Resistance: Burning Skies Review (PSV): When the music ends

I've always been a bit awkward in social situations: none more so than the school dance that had me vying for the affections of young women that I haven't seen -- in most cases -- for about a decade. If I did manage a dance, I could never quite figure out what to do when the music stopped. Should I have gone in for the kiss? Engaged in small talk? Should I have walked away? I never knew what to do, and if you'll forgive the analogy, nor does Resistance: Burning Skies when the guns stop blazing and the music settles.

As I've discussed before, Burning Skies does a lot to turn players off: there's the lacklustre visuals, the nonsensical save system, and the completely disposable story that adds nothing to proceedings. Online multiplayer is ostensibly broken too. Even if you did have a compatible modem/router set up, hit detection and damage modelling are a little wacky and there's not enough unlockables to keep players hooked for long.

So, after these observations, I'd forgive you thinking this is a lost cause. I'd forgive you, but you'd be wrong! Not super wrong... just slightly mistaken. Why? Resistance: Burning Skies gets some shooter fundamentals right.
 
There's an expansive and upgradeable arsenal with series' staples like the Bullseye, the M5A2 Carbine and the Auger (that still shoots through walls!). There's also new additions like the shotgun/explosive crossbow hybrid that is the Mule, and the Mauler: a joyous union of minigun and flamethrower. There's some solid boss fights, innovative controls and enjoyable set pieces. When you're actually shooting things, Resistance: Burning Skies is worth the price of admission.

Innovative controls in a first person shooter! Who'd have thunk it? Using touch controls for preparing and, on occasion, using secondary fire doesn't feel intrusive, but natural in most instances. Sure, it's not groundbreaking, but it does allow for precise placement of grenades and targeting with alternate fire modes. The new control method doesn't get in the way of the action, it enhances it.

Save for the painful, final boss fight, Burning Skies' firefights shine. The cover system -- which I had predicted to be unable to handle any great amount of stress -- works for all but the final level, where hiding spots are few and far between. Enemies, while not exactly varied, appear in respectable numbers; some even move with frightening speed and agility. Whenever I was shooting aliens in this game, I was having fun. 

When the enemy numbers thin out, things fall apart. The story is fairly uneventful, and Riley's achievements seem meagre in comparison to that of his contemporaries: Hale and Grayson. There are only really two characters given any great amount of camera time here, and while neither are unlikable, you'll struggle to remember them after any small passage of time. It's also worth noting that the campaign only runs for about five hours; although, I actually thought this worked in the game's favour as nothing outstays its welcome. Still, despite a litany of noteworthy problems, I liked this game. I just can't in good conscience recommend it to you.

Dutch note: I bought my copy at JB Hi-Fi which came with a PSN voucher that included a free copy of Resistance: Retribution. Considering that you can opt to play PSP games with two sticks, this is a pretty big bonus; so be sure to check if the copy that you're buying has two vouchers in it.

More thoughts on Resistance: Burning Skies

I really want to like this game. Why is it trying so hard to break my resolve?
Allow me to explain. Resistance: Burning Skies follows the story of Tom Riley -- at least I think that's his name, the story is pretty much dead weight in my opinion -- a New York firefighter whose day goes from bad to worse upon answering a call-out to a factory fire and stumbling into the Chimera invasion. Solid premise, but you're thrown into the action straight away, and the little morsels of story you come across don't really form into anything compelling (or cohesive, for that matter). Cut-scenes are shown in a resolution that would be unacceptable for most smartphones, and support character models' mouths rarely animate in game. It's cut-price narrative in a full-priced affair.

As a firefighter, Tom carries a trusty axe with him throughout the adventure. Using the axe, players can initiate some fairly gruesome melee attack animations (which is good), but the sound will cut out half of the time; meaning the execution is less than convincing. In online multiplayer, melee kills make no sound at all if you successfully connect with your opponent; if you miss, you get a knife-swipey sound. In Resistance: Burning Skies, silence equals success. Issues like this aren't game-breakers, but there's so many little things wrong with this game, so many corners that the developers cut in order to get the product out there.

Online multiplayer is only possible if you've got a certain connection type that doesn't appear possible with my router/modem setup. Thankfully, I'm at my parents' place this weekend and managed to connect to a few matches. Unfortunately, all I really got for my troubles was a gold trophy. I can see potential here, but there's some huge problems with damage scaling and hit detection. Some examples include being hit (and killed) by an opponent's melee attack while standing on the opposite side of a long corridor and unloading an entire clip of a Bullseye into a tagged opponent with no kill to show for it. The maps I played on, however, were perfectly designed for the smaller-scale 4 vs 4 battles that Burning Skies is limited to. Patch this game, allow me to connect and we could have a time sink. In its current state though, I'll be lucky to be able to play it once every month.

Perhaps my biggest issue with the game though is the inability to save at checkpoints. If you're killed in the campaign, you'll find that the checkpoint system is fairly forgiving. If, however, you decide to quit out of the campaign to try multiplayer or use the Vita for other purposes, be prepared for frustration. You'll need to watch the unskippable level intro and make your way back to the point where you quit out. Players, beware!

All of these issues aside, I am genuinely enjoying Burning Skies. It's just a shame that the potential in this package has been compromised by a nothing story and a series of questionable design choices.

The Demo Downlow: Resistance: Burning Skies (PSV)

The first review I read for Resistance: Burning Skies was less than glowing. Affording Nihilistic's first effort for the PlayStation Vita a score of 2 out of 10, Jim Sterling resolved to test my desire for a first person shooter on the young portable. What was a "must buy" turned into a bargain bin acquisition in minutes.

I read some other reviews, and while they weren't quite as harsh as that seen on Destructoid, they were still fairly uninspiring due to some common observations: ugly, bland and boring. Rather than give up on the game completely, I decided to download the demo and see this mess for myself. While it's not the best FPS on the market, I don't think it's fair to relegate it Review Hell either.

 Welcome to Review Hell!

Don't get me wrong, this game is ugly; but we're still in the early days of the Vita, so I think it's unfair to assume that every game on the system will have graphics on par with home console versions. Mortal Kombat on the Vita looked terrible in most situations and I didn't read a single observation regarding "lacklustre visuals." Perhaps more importantly, the shooting feels somewhat satisfying. Even in spite of muffled sound effects and lack of eye candy, Resistance: Burning Skies handles well, shouldn't that count for something?

The use of touch controls is quite smart in my opinion: secondary fire modes and the throwing of grenades is managed by tapping, pressing, or otherwise swiping the screen. The button controls work just like your average Call of Duty clone, and I found it to be more than functional. There's even a promising cover mechanic that probably won't function too well in the more hectic firefights, but it's good enough for me now.

If it weren't for the fact that I'm fast becoming a collector of Vita games, I'd advise that the trial would do little to convince you to spend at least fifty bucks on the full version. Since I lack any real sense of fiscal discipline, however, you'd best believe that I bought that game.