear of dying. Just hold doing the Right shoulder button and wait for them to die.

Retribution offers the same standard online multiplayer options we all love. You got your Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch, Containment, Assimilation and good ol' Free-for-All. Containment involves holding your area and Assimilation places an enemy on your team after you have killed them. It's fun smooth solid online game play and there's not much to complain about really. You've seen it all before but that doesn't mean it doesn't kick some ass.

Retribution also tosses in a couple of nifty features such as the ability to sync up your PS3 controller and use that instead of the previously mention shitty control scheme that's in place for the PSP. The baby auto aim is now gone and you get the sense of how difficult the game can be without it in place. You can also connect your PSP to your PS3 with Resistance 2 in the Blu-Ray drive and infect your PSP. You then receive a few power ups such as the ability to regenerate health and you also acquire a pretty bad ass magnum.

To sum things up, Resistance Retribution offers up some pretty fun gameplay and pushes the system to the edge. Great graphics, great cut scenes, good voice acting and almost arcade style shooting provide a real nice gaming experience on the go. Definitely worth your time just to check it out and if you're a fan of the series, it's a hands down must have.

The Bad:

Auto aim makes things way too easy
A good idea, but the 1 analog, 4 button aiming system pissed me off more then once
The Good:

Great Graphics and Presentation throughout
Fast and constant action is a lot of fun
Cool features like syncing up your PS3 controller
Strong online multiplayer modes

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