Resistance is one my personal favorite FPS franchises, and sadly, it seems like Burning Skies will most likely be the end of it.
Resistance 3 was one of the greatest FPS games ever made. And I mean that. It's relatively short length was the only thing keeping it from a 10/10 rating from me. However, the market at large failed to recognize that greatness. A measly 180,000 copies sold worldwide did little to convince Sony this was a franchise worth continuing. Insomniac has left it behind to pursue bigger and better things, and Burning Skies was the last chance it had to stay relevant.
Now, Burning Skies is incredibly notable for one thing. It is the very first dual-stick FPS on a portable system. That alone should allow for some relative leeway. And it controls quite well. Alt. fires and grenades are done via touch screen and it works far better than expected. They really did nail the feeling of an FPS on this handheld system.
The story is of little concern so I'll barely talk about it. Tom Riley, NY firefighter fights Chimera to reach his family, blah blah blah. The characters are bland and stupid, the story is pointless and dumb so let's ignore it...
The gameplay is a fusion of R2 and R3, the weapon wheel returns, but you also have regenerating health... which makes no sense as Tom Riley isn't a sentinel but whatever, Nihilistic didn't give a shit about the story, why should we? You have 8 weapons at your disposal and most of them are dumbed down versions of weapons from other Resistance games. Mauler is a dumbed down Wraith, SWARM is a dumbed down LAARK, Sixeye is a dumbed down DeadEye, etc.
It's decent, but not exceptional in any way. The level design is simple, but effective, no nuance to be found here. Enemy types are nowhere near as varied as it's console counterparts, their AI is noticeably dumber than before. The campaign is short as all hell, at only about 6 hours, but why should that surprise me in 2012...
The only truly difficult part of the game is the last boss, who's ridiculously unpredictable movements make fighting him a crapshoot of "I hope I'm not standing in the wrong place". It doesn't help that the checkpoint makes you walk down a long corridor and listen the same conversation over and over again when you die.
Graphics are subpar for Vita. Interiors and weapon models look fine but exteriors and character models are ugly and unappealing.
All in all, it's a decent FPS, but not a great Resistance game. It's good fun on the go but lacks that special spark that made me love the franchise in the first place. I probably would've thought better of it if it had come out between R2 and R3 instead of after R3... I really think R3 was so amazing that it spoiled everyone for this game.
If you own a Vita, this isn't a bad game to add to your collection. As a bonus, it's a pretty easy platinum, if you care. But it just saddens me that this great series might just go out with a whimper.
5/10. Average.