Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3) (gamespy)

- gamespy -

Editor's Note: It's GameSpy's review policy to test all online-enabled games in real-world multiplayer conditions before posting a final review score. A full review of this game will be posted shortly, once it has undergone testing in the same conditions that you'll play it in. Below you'll find our first impressions of the offline portions of the game.



The PS3's big launch game has gone through a variety of identities over time. From Killzone at E3 2005 to Heavenly Sword at E3 2006, everyone has speculated over what game would spearhead Sony's leap from one of the most successful game consoles of all time into their next evolution. It's safe to say that amongst a launch filled with third-party titles already available on other systems, the game known formerly as I-8 is stepping up to the plate in a big way. We got review code (no online, though) with our test unit last week, and we got a retail copy with our other PS3 last Friday. Since then, we've burned through as much of the game as possible, while juggling other PS3 releases.

While it's safe to say that Resistance: Fall of Man isn't the (now-cliché term) "Halo killer" that everyone hyped it up to be, it's still a solid title in its own right, and while it's not a $660 game (you know what I mean), it will, and should, be the game that everyone who buys a PS3 on Friday will pick up.

For those not in the know, Resistance takes place in an alternate 20th century, in which World War II didn't happen, because the Chimera, a race of insect-like creatures, infected Russia with a virus that assimilates humans into more Chimera. They invade Russia in 1939 and finally move across Europe a decade later and ravage the continent in a short period of time. US troops finally make their way over to England in 1951, when the game's action starts.

Players will take on the role of Nathan Hale, a US soldier who is infected with the Chimeran virus, but manages to survive. Don't worry about spoilers; it happens within the first hour of gameplay. Essentially, the game takes place over a three-day period, from when Hale lands in England, until the day that he is last seen. During that time, players will build up huge body counts of repulsive creatures along the way to the game's ending.

So far, so good. No one will ever accuse Resistance of being the most original FPS to come out, but it's certainly an engaging one. The mid-20th century motif immediately evokes Call of Duty and Medal of Honor, even if there is no World War II in this game's alternate history. The Chimera are actually more disgusting and repulsive to look at than the Covenant could ever be. The art design team at Insomniac truly deserves a special award for creating monstrosities that are so ugly that the player cannot wait to eradicate them. The pacing of the game is quite well-thought out, and brings to mind Half-Life, although PC gamers will likely cry foul at this comparison. Still, it's during the quiet moments that players will feel the most paranoia.

Most importantly, it's a game from the team responsible for Ratchet & Clank, one of the most beloved franchises on the PS2. Therefore, one of the most distinctive things about Resistance (even though it's an effective mash-up of other shooters) is that its weapons are mutually unrealistic and completely badass. No matter where you are in the game, outside of your trusty US Army-issued M5A2 Carbine machine gun and British-issue Rossmore shotgun and Fareye sniper rifles, it's all Chimera technology.

There's the Bullseye, which allows players to tag a homing bullet on an enemy and send all bullets in its direction. The Auger allows players to fire through walls at enemies, although it's not the fastest weapon out there. Its secondary fire allows for a shield. There are also some prototype weapons, such as the Hailstorm, which allows bolts to ricochet off walls and hard surfaces until they find a target. Also, there are excellent projectiles, such as the Hedgehog, which fires spears in all directions to take out multiple enemies. It's more effective than the frag grenade, which could possibly be the least powerful grenade I've ever used in a first-person shooter. All around, the weapons are a lot of fun to use, and the best thing that can be said is that the gameplay forces players to constantly adjust their arsenal for each situation.

So far, the gameplay has been quite good, with the storyline being intriguing enough to keep players hooked, while enemy AI seems to vary. During the first level, it's a sink or swim situation, with players either eating shrapnel or fighting their way through the Chimera. That whole plot hook about Hale getting infected with the virus? Without giving away much more, suffice it to say that these creatures can heal themselves quickly, which in turn gives Hale four bars of recharging health. It all works out beautifully, although with an edge of more immunity, players will discover that no matter how intelligent a Chimera foot soldier is, they still have slightly predictable patterns of movement.

Our other grievance at this point pertains to the graphics and physics. Granted, Insomniac CEO Ted Price espoused the power of the Cell processor and how it can render multiple things onscreen at once (case in point: our much touted statement that dead soldiers and Chimera stay where they are on the battlefield, no matter where you go), but while the lack of dissolving enemies is decidedly next-gen, the environmental destruction is not. Sure, windows shatter and react to gunshots, and it looks great, but when we fired a tank at a building during one of the vehicular sub-missions, only the glass was destroyed. Dead Chimera lie strewn around a warzone, but a wooden crate disappears. What's up with that? Hence, while Resistance is still a great game, I can't help but to coin the term "PS2.5" when describing it.

PC FPS fans will likely scoff at Resistance: Fall of Man. It's probably not nearly as stellar as anything you can play with a keyboard and mouse, but then, it's really good for a console shooter. Since I haven't played a multiplayer build of the game since E3, which is tantamount to saying that I haven't played it, it still remains to be seen how it's going to perform online. Since it's GameSpy's editorial policy that we will not review a game before we get online with gamers like you, consider this Out of the Box a pre-review of what you can expect from this excellent title.