Resistance 3 makes for a great end to a great series!
Resistance 3 takes place 4 years after Nathan Hale's death. You play as a new protagonist, Joseph Capelli (yeah that **** from Resistance 2). Joe has a wife (Hale's foster sister), and a kid, and the world has officially been taken over by the Chimera. Only 10% of the worlds human population is left, and as such the remaining humans are forced to scrape by, under tunnels, various hideouts, in different means. Returning from Resistance 2, Malikov shows up to tell Joseph that the explosion you and Hale caused at the end of Resistance 2 has caused a sort of wormhole, and it must be shut down otherwise the "pure," chimera will be moved to earth, which would of course end the world! DUH! In turn, you and Malikov must trek from Oklahoma to New York in order to save the world from the end of it...
I was super stoked before buying this game. Due to my massive disappointment in Resistance 2, I was excited for this game's return to the awesomeness that was Resistance 1's health system, co-op, and gun wheel. Furthermore, the multiplayer I heard had been tightened, and cut from 60 player matches, to 16 player matches, which excited me because I was so ready to not be ganged by 20 people out of the blue. And I can thankfully say, this game delivered everything I had hoped for!
The gameplay in Resistance 3 was fantastic, and controls felt so crisp and responsive, it was like a hot knife cutting through butter. Shooting that new styled bullseye felt spectacular! The health system was now back to being on the HUD, which is similar to the first Resistance; however, your health does not regenerate, so you have to find health packs to regenerate. This provided a fresh take on first person shooters, that I felt was very necessary. I also had a lot more fun playing campaign in this game just because I got to play it by my brother's side.
Co-op play in first person shooters is a big favorite of mine ever since I played Time Splitters 2 on the Nintendo Gamecube. And the co-op in Resistance 3 just adds to my love for it. Being able to sign in individual profiles me (Colossal_Gamer) and my brother (Babymetroid) enabled us to keep data for our each individual characters, which for the new gameplay feature unique to this final installment from the other 2 games, is awesome.
Weapon upgrades. Now, I mentioned the weapon wheel. It is back, and there are even more weapons to choose from. With this vast array of weapons to unlock throughout the campaign, comes upgrades to each weapon. While the upgrade process may not be very detailed, and is based off of just how much you use a particular weapon, it still adds a new element to the series that is gladly welcomed. On top of the weapon upgrades, you get to keep your upgrade process on each of your weapons, on subsequent play through's which is further incentive to play the campaign multiples times and multiple difficulties etc.
Another thing to keep you coming back for the campaign, is the intel. The intel documents you can collect in this game is by far the best out of all 3 games. The menu system is so well organized, that it makes for streamlined viewing of all the intel you find. And while these documents aren't necessary for the storyline, it adds a LOT, and makes the game much more enjoyable.
Even if you aren't one for playing the short campaign multiple times, you can still expect to see tons of gameplay hours just from the online multiplayer. Because, it is HELLA fun!!!! The health system of finding health packs works for the campaign, but they nix that for multiplayer, and bring back the recharging health, which I actually think makes for better competitive play. So many first person shooting fans will find this multiplayer quite familiar. However, there are many differences from other first person shooter multiplayers. For instance the weapon wheel! Now you do only start off with one gun, but each person you kill, you can pick up their gun, and add it to your weapon wheel, which adds to the rewards of not dying, which brings me to berzerks or in call of duty terms (perks). Berzerks are cool perks for getting kill streaks, and aren't customizable, but are unique dependant upon whether you are playing as human, or chimera. Yellow assault force shield? Or invisibility? Or maybe the 7 streaker AUGER!!!!!!? ANYwho, abilities are cusomtizable, and there are tons to unlock based off of what level you are, and how many skill points you have, some are ones you can activate, and some are passive, just like call of duty. However, I feel like they are more unique and varied then call of duty perks. Now, if you don't like starting with one gun, you can have a passive perk that allows you to start with 2 guns. And guns you can upgrade just like in the game, except you have to level your ownself up, and then use the skill points you get from leveling to upgrade guns you want. It makes leveling so much more exciting, and addicting in order to make your own specialized build that you like a whole lot. There are a wide varieties of game types, team deathmatch, hardcore, deathmatch, small deathmatch, capture the flag, territory defend, etc. Also, the maps you play at are not just limited to maps you play in the campaign, it takes the resistance overseas to places in countries all over the world, which just adds another element to the global size of this chimeran invasion.
I haven't touched on the story too much yet, but believe you me, it is great. It progresses perfectly, and it takes you on a boat, and train, and across the country all the way to New York, in an epic conclusion to a great unique first person shooter series unlike any other game! (Except for Halo, and Call of Duty, and Gears of War.)
Breakdown:
Story: 8/10
The story puts a great conclusion to a great series, that COULD have been done a LITTLE better, but still great.
Graphics: 8/10
The graphics in this game are maybe just as good as Resistance 2's, and for being release 2 years after Resistance 2 you would think it would be better. They are still fine though.
Sound: 10/10
The music in this game is the best of the entire series, I loved every bit of it. The voice acting was at its best of the series as well.
Gameplay: 10/10
The controls are crisp, clean, and satisfying. While the level design, enemy AI, and progression of the game is spot on.
Overall
If you played the first 2 games of the series, then hesitate no more, and get this game now. It is extremely fun, and a satisfying conclusion to a fantastic trilogy. If you have not played these games, and are a first person shooter fan who owns a PS3, you would like this game, seriously.