Sony has just surprised PSP gamers by announcing a brand new expansion of the Resistance franchise on the PSP. Unlike Resistance on PS3, ‘Resistance: Retribution’ for PSP will play from a third person perspective, and will be out in spring 2009.

The game is being produced by Bend Studio, the people behind Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror. The studio’s previous work on the Syphon Filter series puts it in a prime position to craft a third person shooter for the PSP, with Dark Mirror and Logan’s Shadow being two of the best examples of their genre on Sony’s handheld.

Events take place weeks after Resistance: Fall of Man, and you play not as Nathan Hale but as James Grayson, a former British Marine, who is forced to kill his own brother inside a Chimeran conversion center, and thus goes on a maniacal spree to destroy every conversion center he can find.

After he finds out that his efforts have been in vain (the Chimera have come up with a new way of turning humans into aliens), Grayson joins the European ‘Maquis’ resistance alongside operatives Cartwright and Parker in operation overstrike with the aim of retaking Europe from the Chimerans.

The developer is also giving it a “revolutionary” targeting system to compensate for the cramped PSP controls. You’ll be able to put this to use with lots of new weapons on lots of new baddies.

Weapons from Resistance: Fall of Man, like the Auger, Carbine, and LAARK, will be featured in the game, as well as new firearms based on human/alien hybrid technology - including the BM001 Razor and the Longbow 1S-1K “One shot, one kill” sniper rifle. You’ll also see enemies you recognize such as the Chimera from the console games - including the Slipskull, Titan, Hybrids and Leapers - and new nasties like the Hag and Cloven.

Resistance: Retribution will include multiplayer, with up to eight players, and will feature five game modes: Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Assimilation and Containment, all available via ad-hoc and infrastructure.

Visit PSP game downloads site for more info.