Previews// Resistance 3

Posted 28 Jul 2011 17:22 by
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Continuing the PS3's flagship FPS series, Resistance 3 takes a bit of a detour from its two predecessors. Our part-man, part-Chimera, all-hero, Nathan Hale, no longer takes point - not a surprise to anyone who's played through to the finale of Resistance 2 (reviewed here).

Into his shoes steps Joe Capelli, Hale’s former Sentinel side-kick. The setting is several years after Resistance 2, seeing an Earth that is overrun by the mutated, once-human Chimera. Those humans with the questionable privilege of having survived are forced to live in hiding, burrowing below ground to literally carve out a rather pitiful existence.

It's in one of the hideouts, below the ghost town of Haven, Oklahoma, that Resistance 3 picks up the tale. Amidst the tunnels and subterranean bunkers are families struggling to feed themselves, while up-top in the derelict diners, behind burned-out cars and through Chimera-trampled cornfields, you take up arms against both a more advanced and more feral Chimera.

Where the enemy regiments have refined themselves both biologically and prosthetically the lesser, more common Chimera have regressed to a wretched (though no less dangerous) state. With the military types comes a fine selection of enhancements for mutant-kind.

This preview shows off the massively powerful legs and flashy after-market wings of the Longlegs as they bound from roof to roof. There's also the gorilla-like Brawler, which charges and pummels players before they've had the chance to pick off some their attacker's substantial armour.

The Atomizer!
Fortunately, they're not the only ones with goodies. Added to the familiar weapons from previous Resistance titles is a selection of upgrades, such as the Marksman rifle’s secondary fire, which now deploys an automated sentry turret.

During the preview I made some new friends in the weapons locker: the Atomizer, which is a lightning gun that vaporises enemies and has a secondary firing mode that deploys a sort of mini-blackhole. Then there is the Deadeye, a Chimeran sniper rifle.

Added to these is the levelling-up of each weapon's power and capabilities driven by the player's use of that weapon. This results in improvements like the staple Bullseye having explosive rounds or the ability to tag multiple targets, and the improved range on the Marksman’s ironsights.

However, probably the most welcome improvement is actually a regression to how R1: Fall Of Man handled its inventory - no longer are players forced to make a choice over which weapons to carry, as was the case in Resistance 2. All collected weapon are available, ammo willing. This is a good thing.

Story Time
The story takes you from the Haven's farmlands on a mission as an escort to Professor Malikov. At one stage you travel by boat as you accompany him to New York. It's during this stage of the preview that it struck me how the Resistance series' depiction of scale has developed with each release. This has been apparent from Fall of Man's modest though detailed British towns and cities and on to Resistance 2's iconic San Francisco shore-line battle and Chicago roof-top attack on the Leviathan.

Resistance 3 doesn't let up, as the journey up the Mississippi and the following encounter with several towering Goliaths succinctly demonstrates. The cap it off, Resistance 3 delivers some much improved lighting and environmental effects.

A complaint from the original game was the lack of depth offered by the game's lighting. The later scenes in Haven are a testament to this improvement, with dust storms obscuring the sun and casting a eerie, rusty hue, or on the Mississippi boat journey, with a dense fog revealing tantalising if somewhat unnerving glimpses of mammoth enemy machines.

Game Play
Gameplay has, naturally, had to accommodate the change in protagonist. Where Hale's Chimera infection allowed him to regenerate portions of his health, Capelli has no such benefits.

Instead there's a clear shift to a more tactical method of play. Resistance 2 tried, and failed, by limiting the available weapons slots. Any tactical weapon decisions were rendered pointless by the regular litter of weapons and ammo that would precede any major engagement.

In this short preview it seems that Resistance 3 is going for a somewhat less linear approach to the level design. This gives players the change to assess and tackle the more open areas using scenery to their advantage based on whatever weaponry and ammo level they have at hand.

My only disappointment with the Resistance 3 preview is that it ended, and I'm already desperate for that final review copy.

Sticking unerringly to its predecessor's formula both in gameplay and plot, the changes that have been made are all for the better. With little more than a month to the game's release, it's clear that there's not much more for developer Insomniac to do here other than just keep polishing.
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Comments

gingineer 28 Jul 2011 17:26
1/2
i have enjoyed the resistance series, the first one had its charm and a good narrative. One aspect the second one came up short on was it didn't include co op. which was a shame as the first was one of the few good quality co op experiences.
config 29 Jul 2011 10:59
2/2
R2 does have co-op, though perhaps not what you might consider classic co-op (team based, red vs. blue japes) Instead they're 8-player co-op campaign missions.
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