Review: Resistance: Burning Skies (PS Vita)

By Wayne Webb

Resistance is one of those PlayStation-only series of games that allows you to argue with your spouse that you just ‘need’ a PS3 console if you don’t have one. The creation of a Resistance chapter for the PS Vita has that same opportunity to sell players on the portable device, but sadly that argument is nowhere near as compelling.

By Wayne Webb

Resistance is one of those PlayStation-only series of games that allows you to argue with your spouse that you just ‘need’ a PS3 console if you don’t have one. The creation of a Resistance chapter for the PS Vita has that same opportunity to sell players on the portable device, but sadly that argument is nowhere near as compelling.

Resistance is a First Person Shooter (FPS) set in the alternate history of Earth where an alien race named the Chimera that invade earth during the cold war, so it’s at once old school retro feel with sci-fi weaponry grafted in thanks to government boffins and captured alien tech. PS3 versions of this game have been an all-out assault on the senses and the ever present swarming aliens hordes always posed a challenge to the hardened gamer, even on easy settings.

Moving this to the PS Vita has resulted in a couple of changes. The gritty and brown look of the despairing human race left shattered by the Chimera, yet brutally fighting back, has been replaced by a brown comic book/Dan Dare look with brutality replaced with average combat from the Chimera. The change in style still suits the games setting and probably affords itself to the powerful yet diminutive size of the Vita hardware. However, the downside is that combat is disappointingly easy. There’s not real sense of threat or danger, you just point and shoot, and kill with relative ease.

Yet, it is the best FPS effort yet on the Vita and it is as addictive and engaging as the other Resistance titles. I don’t feel the need to have this on the Vita, I could have easily played this on the bigger console and enjoyed it more. There are limitations of vision in the small screen, but they are only a minor problem on this game – which is a great feat in itself. The larger problem is the touchscreen. Like many other Vita games, the letting go of control via a two-hand grip to activate a touch element is distracting and interrupts game play. Letting go of the right stick during combat for instance to lob a grenade with any precision is irritating and interrupting to your flow.

It’s great to have a real FPS on the Vita, but it could do without shoehorning in the touch elements, and really should have the difficulty turned up a notch or three.

Pros: Real FPS on a handheld, excellent weapons and design, easy to pick up and complete, great graphics for the size of screen
Cons: Touch screen actions distract, dull enemy combat.

3.5 Shacks Out Of 5