With the generation drawing to a close, I would like to take a look one more time at what I think is one of the best shooters from this generation: Resistance 3. Unfortunately, not many people haven given Resistance 3 a try because Insomniac salted the earth with the offensive Resistance 2, so to this day I think it is largely ignored in this discussion by the hardcore. Resistance 3 is an inventive, creative shooter with a richly detailed, well realized world that builds on the themes and gameplay of Resistance 1 and why the first game became so popular with the hardcore community, and it deserves your attention if you've never tried it.
Destroyed Beauty
Resistance 3 finally delivers on the IP's promise of immersing players in a world ravaged by an alien menace. The war is over in this game and humanity lost. Things are pretty dire and for the first time you actually get that impression. The game uses an oppressive color palette and impressive weather effects that really convey the ominous predicament humanity has found itself in. I think the game's environmental art is superb and firmly differentiates itself from Resistance 2, where the concept art barely resembled what shipped in the game.
When the game starts, you immediately get a sense for how shitty just everything is. People live in shitty little underground labyrinths basically hiding to survive. As the game kicks into high gear and the player emerges from his burrow, you really get a sense for just how destroyed and dilapidated everything actually is. I also like the return of the sense of mystery that was in the first game. Some of the environments draw on the very classic "ubi sunt" motif that I find is criminally underused in games these days, asking players to consider what has happened to humanity since the last game. It further reinforces the idea that things have really not gone well.
Though the game is really quite subHD, the lighting is really superb and the weather effects make up for it.
Mixing Things Up
The gameplay further distinguishes the game from its shitacular, war criminal-like prequel by offering players a delicious mix of what made the first game good with modern trends in the shooting genre. The weapon wheel makes its return and regenerating health sees its way mercifully out the door.
The weapons in the game never quite reach the craziness of the first (bring back the Hailstorm!), but Insomniac pretty smartly merged the weapon upgrade system of Ratchet with the weapon wheel of Resistance 1 for a very satisfying and addictive system. As you use weapons, they level up and gain abilities. The shotgun, for example, gains the ability to ignite enemies as you fire on them, which is ^___^ so fun ^___^ to see and feel. The sniper rifles can slow down time, the assault rifles gain secondary fire abilities, and so on and so forth. You'll have many ways to tackle any situation because you'll always have every weapon with you.
Doing away with regenerating health is like taking off a straight jacket when it comes to FPS design. The game doesn't rely on boring health recharging + chest high walls; instead players are asked to think on their feet to find tactical positions to take down enemies quickly and efficiently. Health packs are bright green and stand out nicely in the environment so it becomes easy to design the perfect "line" in your head on how you want to accomplish what you want to accomplish.
Encounters are designed to encourage the player to take advantage of the unique capabilities of his arsenal. Some enemies are best dispatched with the stealthy protection of the Augur, others require you tag them with the bullseye and dart around avoiding fire. Level design is generally more open than competing shooters, with bombed out buildings, destroyed villages, and other open air settings creating multiple possibilities per encounter.
And yes, big battles against. large monsters return.
Finding an Identity
Resistance 1 took a lot of flack for failing to really do anything original or unique, particularly in the art and music department. I think this is largely an unfair criticism generated by the early portion of the game, but if it were false then, it were certainly true in the sequel. Nathan Hale becomes a military grunt barking orders, the game becomes about a "squad of elite soldiers" fighting off endless waves of alien armies. Resistance 3 really tries very hard to make its mark on the genre in a way the second one was unable.
I think one of the most important things in Resistance 3 is the way the music changed from the first and second games. Pieces likeTerraformer, The Fall of Haven Town, and Into the Fog really set the tone for the panicked destruction that takes place in those environments. Also importantly is the way the game tries to strike a more somber note with pieces like Pray for Us and Tell Susan I Loved Her to keep the player from feeling consistently hopeless. I think the music in the game is actually identifiable and original compared to the more lifeless military drumbeats of the earlier titles.
Resistance 3 has a real style. Even the cutscene that plays while the game is installing is neat. Finally, I feel like the artists behind the game have creative control over what they're doing and they produce a really consistent (and consistently bleak) tone that is appropriate for the game.
Multiplayer
no1curr sorry
Plot Hole or Worm Hole
I think the game does a fairly good job of wrapping up the franchise, but it definitely is not the direct sequel to the plotline of the first and second that many wanted. We effectively find out that the humans triumph and what happens to Capelli and his wife, but we don't really see how things happen. The game does not really explain anything about the worm hole, the origin of the Chimera, the Chimera vs. Pure Chimera stuff, the Cloven stuff, etc. All of that lore that was built in the first and second game is kind of ignored. But I feel the plot for this game on its own is satisfying and self-contained.
Anyway I really like this title and I was sad it got sent to die in 2011. It was definitely the best game Sony put out in 2011 and it deserved a lot more attention. I guess the dreadful Resistance 2 ruined any hope it had of making it big but it came out with nary a peep. Y'all should play it. It's hellafun. And we're never getting another one so pig out!
Destroyed Beauty
Resistance 3 finally delivers on the IP's promise of immersing players in a world ravaged by an alien menace. The war is over in this game and humanity lost. Things are pretty dire and for the first time you actually get that impression. The game uses an oppressive color palette and impressive weather effects that really convey the ominous predicament humanity has found itself in. I think the game's environmental art is superb and firmly differentiates itself from Resistance 2, where the concept art barely resembled what shipped in the game.
When the game starts, you immediately get a sense for how shitty just everything is. People live in shitty little underground labyrinths basically hiding to survive. As the game kicks into high gear and the player emerges from his burrow, you really get a sense for just how destroyed and dilapidated everything actually is. I also like the return of the sense of mystery that was in the first game. Some of the environments draw on the very classic "ubi sunt" motif that I find is criminally underused in games these days, asking players to consider what has happened to humanity since the last game. It further reinforces the idea that things have really not gone well.
Though the game is really quite subHD, the lighting is really superb and the weather effects make up for it.
Mixing Things Up
The gameplay further distinguishes the game from its shitacular, war criminal-like prequel by offering players a delicious mix of what made the first game good with modern trends in the shooting genre. The weapon wheel makes its return and regenerating health sees its way mercifully out the door.
The weapons in the game never quite reach the craziness of the first (bring back the Hailstorm!), but Insomniac pretty smartly merged the weapon upgrade system of Ratchet with the weapon wheel of Resistance 1 for a very satisfying and addictive system. As you use weapons, they level up and gain abilities. The shotgun, for example, gains the ability to ignite enemies as you fire on them, which is ^___^ so fun ^___^ to see and feel. The sniper rifles can slow down time, the assault rifles gain secondary fire abilities, and so on and so forth. You'll have many ways to tackle any situation because you'll always have every weapon with you.
Doing away with regenerating health is like taking off a straight jacket when it comes to FPS design. The game doesn't rely on boring health recharging + chest high walls; instead players are asked to think on their feet to find tactical positions to take down enemies quickly and efficiently. Health packs are bright green and stand out nicely in the environment so it becomes easy to design the perfect "line" in your head on how you want to accomplish what you want to accomplish.
Encounters are designed to encourage the player to take advantage of the unique capabilities of his arsenal. Some enemies are best dispatched with the stealthy protection of the Augur, others require you tag them with the bullseye and dart around avoiding fire. Level design is generally more open than competing shooters, with bombed out buildings, destroyed villages, and other open air settings creating multiple possibilities per encounter.
And yes, big battles against. large monsters return.
Finding an Identity
Resistance 1 took a lot of flack for failing to really do anything original or unique, particularly in the art and music department. I think this is largely an unfair criticism generated by the early portion of the game, but if it were false then, it were certainly true in the sequel. Nathan Hale becomes a military grunt barking orders, the game becomes about a "squad of elite soldiers" fighting off endless waves of alien armies. Resistance 3 really tries very hard to make its mark on the genre in a way the second one was unable.
I think one of the most important things in Resistance 3 is the way the music changed from the first and second games. Pieces likeTerraformer, The Fall of Haven Town, and Into the Fog really set the tone for the panicked destruction that takes place in those environments. Also importantly is the way the game tries to strike a more somber note with pieces like Pray for Us and Tell Susan I Loved Her to keep the player from feeling consistently hopeless. I think the music in the game is actually identifiable and original compared to the more lifeless military drumbeats of the earlier titles.
Resistance 3 has a real style. Even the cutscene that plays while the game is installing is neat. Finally, I feel like the artists behind the game have creative control over what they're doing and they produce a really consistent (and consistently bleak) tone that is appropriate for the game.
Multiplayer
no1curr sorry
Plot Hole or Worm Hole
I think the game does a fairly good job of wrapping up the franchise, but it definitely is not the direct sequel to the plotline of the first and second that many wanted. We effectively find out that the humans triumph and what happens to Capelli and his wife, but we don't really see how things happen. The game does not really explain anything about the worm hole, the origin of the Chimera, the Chimera vs. Pure Chimera stuff, the Cloven stuff, etc. All of that lore that was built in the first and second game is kind of ignored. But I feel the plot for this game on its own is satisfying and self-contained.
Anyway I really like this title and I was sad it got sent to die in 2011. It was definitely the best game Sony put out in 2011 and it deserved a lot more attention. I guess the dreadful Resistance 2 ruined any hope it had of making it big but it came out with nary a peep. Y'all should play it. It's hellafun. And we're never getting another one so pig out!
