Reviews// Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)

The character and equipment design, while generally original, does seem to borrow from other film and game classics; the Leapers and their egg pods are very reminiscent of Alien's face huggers and the Chimera barricades look the spitting image of the Combine structures in Half-Life 2. Indeed, the Widowmaker holds more than a passing resemblance to the Gonarch from the original Half-Life.

Boasting a massive draw distance and highly detailed models throughout, the frame rate is rock solid - even during the battles where there are bodies strewn everywhere and you're fending off dozens more Chimera and Stalkers. The high resolution textures add a good deal of depth to objects, and can stand close scrutiny to the point where you can walk up to pin boards and read the notes.

Conversely, outdoor lighting is far too ambient, leaching depth from those detailed textures and making buildings and characters look flat and washed out. Helping to offset that are some impressive dust effects, particularly evident when your flash light illuminates steam or dust clouds. The physics effects aren't overblown, just the expected rag doll effects and precariously balanced crates sent tumbling when shot. It's the finer effects, however, that add the eye-catching moments; pendant lights set swinging from errant weapons' fire, or chunks of glass falling from windows depending on where and how the window is damaged.

All of this is accompanied with the requisite sounds of ricochets, tinkling and crunching of glass. The proximity of unseen enemy is given away by their growling, that sometimes sounds like a distorted taunt. These effects work well to set the mood, with the shriek of attacking Leapers or Angels setting your nerves on edge. The sounds of distant explosions and weapons' fire maintain the sense of being within an urban battlefield, even when the immediate area is quiet.

Through out the game the story is delivered as a retrospective. Initially told in the third person, Captain Rachel Parker tells of the first engagement as reported in Sergeant Hale's log, later switching to recounting events from her own experience and field reports. This is conveyed almost entirely through cut scenes, resulting in a narrative that becomes disjointed from the action. Occasionally situation reports are delivered over radio, but the meat of the story is delivered between levels and locations - which is when we really want to nip out and put the kettle on, or use the small room.

The campaign mode doesn't deliver a particularly lengthy game. With just a couple of hours a day you can conquer it in under a week - less of you don't care to involve yourself in the story and blaze through the levels not stopping to pick up. This isn't the end of the game. You can replay with freshly unlocked weapons, but you're most likely to go for the multiplayer mode.

Playing host to up to 40 combatants, players elect to engage as either human or Chimera. Each faction has qualities not shared with the other; humans can crouch, sprint (yes, in multiplay you can sprint) and utilise radar while Chimera have "rage mode", wherein they move faster (okay, that's like sprinting), inflict greater damage and see short distances through objects. All weighted in favour of the Chimera you may think, except for the small detail that overuse of rage depletes health.

SPOnG score: 85%

While it's standard FPS fodder, some interesting weaponry lend Resistance: Fall of Man a little novelty of its own. Most importantly, it's an incredibly attractive shooter with good, solid game play. Campaign mode may seem a little short and strictly linear but, despite the disjointed cut scene delivery, the story is sufficiently intriguing to draw the player into this horrific alternate world. After you're done with the story mode, multiplayer games provides plenty of different modes - and more are promised on the PlayStation Network.