Set 12 years after the events of PE2, we come to find New York under siege by some mysterious entity (again). Strange gigantic root like tentacles burst up from beneath the earth, tearing Manhattan apart, toppling some buildings and embedding themselves in others. With them come the "Twisted" nightmarish creatures that appear from rifts in time & space that devour & slaughter everyone in sight.
Not even days after the appearance of the "Twisted" does military retaliation begin, and the CTI (Counter Twisted Investigation) team is formed. among their ranks is the sole person with ability to use the Overdive system, Aya Brea.
While you may be wondering what new cool and awesome Mitochondrial powers Aya's brought with her this time... there is none. That's right, all the traditional game mechanics of the PE universe are tossed out the window, as well as any mention of the previous installment's events. Instead we have an Aya that was apparently found outside a church in a bloodstained wedding dress and suffering from Amnesia. With no Parasite energy to speak of, and is the only one capable of being able to use a machine that sends her mind/soul back in time. (gee I wonder where I've herd that idea before?)
Her mission is to use Overdive to go back and try and turn the tide of the battle as well as discovering the truth her own past.
New characters are introduced, though for what purpose I dunno,
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Many are killed off early in the story and are given little to no background, screen time, or character development.
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Maeda isn't even given and introduction scene hardly, beginning of chapter 4, and he's just there with no real explanation.
Next we come to the actual part of gameplay, now without a doubt this is probably one of the best looking PSP titles made yet, you're often finding your self mistakenly thinking you're watching a CGI cut-scene when you're not.
Music is top notch as Yoko Shimomura returns to compose the music as she did for the first title (She was however, not the composer for PE2's music sadly, the game would've been 20% cooler if she had though.) the opening cut scene's remix of Primal Eyes and multiple remixed PE tracks though out the game bring a welcome feeling of nostalgia to many a PE fan.
Gameplay is playable.... but a bit flawed, a dreadful camera that screws up in tight areas, a rather fickle targeting system, and mixing auto aim & manual aim weapons into a single control scheme do not make for the best combination.
It plays as a third person shooter for the most part but the "twist" is that you're not actually playing Aya as you normally did, your mind is sent out to take control of the body of a soldier (or civilian). While in the field you are free to switch bodies with anyone in the area, by holding triangle and targeting a person, displayed below their name is the weapon they're equipped with. Once selected the person in question will actually have their appearance changed to be Aya's own, (though this is for cut scene and game play purposes, in reality, the person still looks the same to everyone around the person that Aya's mind/soul inhabits.)
Moving around is done with the control stick, when enemies are present you hold the L button to target the nearest enemy, and R to fire. You can move while firing, and tapping X to dodge roll/strafe out of harms way. As you take damage, at certain levels (two to be specific), Aya's clothes (or protective gear) will tear and rip, realing more of her body (which is kind weird seeing as how its not her real body being damaged....) and thus taking more damage with more hits. Protective gear can be repaired at save points with BP, which is also used to purchase and upgrade weapons.
You have three primary weapons that you always have with you, one is the default handgun with unlimited ammo that you're forced to have at all times, and two secondary weapons of your choice, with a fourth being whatever the soldier is carrying. you're other weapons are grenades, which you can only ever carry nine at a time.
Weapons are purchased, upgraded, and equipped between chapters and at save points, and by holding square and using the D-pad you can switch weapons on the fly (tapping square reloads your current weapon if it needs it).
To unlock a weapon for purchase you must first Overdive into a soldier in the field carrying that weapon, which may only be if the game is programmed to allow it at that point. As you may find a soldier with a powerful weapon in an early chapter but are not allowed to unlock it till you find a specific solider in a much later chapter carrying the same weapon. Even then, that's assuming you're playing on the correct difficulty for the weapon to appear.
An innovative feature of combat is Crossfire, while locked onto an enemy a "linkage" gauge fills while not firing, when full it lets you know how many ally NPCs (if any are nearby) are targeting that same enemy, and when you hit the trigger button you command all those NPCs to fire on your target.
Another form of attack is the Overdive Kill, which while a enemy you're targeting is staggering (displayed by the faint yellow triangle) you hit triangle to Overdive into them for massive damage.
While Parasite powers do not play any role in this game, Aya does have a gauge beneath her life bar, called Liberation, which is filled by taking and dealing damage, once full you can activiate it by pressing the triangle and circle buttons. in this mode Aya dual wields unlimited ammo pistols, gains much faster movement, and fires energy enhanced bullets.
Also in place of Parasite powers are Over Energy abilities, gained from Overdiving into people and Twisted, set in a 3x3 grid called DNA boards. You set powers which are randomly generated in rows of 2 or 3, vertical or horizontal. (some of the rarer DNA are actual Single powered OEs) By overlapping powers when setting them in the board you might power up an ability or make into something else depending on the combination and one ability might replace another depending on its level.
Extras include numerous unlock costumes (including Lighting's outfit from FFXIII, complete with her Gunblade weapon which is unlocked one you have the costume.) Cheats, and a secret shower scene which is unlocked by preforming various feats at different difficulties, or by beating the game... 50 times. and after watching it ten times, you unlock a secret camera angle for gameplay.
The game has received a lot of harsh criticism, and I'd say that some of it is well deserved, while some complaints are still over blown from time to time. Yet at the same time I appreciate the game for its nostalgic factors, ultimately I feel it was a bit of a letdown, and perhaps should have been made as an actual sequel with a different plot rather then... this.