There's a couple of spoilers in this
I picked up Resistance 3 again due to the praise from GAF in regards to it's story. I'm a huge fan of the series in regards to the multiplayer, and after playing 3's MP long ago my stance is still this: Insomniac, you can go right to fucking hell for ruining the MP for Resistance. 2's MP was ass, but it was tolerable ass. Should you ever return to the Resistance series after 3, get your fucking priorities straight and focus on what made R:FoM excellent outside of the common issues with that game. 16 player corridor based CoD shooters is /not/ what it should be.
With THAT being said, I bought it again solely to go through the Single Player Campaign. And...I was impressed! Like, really fucking impressed!
Story:
I didn't care about Hale that much so I essentially viewed the story for the previous 2 as invalid and really only focused on Joe and the world surrounding him. What I really liked was during the boat scene with Joe and Co. where different survivors across the world sending their wishes across the radio. It really showed it's mark on what the Chimera has done to fuck up Earth, and how humans are reaching towards it. I think that, other than The Last of Us, Resistance 3 gets the concept of Destroyed Beauty in it's lore and dialogue more than it's predecessors. The characters are written well enough to keep me interested, but it's not saying much--specifically the cast in the Prison chapter of the campaign is where I began to notice the slagging on with some of the character's lines. They felt forced and lazy.
Environment
Once again, Destroyed Beauty is something this game does very fucking well. It's as if every venue and piece of scenery in-game is like "We Never Go To Ravenholm" (a chapter in HL2 I really loved.) Chimeran elements mixed with the Earth's atmosphere is eerie and unsettling--ESPECIALLY when you reach Oklahoma. There's a change in tone that's really noticeable when the game transistions from it's everyday post-apocalyptic Chimera feel to it's downright disturbing and dystopian-like anarchy phase in the Prison episode.
Gunplay
Despite my grief with the MP in R3, it works very well with SP. It's fun and challenging (I played it on Hard difficulty), and of course the weapons are fun to tinker with. (I LOVE the Atomizer, but I hate the Mutator.) The weapon leveling system is cool, if not broken (because by the time you reach the incindiary rounds with the shotgun, everything can essentially go down in one shot.). As with a FPS, Joe becoming a powerhouse mowing down everything in sight seems to be a bit too much for the game's setting (it's 'Despair' not, 'Despair in the cutscenes,' mow down enemy after enemy afterwards, repeat.'). I honestly wish that the game had more moments of Joe's weapons being taken away and having to work from the ground up each time. Adds more variety imo.
Overall, for the price it sells now, Resistance 3 is definitely one of Insomniac's stronger titles. I've never been doubted by the devs ability to make awesome games, outside of All 4 One. It's a game that asks for the player to listen and look at the world than focus on it's general plot line. This is the direction that Insomniac should take the world into...well, either that or those cool Chimera redneck concepts they had in one of those videos. I can't reccommend it enough for the single player.
I picked up Resistance 3 again due to the praise from GAF in regards to it's story. I'm a huge fan of the series in regards to the multiplayer, and after playing 3's MP long ago my stance is still this: Insomniac, you can go right to fucking hell for ruining the MP for Resistance. 2's MP was ass, but it was tolerable ass. Should you ever return to the Resistance series after 3, get your fucking priorities straight and focus on what made R:FoM excellent outside of the common issues with that game. 16 player corridor based CoD shooters is /not/ what it should be.
With THAT being said, I bought it again solely to go through the Single Player Campaign. And...I was impressed! Like, really fucking impressed!
Story:
I didn't care about Hale that much so I essentially viewed the story for the previous 2 as invalid and really only focused on Joe and the world surrounding him. What I really liked was during the boat scene with Joe and Co. where different survivors across the world sending their wishes across the radio. It really showed it's mark on what the Chimera has done to fuck up Earth, and how humans are reaching towards it. I think that, other than The Last of Us, Resistance 3 gets the concept of Destroyed Beauty in it's lore and dialogue more than it's predecessors. The characters are written well enough to keep me interested, but it's not saying much--specifically the cast in the Prison chapter of the campaign is where I began to notice the slagging on with some of the character's lines. They felt forced and lazy.
Environment
Once again, Destroyed Beauty is something this game does very fucking well. It's as if every venue and piece of scenery in-game is like "We Never Go To Ravenholm" (a chapter in HL2 I really loved.) Chimeran elements mixed with the Earth's atmosphere is eerie and unsettling--ESPECIALLY when you reach Oklahoma. There's a change in tone that's really noticeable when the game transistions from it's everyday post-apocalyptic Chimera feel to it's downright disturbing and dystopian-like anarchy phase in the Prison episode.
Gunplay
Despite my grief with the MP in R3, it works very well with SP. It's fun and challenging (I played it on Hard difficulty), and of course the weapons are fun to tinker with. (I LOVE the Atomizer, but I hate the Mutator.) The weapon leveling system is cool, if not broken (because by the time you reach the incindiary rounds with the shotgun, everything can essentially go down in one shot.). As with a FPS, Joe becoming a powerhouse mowing down everything in sight seems to be a bit too much for the game's setting (it's 'Despair' not, 'Despair in the cutscenes,' mow down enemy after enemy afterwards, repeat.'). I honestly wish that the game had more moments of Joe's weapons being taken away and having to work from the ground up each time. Adds more variety imo.
Overall, for the price it sells now, Resistance 3 is definitely one of Insomniac's stronger titles. I've never been doubted by the devs ability to make awesome games, outside of All 4 One. It's a game that asks for the player to listen and look at the world than focus on it's general plot line. This is the direction that Insomniac should take the world into...well, either that or those cool Chimera redneck concepts they had in one of those videos. I can't reccommend it enough for the single player.
