Handheld Addict

PS VitaPSPPSPgoWii3DSDS LiteXboxGame Boy Micromp3 playersMobileGadgetsgeneral

Monday, March 30, 2009

Resistance, Tomb Raider Anniversary


Picked up a couple more PSP games today. One, I got a really good deal on, the other... meh deal....

Resistance: Retribution is on sale right now at Toys R' Us, $5.00 off-- $34.95... which isn't that much of a discount.... I'll probably kick myself if it goes on sale for $20.00 sometime in the future, but I've really been feeling the need for a new sci-fi shooter game right now. This week has been a stressful one for me, so as soon as I bought it I ripped off the shrinkwrapping & dug into it. I've played about 2 hours of it so far.

Resistance: Retribution is made by the same team that did the Syphon Filter PSP games. Even though I had reservations about Logan's Shadow, they still set the bar pretty high for PSP (or any system's) games. And the gameplay & controls are very familar to those who've played the Syphon Filter games. The gameplay is faster-paced than them though.... in Syphon Filter, you used cover a lot, and basically had to carefully aim your shots for best results. They're an entertaining mix between immediate action and tactical gameplay, whereas Resistance: Retribution is (so far) more heavily-weighted on the action over the tactics. Moving while strafing is handled using a new target area box that locks onto targets within it, taking most of the worry out of precise aiming without the benefit of a 2nd analogue nub. The sci-fi weapons are cool, though I'm finding some like the rocket launcher a bit unwieldy to use. One of my biggest initial gripes is that they haven't really fixed the crappy context-commands that were messed up in Logan's Shadow. You'd think they'd improve that, but it's like they don't even know they're bad: they flash up for about half a second while you stumble around trying to find the exact right place to stand AND face to get them to show up for longer than that.... annoying.

I've never played Resistance or Resistance 2 on PS3... I was expecting a bit of an intro to this world but it assumes that the player has already completed Resistance and just kind of throws us into it, which is disappointing. The story doesn't seem very strong either. But overall the game's been fun.



The other game I got today was Tomb Raider: Anniversary. I stopped in at The Source, wasn't expecting to find much as most of their games have been cleaned out. But Tomb Raider: Anniversary was there for $9.96! Score! At that price, I had to give it a shot. Haven't tried it yet.

So I guess it's still totally worth checking out The Source... also HMV has some killer PSP deals (varies by store)... lately I've been seeing Socom: Fireteam Bravo there for under $10.00! It's worth it if you're into military shooters.



later
don

8 comments:

HerrJeff said...

I saw Tomb Raider too, but finally picked LEGO Indiana Jones for $19.96. May you check if Tomb Raider can be played in French? Might be my next purchase.

Don said...

Ok, lemme take off the shrinkwrap & pop it in my PSP....


Hmmm... it looks like it's in english only, there doesn't seem to be any in-game option to change language. There is a french manual included.


later
don

HerrJeff said...

May you try switching your PSP language settings to French? There is often an automatic recognition of the default language. E.g. Resistance Retribution demo does it!

Don said...

You know what? I am totally going to try to do that-- I'm all curious now!

hang on....


Wow! It is in french! I didn't realize they included other language options on the same UMD. I tried out Resistance Retribution, and it's also in french. I guess almost any game that includes a french game manual should have the game data for french too.... though I have come across a few which said something like "game in english but french manual included" (can't remember which one it was)

Interesting. I wonder if they include english, french & spanish for most games in North America.


later
don

HerrJeff said...

Thanks a lot for checking Don. Unfortunately, not all games include a French "track". LEGO Star Wars didn't, but the two more recent LEGO games do. I think it's often a question of space on the UMD.

HerrJeff said...

PS: With respect to Tomb Raider, is it only text or are there voices in French as well?

HerrJeff said...

PPS: Same question about Star Wars: the Force Unleashed?

I suspect that games with minimal ingame text, or textual commands, are easy to translate, while most RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics with a lot of text on screen, would require too much programming.

I thought the same principle would apply with voices, compared to basic sounds or shouts, but Resistance Retibution makes a nice surprise!

Don said...

Yup, both Tomb Raider: Anniversary & Star Wars: Force Unleashed feature both french text and dialogue.


later
don

Blog Archive