Resistance 3

November 17th, 2006.

It feels like so long ago that I first purchased my PS3 and with it, a copy of the finest launch title available, Resistance: Fall of Man. I had so much fun with that game and it really set me up for all the good times that would be on the way for my PS3 and I. It wasn't a perfect game, and admittedly even as an FPS, it had a few rough edges. But I was so impressed by the bleak atmosphere and large-scale battles that it didn't matter as much.

Resistance 2 was a set-back, although not without it's charms. The game-play was made much more generic, what with it's (fully) regenerating health and two-weapon limit. Truth be told, the regenerating health system didn't bother me much, especially since they wrote it into the story. No, what tragically hurt Resistance 2 for me was the two-weapon limit. From start to finish it left a very sour taste in my mouth, and although the game was still good, it didn't blow me away like the first did.

Now, Resistance 3 is without any doubt the true Resistance experience I've been craving since I beat the first game. And only a couple chinks in the armor hold it back from being a godsend to gamers everywhere.

The story kicks off four years after the end of Resistance 2 with Joseph Capelli, killer of previous protagonist, Nathan Hale, living in a small underground community in Haven, Oklahoma with his wife and young son. But our favorite Russian scientist tracks down Joseph and convinces him to come to New York City to close a giant wormhole in the sky that is freezing the planet over.

This is a much more personal story than before. The first two games focused on the military resistance against the Chimera, while this one has a "after the end" sort of feel to it. It's not so much about defeating the Chimera as it is about "surviving" the Chimera.

The weapon wheel makes it triumphant return to the series. Being able to switch between twelve different weapons is as glorious as ever. Franchise staples like the Bullseye and Auger make their comeback alongside new weapons like the Mutator, Atomizer and Cyrogun which are all welcome additions.

They are all great fun to use and have varying degrees of usefulness depending on the enemy types in front of you. Another welcome addition is the way weapons gain experience and level up to gain new features, much like weapons function in Ratchet and Clank, another franchise by Insomniac Games. I only have two minor gripes about the arsenal this time around.

My first complaint is the Sledgehammer, which doesn't make any sense to me. Why include a melee-only weapon when you can preform a melee attack with every other weapon anyway? It doesn't even do any more damage than swinging the butt of the Carbine, so why devote an entire weapon slot to it? I would've much rather the Splicer from Resistance 2 make a comeback. It just goes to show, if your not Red Faction than leave your sledgehammer at home.

Second, the old "Far-eye" sniper rifle has been replaced by the "Dead-Eye". The two guns function pretty much the same except the Deadeye doesn't slow down time like the Far-Eye did. Instead, it's alt-fire is... a one-shot kill photon beam. Yeah, not exactly as cool as slowing down time, is it?

The first game had what as become known as "Sectioned Regenerating Health", which I thought was a decent compromise between two different systems. Whether by corporate meddling or plain experimentation, Resistance 2 used fully regenerating health, much like almost every other shooter that comes out these days. Which wasn't received well.

I guess Insomniac took the message to heart because health does not regenerate at all in Resistance 3 (except in Multiplayer, of course). Nope, instead you are completely dependent on both your ability to avoid getting blown up and the numerous health packs lying around the level or hanging off the belts of your extraterrestrial foes. They are placed well and even the sound that plays when you run across one is so rejuvenating that it gives you hope for the battles to come.

Another thing the Resistance series has always done well is how many different types of enemies there are. From Longlegs that hop from rooftop to rooftop, sniping you down, to big bulky Ravagers who charge at you from behind a mobile shield, to swarms of feral Leapers that rush you in large numbers nibbling at your health bar (or health circle, really) and much more. So many different enemy types and so many different ways to deal with them. This is the mark of any great FPS, and Resistance 3 delivers in this aspect.

This game is also quite the looker as well, it's not quite up to Killzone 3 level but it's very close and still much better looking visually than anything you'll find on the 360.

All the different weapons, enemy types, and locals blend together to form the most enjoyable FPS I have ever played on a console. The frantic game-play is pitch perfect and is so easy to pick up and play when I have nothing else going on.

And now we come to the reveal of Resistance 3's biggest flaw. It's sole weakness and the reason it sits a mere half a star away from perfection. Resistance 3's single-player campaign is... disappointingly short. I could explain in more detail but I think I'll let my run-times speak for themselves. And yes, I do keep track of this stuff.

Resistance: Fall of Man- 15hr 48min (Normal Difficulty)

Resistance 2- 12hr 4min (Normal Difficulty)

Resistance 3- 7hr 13min (Normal Difficulty)

Let that sink in for a moment. Resistance 3 took me less than half as much time to finish as the first game did. I realize the first title was uncharacteristically long for an FPS these days and even Resistance 2 is a good stretch longer than most but I was expecting this game to at least continue this trend. But it didn't. Even more surprising when you consider that Resistance 3 had the longest development time of all of them.

All the time they must've spent making this game in 3D and making it "Move-Enabled" and tweaking the multiplayer could have been spent making the single-player campaign four hours longer. In fact, in an interview done on IGN's PlayStation podcast, one of the developers even admits they had two whole locations cut from the game. I'm sorry, what? Why? This a PS3-exclusive darling franchise with loads of Sony cash behind it! What is their excuse for not making it as good as it could be? Why stop at "Eh, Long Enough" when you could have taken a few more months and really went that extra mile?

I guess we'll never know. Regardless, Resistance 3 is the best Resistance title, the second-best PS3 exclusive this year (Behind inFamous 2), and in my opinion, the Best FPS of 2011. It may be short, but unlike other short titles, I enjoyed every solitary second of this game, and that is worth something.

You Are The Resistance. 9/10. Fucking Awesome.