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Did Resistance 3 take some notes from Half Life: Raising the Bar?

sn00zer

Member
Currently playing through Resistance 3....and frankly its pretty damn incredible and an amazing ode to the style of SP games started with HL2. In fact there are a lot of nods to HL2 including a Ravenholm-like sequence with a zealot priest. In the same area you take down a large stampeding underground creature by ducking into smaller tunnels. But one thing I noticed was they actually did a few sequences cut from HL2 but are described in HL2 Raising the Bar.

HL2 was originally a travelling story about travelling across Europe using multiple forms of transportation including boats and trains to shut down a potential portal to the Combine world. The story Resistance 3 is basically the same with the main character traveling across the US to New York using boats and trains to stop a giant portal that has opened up to the Chimera world. There is also heavy mention of terraformers in both the HL2 beta and in Resistance 3 (havent played the other two so this may be a series staple)

The one sequence that stood out though was in HL2 Raising the Bar that described a trainride through the wasteland (this was before your entrance to City 17). One of the sequences described a wasteland of burnt trees (check) and a stampede of houndeyes and bullsquids (in this case Widowmakers). Its a pretty awesome sequence in R3, but it reminded me so much of the descriptions in Raising the Bar.

Im having trouble finding the exact quotes as I read HL2 raising the bar years ago (and scans seem to be the only way to find these quotes), but the more and more I play of Resistance 3 the more it reminds me of the game I had in my head while reading HL2 Raising the Bar.

Oh and btw R3 is amazing and if you are HL fan at all you should play it...its a great ame in the same style as HL2, but with far more fun weapons.

If anyone has a copy of Raising the Bar on hand and has played R3, someone tell me Im not crazy for thinking this.
 
I love the resistance series but 1 and 3 cross way beyond homage territory, and well into embarrassing levels of gameplay/imagery/art style/story concept theft when it comes to half life 2.
 
D

Deleted member 102362

Unconfirmed Member
I own a copy of Raising the Bar, and a lot of what you're describing does indeed sound very similar to the early HL2 story ideas and concepts described in the book.

sn00zer, I highly recommend you take a look at this Overwiki article on the original HL2 storyline.
 
I wanted to play this but it came at the wrong time and when Insomniac were using this wretched engine. I hope they just remaster all the resistance titles for PS4. Seriously, they deserve it. The PS3 could not handle those games properly and Insomniac's engine was terrible for IQ.
 

tanod

when is my burrito
What I really liked about Resistance 1 and 3 were that they were closer to the PC shooters of the early 2000s than console shooter #948 with regen health and two weapons.

That's why Resistance 2 was such a nasty mis-step in what would otherwise have been a very solid trilogy.

R2 sold best because R1 was great. R3 sold worst because R2 wasn't good.
 

sn00zer

Member
Oh damn I just realized the russian scientist you follow looks EXACTLY like early Kleiner designs.
Concept_art_eli_gordon_alyx_skitch.jpg

Malikov_1_copy.png
 
I only just recently this January played through Resistance 3 and, as I mentioned in the thread at the time, I was taken aback at how much it was "influenced" by Half-life 2. All for the good, mind. After the last few years of playing the same boring-ass types of shooters, it was a breath of fresh air for me and the most fun I've had in an FPS since Bulletstorm. I just loved every single thing about it. One of my top 5 PS3 games for sure.
 

TEH-CJ

Banned
So much wasted potential. Insomiac didn't know what the hell they wanted to do with Resistance. Complete lack of focus and direction.

Resistance 1 is still by far the best resistance.
 

Radec

Member
Resistance 3 is probably the best fps campaign ive played last gen. Everything went great especially on higher difficulty.

Such shame that very few people played it.
 

meta4

Junior Member
Resistance 3 is probably the best fps campaign ive played last gen. Everything went great especially on higher difficulty.

Such shame that very few people played it.

Yeah. I was just playing Metro Last Light the other day and I was thinking to myself why the hell was GAF gushing over this game and ignore something like RE3. I guess RE3 lacked the production values which most wanted. I cant think of one thing Metro does better than RE3 in the gameplay department.

I personally like using the secondary fire on the Mutator and then letting it clear out every enemy in the vicinity.

Oh shit forgot about that. Yeah that was awesome as well!
 

meta4

Junior Member
it's not like they made good games before then right?

Exactly. I am not sure why people are acting as if Insomniac is incapable of making good games. Sunset Overdrive looks to continue the trend of awesome Insomniac games.

The only legitimate bad game they have made was probably Fuse. The hate for Insomniac these days baffles me.
 
Resistance 3 is probably the most under-appreciated PS3 exclusive. Shame Insomniac doesn't want to continue the series. They had finally found the sweet spot.
 

jstevenson

Sailor Stevenson
Exactly. I am not sure why people are acting as if Insomniac is incapable of making good games. Sunset Overdrive looks to continue the trend of awesome Insomniac games.
.

and of course, Marcus Smith (Creative Director of R3) is the Creative Director of Sunset Overdrive, and Drew Murray (Lead Designer of R3) is the Game Director for Sunset Overdrive.
 
Resistance 3 kept freezing and I didn't beat it. Got to the last level too...

Fucking game data took like an hour to delete. Turns out this was a common issue.
 

Big_Al

Unconfirmed Member
Exactly. I am not sure why people are acting as if Insomniac is incapable of making good games. Sunset Overdrive looks to continue the trend of awesome Insomniac games.

The only legitimate bad game they have made was probably Fuse. The hate for Insomniac these days baffles me.

I disagree, FUSE is a fun game and a fun coop experience. Nothing mindblowing but it's a solid game. The reaction on GAF towards that game and the hate piled on was fucking embarrassing Resistance 2 however is fucking terrible and a real piece of shit. Not just a bad game but one of the worst FPS from last gen full stop.

Resistance 3 is without a doubt the best Resistance game and a major turnaround from Resistance 2 as well. Yeah it riffs on Half Life 2 majorly but in a great way, I really enjoyed my time with that game. Might play it again someday.
 

I-hate-u

Member
Why would they stop making resistance games right when they figured out how to do the series justice???? Resistance 3 SP is absolutely one of the best FPS SP out there and it disappoints me that nothing is coming after it from them.

Just watching GODZILLA makes me imagine the stuff Insomniac can pull on PS4 for the Resistance series.


Such a shame
 
R2 sold best because R1 was great. R3 sold worst because R2 wasn't good.

This. The series deserved so much better, but (1) insomniac had no idea where they wanted to go, and still don't as evidenced by R3s ending and (2) completely mismanaged the franchise with 2, which was their big shot. Oh well - R1 and R3 remain some of favorite FPS experiences of the gen.
 

ChawlieTheFair

pip pip cheerio you slags!
What I really liked about Resistance 1 and 3 were that they were closer to the PC shooters of the early 2000s than console shooter #948 with regen health and two weapons.

That's why Resistance 2 was such a nasty mis-step in what would otherwise have been a very solid trilogy.

R2 sold best because R1 was great. R3 sold worst because R2 wasn't good.

Am I the sole member in the Resistance 2 defense league? IDK, 1 is def the best, but I thought 2's settings, weapons, enemies, overlook and story were much better than 3's. It was only lacking in all weapons at once bit, I don't care much about the health systems.
 

Silky

Banned
JStevenson go to bed. :p

Resistance 3 is a strong game. Very awesome SP campaign, and fun co-op. Shame about the MP, but it's still easily the best Resistance game in the series and one of the games I'll reccommend for a new PS3 owner.

Yeah. I was just playing Metro Last Light the other day and I was thinking to myself why the hell was GAF gushing over this game and ignore something like RE3. I guess RE3 lacked the production values which most wanted. I cant think of one thing Metro does better than RE3 in the gameplay department.

What? RE3 had /more/ production values than Metro: Last Light. Metro and RE3 are at best both Mid-tier games. Two completely different games with a completely different feel/approach in it's gameplay. Why you bring this up is baffling.
 
Resistance 3 is probably the most under-appreciated PS3 exclusive. Shame Insomniac doesn't want to continue the series. They had finally found the sweet spot.
Yep. My mind was totally blown with Resistance 3. The IQ was horrid, but the overall effect of the visual style and animations and weapon effects was downright jaw dropping at times. Like a fluid, playable "Mars Attacks" concept art.

I loved it, and dream of what that game would be like without those jaggies.
 

drotahorror

Member
I wanted to play this but it came at the wrong time and when Insomniac were using this wretched engine. I hope they just remaster all the resistance titles for PS4. Seriously, they deserve it. The PS3 could not handle those games properly and Insomniac's engine was terrible for IQ.

Resistance 3 would look fantastic in 1080p 60 fps. I thought it was pretty terrific looking already on ps3, despite it's shortcomings.
 

Stillmatic

Member
The job they done with the 3D in Resistance 3 doesn't get enough credit either. It was fantastic even though it was really low res. I've played a lot of games in 3D on the old PS3, and R3 probably ranks as the most natural with the least amount of crosstalk (on my set anyway).
 

storl026

Member
When I saw the thread title, I immediately remembered the Zero Punctuation review. One of his main criticisms is that several pieces of the game seem to be copy-pasted from Half-Life 2. I loved the game though. If you're going to crib from somebody, it might as well be Valve.
 

peace

Neo Member
I never knew that about HL2, it's interesting, or that Resistance 3 was so similar. I want to play the game now.
 
Resistance was the best game in the series. I couldnt stop playing the campaign and completed it in one session.

One of the best singleplayer FPS on consoles.
 

EGM1966

Member
Definitely - arguably they creatively borrowed a bit too much but the result was so good (best FPS SP campaign on consoles last gen by a fair stretch) that I don't really mind.

They really missed a huge chance with the IP and TBH if I was Sony if look to reboot it if they can assign right talent and studio.

The alternative history setting was terrific and the basic backstory strong.

Insomniac sadly in the end didn't seem to have the right talent to flesh it out and expand it well - and the fact for R3 they looked so much to another franchise for guidance on getting it right is probably telling.

I think Insomniac is at their best with more fun, lighter fare with fun settings like R&C and the upcoming Sunset Overdrive.

They're clearly talented but Resistance always felt like they weren't totally clear what they should do with their fantastic concept.

Like GG they also fell into the trap of having each title feel like a big "you've saved the world" only to then find themselves painted into a corner how to proceed.

But R3 was great for SP experience nonetheless even if a debt is owed to Valve - pity the MP was a huge step backwards from some if the great elements from preceding games too.
 

DigiMish

Member
I love the resistance series but 1 and 3 cross way beyond homage territory, and well into embarrassing levels of gameplay/imagery/art style/story concept theft when it comes to half life 2.

LOL, what? I wouldn't even go as far as to call it a homage. Insomniac simply took some elements that worked in HL2 and built their gameplay around that.
 

Chabbles

Member
Every time someone mentions this game, people start praising it.. and i always end up checking psn for the game, which sony never seemed to put up on the store.. hopefully it hits psNow.
 
Resistance 3 would be an amazing game to port to Project Morpheus. As long at they slowed the players movement and enemy movement down quite a bit.
 

BouncyFrag

Member
I just finished R3 last week after several years of ignoring first person shooters due to genre fatigue. Long story short it, I really liked it and it got me back into the genre. I have since then finished Killzone 3 (Rico was actually tolerable to my surprise) and am now playing The Darkness 2 (almost at the end, game is fantastic) and BLOPS 2.
 
Resistance 3 is probably the best fps campaign ive played last gen. Everything went great especially on higher difficulty.

Such shame that very few people played it.

Couldn't agree more. It was a fantastic experience from beginning to end.

And yeah, there were some serious HL2 vibes throughout R3. That was one of the reasons why it was so good.

Sony screwed that by not throwing some marketing behind it.
 

Sorc3r3r

Member
Very happy to see so much love for R3, i loved it too.
It should have been released as R2, i'm still shocked to what happened with second game, someone made some big, big mistake, the game suddenly lost it's soul, Insomniac and Sony with them lost really a great chance.
Why not release a new ip with the new concepts and ideas R2 was proposing?
Madness.
 
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