No need for Resistance.
But this would be me talking if I wasn't the type of person who just enjoyed playing video games. Rest assured Resistance 3 is not a rare experience, but one that was meant to seal the deal with fans. I wouldn't consider myself to be a huge fan of the series, but Resistance 3 has definitely left me with a good taste in my mouth, delivering on aspects that most other shooters wouldn't even bother with.
The aspects that I'm talking about consist of an awesome campaign. Resistance 3 feels short, and it actually is, but there isn't a single dull moment to be had in its entirety. But the difference between this campaign and something from the likes of Call of Duty is the amount of variety in objectives. A lot of it deals with stuff that isn't just straight forward corridor shooting action. There's a lot of room to maneuver in this game, and there are plenty of ways to move through this room. I think the word I'm looking for is "variety", which is definitely the strongest point of Resistance 3. It can be found in weapons, objectives, environments (granted, all of them are brown), and enemies. It's not something that is sorely lacking in FPS's these days; it's just done exceedingly well here.
One thing that really stands out is the story. Typically, stories in FPS's are so dumb, that you wouldn't even bother paying attention to half of the dialogue that is being spit out by these burly marines. Instead of a steroid abuser, we get Joseph Capelli, a soldier from the second game who acts as a friendly aid through most of the game. After capping Nathan Hale, and person who basically ended production of all Chimera, he is left with nothing but sorrow, as he escapes to Oklahoma to start a new life in secrecy from the rest of the Chimera (which there are plenty of, mind you). Everything is going fine and dandy, until they're discovered by what's referred to as a "Terraformer", which blows their cover, and forces them to retreat to a new hide-out. In the process of doing so, Joe meets up with another familiar face to the Resistance series, who goes by the title of Dr. Malikov. Malikov discovers a way to stop the rest of the Chimera forces, and requires Joe's help to get to New York to both stop the invasion for good, and to stop the planet from freezing. The Chimera is like a bunch of polar bears; they love the cold, so much so that they are freezing the planet to the point where it's uninhabitable to humans.
The way the story plays out makes it feel like a mini-series. With every chapter you complete, it feels like an entirely different story, within the main story. This might not sound all that gratifying, but it works well, without losing focus on the main goal of getting to New York. All of the small story arcs are pretty fun, with my favorite being the bit inside the prison, where you have to escape the clutches of Danny Trejo's stunt-double. There is one point in the story that bothers me though, and that's where you have to work your way around an abandoned town in order to find the leader of a small religious group. The overall design of the chapter is monotonous, and it feels like the town never ends, which can either mean you're getting somewhere all the time, or you're just running in circles. This chapter is basically down time from all of the action that happens in all the other chapters. It's not dull or anything like that, it's just not as well thought out as other levels in the game.
Like I said, the campaign is pretty short, but there's also added co-op support for up to 2 people. I remember a time when it was 8 people, back in Resistance 2. But that's something I don't really miss, mainly because the campaign in this game is a hell of a lot better than the one found in Resistance 2. It feels both limited and tighter compared to the 2nd game. In my eyes, it's just a better experience overall, but this is coming from a person who despises Resistance 2. The only problem with this new co-op implementation is that there aren't any match-making services. You can play this either online with somebody or split-screen with a buddy on a couch. The game is fun by itself, but it's even better when you're killing the Chimera with a mate.
The set-pieces in the game are nothing we haven't seen before, but they're executed well enough that it doesn't matter. They range from having to defend a train, to blowing up a spaceship, or to even kill Satan himself! And I'm not joking; there actually is a part in the game where you blow Satan's head off, which is just one of the many big-enemy/boss moments in the game. There are plenty of these said moments in the game, although few too many times do the repeat over the course. They're thrown at you in generous doses, and they all have different ways of being killed, but at the end of the day, they are pretty easy to kill. There isn't a real end-boss either this time around, which is kind of disappointing, but I think Insomniacs idea of making up for this is the amount of enemies thrown at you in the final hour of the game. If I have any dedicated readers at all, I'm sure they will be thinking "Hey wait a minute, you said the same thing about the set-pieces in Call of Juarez 3, and you knocked it down for it!" Yeah, I did say the same things. But the difference between something like this and The Cartel is that there is legitimate polish to this game. This is obviously a game that has had great care and attention put into it. Had it not been for the excessive polish that this game received, this wouldn't be worthwhile at all.
The way the game works is just amazing. This is probably one of the smoothest FPS's that I've played this year, and one of the smoothest that I've played ever. The controls are tight, and responsive, even for an FPS. Along with the superb feel of the controls, all of the weapons in the game each have a unique purpose and a unique feel as well. That's something that can't be said about a lot of FPS's these days, and Resistance pretty much nails it. I also have to point out that there is finally a health bar. Yes, finally there is a certain degree of skill required to do well in the campaign. It works perfectly, with health packs in all the right places to ensure that the game's difficulty is never cheap, but never easy enough to just plow right through. There are 4 difficulties to play through, with all of them being rightfully challenging to their name-sakes. It took me around 7 hours to beat the campaign, and it was all in one sitting mind you. It was hard for me to put this game down; it was really that much fun. I have to say, this is the most fun I've had with an FPS since Killzone 2, which is saying a lot, considering the fact that games never really keep my attention for long. There's incentive to come-back and try for trophies that you missed on your first play-through, but other than that, there isn't much else.
Another new mechanic to Resistance 3's other-wise safe design is that you can upgrade all of the weapons that you pick up. Returning from the first Resistance is the famous weapon wheel that lets you cycle through all of the weapons that you've picked up. It's another thing that, like the health bar, is a welcome change of pace from all the other FPS's that only let you have two weapons at a time, and a regenerating health bar. As I was saying, the ability to upgrade weapons is a pretty good reason to mix things up while playing the game, mainly because with each upgrade you get to a weapon (you get to upgrade each weapon three times); new abilities are unlocked with each weapon in addition to being more powerful in general. All of the upgrades you obtain are helpful, but you will definitely be picking favorites at some points in the game. The enemy AI in the game works well, and you rarely have friendly support, which I consider a plus.
It's no secret that this game looks like poop, but its poop that has a high technical prowess. The animation of everything is so smooth, and the motion-blur effect is probably the best I've ever seen. The textures all look really nice, but like I said, all of them seem to have this poopy hue to them, which definitely takes a little bit of soul out of the overall look of the game. I would've really liked to see a more fleshed out color scheme to accompany the very good technical aspects of the game. The enemy and character designs are all pretty good, but a lot of what they do is somewhat predictable. Their actions don't vary with each play-through, which can't really be helped, but it was a missed opportunity from the start. I really dug the music in the game, especially the parts inside the mine-shafts. The weapons sound a lot better here than they did in Resistance 2. As far as voice-acting goes, it's alright. It gets its job done well, and it made the characters feel believable to an extent. I don't really have any problems with the sound design; it all works out pretty well.
Resistance 3 is something that was definitely intended to be a safe game. It never strays from the traditional Resistance formula, and what mechanics it does pull off properly are usually ones that we've seen in prior FPS's. If you look past the under-ambitious nature this game has, you'll definitely enjoy your time. The supposed end to the main series is a worthy entry into this beloved series, and Insomniac should be proud of what they've crafted. Although I might have put an emphasis on the campaign in this review, the multiplayer modes are a lot of fun, but they're pretty much subjective in opinion, depending on who plays it.
+Neat wrap up to an eventful story
+Wonderful improvements to the visuals and animations from R2
+Awesome campaign with varied objectives and settings
+Tight shooting mechanics, with many improvements to the game mechanics from R2
+Fun co-operative play and multiplayer
+Additional Move support works well
-Under ambitious, in both the campaign and multiplayer
-Short campaign
-No match-making for co-operative modes
-Underwhelming visual style
Review by Cal Burkhart