The question is not so much whether Resistance: Fall of Man is an exquisitely crafted first-person shooter video game, or even if it is an amazing launch title for the PlayStation 3 console system. Both of those statements warrant an unqualified yes. Is the title a benchmark for the genre in the video-game industry. Hmm, tough call. On many levels the answer is that it certain achieves the benchmark, but in other ways, it excels and moves the bar slightly.
Insomniac Games, long renowned for the Ratchet and Clank franchise, and the company that started the franchise centered on a little purple dragon called Spyro, has gone back to its roots in many ways in revisiting the shooter genre.
Resistance sports some of the best and more intelligent game design for the FPS. It has an incredible weapons package, highly entertaining vehicle elements, wave after wave of monsters, a tight and accessible control scheme, dynamic video combined with a stellar soundtrack in short, everything there is to love about the genre. And then there is the multiplayer aspect. It is easily the most robust multiplayer available in any console game.
Resistance takes place in an alternate story line. Biological experiments well rumors of them yield a race known as the Chimera. These mutated, multi-eyed and fanged monstrosities broke out of a containment area in Russia and quickly spread across the nation. It was thought they were contained but that was erroneous. The Chimera spread across Europe, converting humans into Chimera (as well as other forms of life into Chimera hybrid monsters). England thought it was safe, but before long, the Chimera legions attack and England quickly fell. The United States was hiding away, not involving itself, but finally agreed to supply the British Resistance to the Chimera. However, as the Rangers were inbound, the British team assigned to meet them was ambushed. The U.S. arrived in a battle zone against creatures it had no concept of.
Ranger Sgt. Nathan Hale is the focal point of this game. It is his story. After working through the landing zone, Hale makes his way to a valley, teams up with other soldiers and is overwhelmed by a swarm of Chimera bugs. The bugs enter his body, a precursor (implied) to the introduction of the Chimera virus that mutates humans.
The game takes place over a four-day period, narrated by a British officer that tells the story about Nathan Hale, and she does mark some of the progression of his mutation like the changing color of his eyes
and other things (no spoilers here).
The single-player campaign lasts approximately 12 hours. As players replay the game, new weapons become available, not only in the single-player game, but for some multiplayer loadouts as well. Speaking of loadouts, the game does have some of the arcade elements that are expected like finding weapons and ammunition and health pots scattered throughout the levels. When the player wishes to change their weapon, a quick punch of the R2 button on the PS3 controller brings up the weapon options. The game pauses while a new weapon is selected. This is important as there are different kinds of Chimera and different weapons can be used to dispatch their mutant hides faster.
The level maps can play through fast but are actually rather big. Players will be required to uncover the mysteries of the Chimera (as Hale scrambles to find out what is happening to him) and to traverse the maps vehicles do come into play such as tanks and jeeps mounted with machine guns (co-op which is not online has a very nice feel when it comes to the vehicle combat).
Insomniacs weaponry is imaginative. The Bullseye allows you to tag a target, then send a barrage of bullets toward the target, wherever it may run. And that is just the tip of the weapons cache. From the auger (which has the secondary ability to drop a shield in front of the user) that fires through walls and other solid objects to the air-gas grenades that create a nice little inferno. Insomniac is long known for its creative weapons and the toys that are in this game feel appropriate for the game, the alien-type technology and enhance the entertainment value.
Cutscenes advance the story in a terrific way. They are totally in line with the in-game graphics. The physics used in the game are remarkable (easy, or the superlatives will run dry). This is fully three dimensional with grenades like the hedgehog demonstrating that the game considers not only monsters that run along the ground, but those that may leap or traverse the ceilings. The grenade lands, then pops up in the air and spikes pop out of the sides, covering all angles of the sphere. When the grenade explodes, the spikes take off in a 360-degree pattern, hitting anything below, around or above.
Graphically the game is first rate. You can run over the enemy when in a vehicle, the texturing does blur a little when you get up close, but generally the animations are very well done. The game does use rag-doll physics, which can yield a very satisfying result when you toss a grenade into a grouping of Chimera infantry. Resistance transitions nicely from wide-open terrain to creepy underground areas. The voice narrative is top-notch and the sound of the environments, along with the soundtrack can provide just the right feel. There are not many jump-out-of-your-seat moments, but there are many oh no! moments when the feeling of dread creeps over you. The game does ramp up the challenge as you move through it.
Multiplayer has that feeling of the familiar with nice little twists. There is a great array of maps, and there is also the typical capture the flag and deathmatch modes. But the game also throws variations into the mix. Conversion gives the player six lives half as a human, half as a Chimera (the different races have different abilities). Once you expend your lives, you are done. You can earn rewards (medals and badges) and new player skins. Breach is a capture-the-flag style game with several areas that must be taken over by blowing out the rods in nodes. Not only can you earn points for capturing the nodes, but you can also earn points for defending the nodes as well. And the game allows 40 players simultaneously. Played at a review event, the multiplayer even when loaded to the max did not show signs of slowdown.
Co-op allows two players to team up through the missions. Not available online, co-op does ramp up the difficulty and creates another very entertaining feature to a game that already has solid modes.
While Resistance does not really advance the FPS genre, the feature packages are what will make this game soar. As a launch title, this is a benchmark game that much is certain. As an FPS title, this game is a blast to play pun intended. It also has some of the best multiplayer available out of the box.