Resistance 3 Review

It is arguable that the Resistance series is one of the best exclusives for the PlayStation 3. Although most would say the second game of the series is horrible. I on the other hand found the second game mostly enjoyable. Even though I do agree with some of the gripes people had with it, including the lack of a weapon wheel which should have never been taken out. With all of that said, Resistance 3 is by far the best of them all. It is dark, depressing and gritty yet at the same time has some very amazing and beautiful environments.

What made the Resistance story so great was the alternate timeline of sorts in the 1950’s. Were World War II was not going on and Hitler and his army was not the juggernauts that threaten the world. Instead an alien race known as the Chimera invaded our planet and quickly started turning humanity against itself by transforming humans into lower forms on the fore mentioned alien race known as Hybrids. The mixture of first person shooter with an alien invasion twist was a refreshing touch on the genre and still is very interesting three games in.

Resistance 3 takes place some years after the events of the second game. The world belongs to the Chimera, humanity has failed to fight them off and the Resistance doesn’t even have a last leg to stand on. All hope is lost and the human race has accepted their defeat and now must live in underground villages hidden away from the alien overloads that stalk the surface of earth.

In Resistance 3 you play as Joseph Capelli, a soldier that has now settled down with a wife and child and doing all he can to keep them safe, but when Dr. Malikov, the foremost knowledgeable scientist of the Chimera comes to Joe with a plan to try giving humanity some more time, Joe find himself on the verge of putting up one last fight against the Chimera. Although Joe is very reluctant about leaving his wife and son behind to go on this suicide mission, his wife points out the hopeless future their child has if the Chimera is not brought down.

The game takes you on a long journey from the Mid-West to the now bitterly cold New York City. All along the way you are meeting new people, trying to help them survive or you yourself trying to survive from them. You are never in one area too long and each environment has a beautiful distinctive look. Resistance 3 is full of emotional moments that keep its grip on you, pulling you farther and farther into this dark and depressing situation. In most stories told in games, film and writing there are moments were you think there is no more hope and something comes a long to save the day. Where in Resistance 3 you find yourself thinking at times that everything is on track and something comes a long and breaks you back down. This game is constantly beating you down one moment after another and you keep getting up and fighting. If anything it shows you how strong the human spirit is when on the brink of destruction. Even the journals you pick up throughout the game add to the emotional tension. When you pick up these journals that are letters and notes from people, it tells you what they say and then shows you actual letters written out free hand, making these moments even more down to earth and personal. Although, the game does a poor job of making these notes available to the player. You find them sometimes hidden in dark corners that most people would not look to because there is no reason to be there.

The game play and mechanics are smooth and comfortable as so the series has been. The only thing I dislike is that in Resistance 3 they have taken the health bar from the first game and added it in with the darkening screen when low on health of the second game and put them together. As much as I have come to love games with no health bar making the screen change to a red-ish color or just getting dark when close to dying, I do not like the idea of having both that and a health bar, which that also will be pulsating red when close to death. I only need one or the other, not both. In fact having both makes me feel as if the darkening screen only gets in my way in situations that I am almost dead and have many enemies around me attacking.

On the up side of the game is the weapons. Once again Insomniac does what they do best and brings some amazing weapons to the table. There are some classics like the Bullseye, but there is a few new weapons added to the arsenal as well. Creating a huge weapon wheel that makes killing Chimera lots of fun. Resistance 3 also adds in a leveling system of sorts for the weapons. It is pretty simple, the more you use a weapon, the quicker it levels up. Each weapon only goes to level three and stops, but it takes a good amount of killing for each one to hit its max. Like always the weapons have the primary shot and an alternate one as well. With each level these change making each shot and/or alternate shot more devastating.

Resistance 3 is an exceptional game, making the most of the time Insomniac spent on developing it. There is sure to be another one in our future, even though word out is Insomniac has no plans at this time to develop anything more for the series. This game hands down is one of the best shooters I have played all year. Everything about it is top notch. A lot of people were turned off by the second game, but I urge you all, if you liked the first game and love this story, please play this game. You will not be disappointed by it.

Final Score 5/5