Whether or not this will actually lead to some sort of finality won’t be known until the ending credits roll in September, but the animated introduction actually does a succinct job of showing where everything started and retells the events of the two previous titles. Basically, an extra-terrestrial virus has brought about the resurrection of an alien race known as the ‘Chimera’ on Earth, and the titles follow the (seemingly futile) resistance against the impending invasion. Followers of the series will know by now that prior protagonist, Nathan Hale, has succumbed to the Chimera virus and was put down mercifully at the end of Resistance 2. He’s replaced by the man who did the final deed – Joseph Capelli.
Did you miss us?
Set in 1957, eight years after the initial emergence of the Chimera, Joseph Capelli has been living with survivors in the U.S., trying to stay hidden from the Chimera forces. However, the Chimera somehow latch onto their presence and they are all forced to flee. By dubious chance, Capelli runs into Dr. Malikov, the world's most prominent Chimera expert and failed creator of a cure for the Chimera virus (instead only managing to create the Cloven). Dr. Malikov offers Capelli a chance to deliver a massive blow to the occupying Chimera forces; to shut down a teleportal device that has been ‘bringing’ some of the Chimera’s world over and causing temperatures to plummet on Earth (think the Space Bridge from Transformers: Dark of the Moon… actually, better not think about that), but it requires him to leave his family and precariously move up through the east coast of the U.S. to New York.
Having had the chance to play through the first couple of chapters of Resistance 3, it’s safe to say that it will not be reinventing the wheel. However, it did offer something else place of that – the chance to be thrown straight into the action. Aside from a brief tutorial taking you through a shooting range, it was quite impressive how quickly the game took off the training wheels and sent you into the thick of things. The very first set piece had you taking on at least a dozen Chimera. Impressively, you were often surrounded by other fighters, who not only held their own but were useful in engaging enemies, and even taking them out. This in turn helped make the experience much more engaging. The set pieces were quite well designed, by requiring you to be quick on your feet and not constricting you to one fail-proof tactic.
Clearly, this is a title that will resonate strongest with those who have stuck through the franchise. Resistance 3 returns with a few features from the first title, such as the weapon wheel, which is a handy mechanism for weapon selection and allows more than two weapons (woo!), as well as the health bar. Weapons such as the Bullseye, Magnum, Auger and Marksman are all making their return, among others, though the play time only included the new shrapnel grenades. They seem to be a good addition so far, while the secondary modes for each weapon don’t quite exude the Insomniac flair, the solid set pieces and heavy action demand you make use of them. The final game will also have sixteen player multiplayer across the usual conventional modes, but there isn’t confirmation on how co-op will be handled yet.
Action from the get go.
While Resistance 3 wasn’t quite able to match the graphical fidelity of titles such as Killzone 3 or Crysis 2, it actually was impressive to see how much was going on. As well as all the action on the battlefield, both from your side and the Chimera, there are a heap of environmental effects on display. As Chimera ships fly above, debris and dust whirlwind around you and spotting the Chimera during a set piece in a dense farming field felt quite satisfying. So it’s looking to compensate for not being the flat out best looking game out there by having tip-top presentation values.
It’s too early to tell whether Resistance 3 will be providing any finality to the series. What can be said at this stage though, is that the title will definitely not be reinventing the first person shooter or changing anyone’s opinion on the series. It was encouraging though to see the return of elements such as the weapon wheel and health bar, to see that you actually have been thrown into an active and engaging battlefield with well-designed set pieces, competent friends and enemies, and that the game is throwing you into the deep end of the action. And that just might be enough to see it through.
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