Resistance: Fall of Man

Even playing it 14 years after its release it still holds up as one of my favorite shooters. Insomniac definitely hit the mark with this one.

There are hardly any games out for any system that I want right now, but I got the urge to get my first PS3 game after owning one for almost two months. I finally broke down and got Resistance.

Resistance shows just how good of a game it really is with me actually hating FPS games before this and still do. This game stands out amongst the rest though. I actually enjoy this FPS and this will probably be the only FPS game I ever own.

I don't know much about standard shooters, but the gameplay in this is great. The physics in this game are great. The glass breaks realistic. You can knock over most stuff with shots or melee hits. You can't damage buildings that much. The storyline is decent, but I've seen better, but the atmosphere and locations make up for what little the story lacks. The guns are all great. They all have great sub things they can do. Difficulty isn't cheap on any of the harder settings.

This game also brought out another first in me. I tried the online play which I don't normally do in games and I love it. There's plenty of modes and maps to play in. There is NO lag for me at least. It's awesome. Clans to join, buddies to make, and plenty of stuff to unlock. In fact this whole game is awesome and worth a buy.

Finally, Sony released the powerhouse known as the Playstation 3. The PS3 fan boys all remember the first PS3 show when Phil Harrison demonstrated just how powerful this technological marvel is. Now it's here, but how is all this power being used? Fairly good in my opinion! Resistance: Fall of Man (RFM) is a first person shooter (duh) for the Playstation 3 (double duh), set in the 1950's where all of Europe and most of Asia has been overrun by a virus, capable of mutating humans into alien creatures, known as the Chimera. The game is built up around the endeavors of the American soldier Nathan Hale, who is dropped in on an assault, on the city of York. From here, he too is infected, but not mutated. He thus becomes a powerful half-human, half-chimerian hybrid, and must now join his fellow humans in the battle against the vicious E.T. look-alike invaders.

The game itself runs in 720p HD, which is jaw-droopingly beautiful providing of course that you have a HD TV and a HDMI cable. Otherwise, the crisp details in the textures are washed away by jaggies from standard TV sets and SCART cables. Although the graphics are inconsistent from time to time, it is a very beautiful game on the bottom-line. The Blu-Ray discs really show just how much potential the machine has, unlike the X360's DVD drive. (Yes, I am a PS3 fan boy, please close your e-mail client.)

As for game play, the RFM is pretty basic. The enemies can take quite a lot of damage since there's little reason to get to cover. Just aim and shoot. However, the AI is strafing, dodging, ducking and jumping and aims irritatingly well. Rest assured, you'll be up for quite a challenge. The strong point in game play is the weapons. These are the guys that made Ratchet and Clank people, they have some twisted ideas for tomorrow's arsenal. Like the Chimerian standard rifle that can "tag" and enemy, so that all future shots will be homing to that position. Or the Auger that slowly goes through walls, and doesn't stop. It even has a force field for you to hide behind. Awesome!

And of course, there is the multi player. 40 people can kill some time killing each other with little to no lag. That's impressive. Sadly, the vehicles available in single player are nowhere to be found on the online arenas. I surely would love to blast through a wall with a tank and surprise a few unwary noobs gone camping.

The only problem RFM has, is that it becomes very linear at points. Even though the scenery is very different from one place to another, there're little to no cut-scenes, even though they are brilliantly done. All you get are 30-50 seconds of dialog and some black and white stills, and then a load of new aliens are thrown at you. Give us a tiny break please.

Still, Resistance: Fall of Man is a well done FPS, and for a launch title, the best on it's field. If this is the beginning of what we can see on the PS3, Bill Gates is in for quite a time. It combines the cool elements from classics like Halo and Call of Duty, with weaponry worthy of any childish inventor. With brilliant graphics that easily competes against X360 classics like Gears of War, I'll certainly will be on the lookout for a sequel. If you got a PS3, get out there and buy it!

I remember when Resistance Fall of Man first released it was labelled as one of (if not THE) best games of the early PS3. Playing through it, it was easy to see why. The game took more from Doom and Quake than it did the typical of the time Halo and Call of Duty. At the same time it felt fresh thanks to a nihilistic atmosphere and an enemy as uniquely awesome as it was fiercely grotesque.

When revisiting something from long ago it usually a risky business (whether its simply because of the technology of the time not matching what we are now used to, or just that we are more forgiving as kids/teens), but wanting to give my later consoles a rest, I decided to fire up the old PS3 and started with this.

I am pleased to say that outside of the obvious graphics limitations (although in truth it's still a great looking game) it really doesn't feel like this game has aged a day. Well, for the most part. It's story still works, it lacks typical emotion (we don't have a hero we particularly care about, the story follows a very basic point a to b to c structure), there is this horrifying bleakness to it that makes the entire thing engaging and compelling. If an alien invasion did happen, perhaps it would be like this. The world building is flawless, giving answers where needed and questions where most impactful, with the stars of the show being the chimera - some of gaming's greatest villains. Mass Effect villains ain't got nothing on these perversions of life! And the gameplay is spot on. The shooting is satisfying and responsive, and the guns are all so unique and equally fun to use that you never get bored. That is something Insomniac have always done superbly, and it is in full force here.

My only issues are controller set up is very dated (R1 to fire?), though this can be changed to make it easier. Also despite there being a war on, Hale (our hero) is not in a rush. A sprint button would have been welcomed, if not a slightly faster walk cycle. Outside of saying that Widowmakers can do one and some battle segments are a little too unforgiving, I genuinely have no other issues.

It was a pleasure to rivisit an old favourite and find that I still felt as I did back then. Here's hoping I find the same with game 3, and that game 2 is better than I remember.

Game 10 number but I could not get used to the controls went out of her story and the action took me away from me really recommend you to play