PS3 Resistance: Fall of Man - review

Resistance: Fall of Man (15) PS3

Published by Insomniac Games

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

What if World War 2 never happened, suppose that instead of Nazis extermination squads and death camps something even less pleasant happened along… No – I haven’t subscribed to the Mel Gibson school of alternate historical viewing - what I’m talking about is the ‘free world’ facing an onslaught of horrific monsters intent on our extermination / conversion to their many eyed and multiple fanged ranks. I’m talking about a race of creatures called The Chimera – ugly predators with swarms of face sucking bugs and weapon wielding storm troopers backed up by a variety of walking spider like tanks and weird mech variations… And of course only one man can save the human race – and he’s a Yank soldier who has been airlifted into an overrun England to make a stand against the Chimera hellspawn and try to turn the tide of a battle which looks already lost. If you have a PS3 and buy Resistance: Fall of Man, then you can be that man - Nathan Hale is his name and wiping out mutant enemy scum with many assorted and highly satisfying weapons is his game!
Resistance for me pips Call of Duty 3 as the premier first-person shooter (FPS) to grace the PS3 (at least for a few more weeks until the PS3 gets its F.E.A.R. conversion). It looks and plays superbly, which shouldn’t be a big surprise as it comes from Insomniac ‘Ratchet and Clank’ games. It really does feel suitably ‘next gen’ too, as you’ll realise long before enjoying the chaotic mayhem of a 20 vs 20 online multiplayer battles. Resistance shows off some very nice PS3 graphical horsepower with incidental details such as bullet ricochets and glass fracturing, readable flyers posted to walls and amazing ‘heat shimmer’ from burning wreckage all coming as standard.
Whilst the basic one against many shoot everything nasty looking / move to next location and repeat action isn’t very new - it is highly refined. The PS3 Sixaxis adopts the standard console FPS controls, left stick to move and right to aim, shoulder triggers fire your weapon's primary and alternate death bringing modes. The cool motion sensor in the Sixaxis allows you to literally ‘shake off’ the Chimera creatures that will attempt to make babies with your face in an Alien style moment of pure panic inducing nastiness. Online shake your Sixaxis to put yourself out should you get lit up on fire by a flame-thrower wielding enemy…

What I liked best about Resistance though has to be the weapons… Cool, meaty and satisfying to use, plus to Nathan’s unfeasibly large pockets you can carry every new weapon you find, i.e. a powerful arsenal of automatic, energy and bomb style weapons, most of which benefit from having genuinely fun alternate-firing modes. Personal favourites include the ‘Bullseye’ which allows you to tag an enemy, laugh mercilessly as all of your shots home in on their ass even if firing in the opposite direction, and the ‘Auger’, a large caliber gun that can shoot through walls and throw up a force field to protect you... As Borat might say ‘I Like!!’ Also there are some bonus weapons to unlock once you have beaten the single player campaign which allows you to play again with differing tactics.
The enemy A.I. is decent and they can regenerate their life by hiding and resting in the same way that you can so it’s vital to make sure to ‘finish them off’ as you progress unless you want to get swamped.

Resistance's online multiplayer mode is seriously impressive too – even more so considering that this is a launch title. You will make new friends (and enemies) online in no time!!

What else can I say? If you’ve ever fancied some high octane gun action in beautifully rendered, realistic environments against nasty enemies who are as ugly as they are smart… Choose Resistance - you owe it to yourself, I’ll see you online!!!

Oh and there's more Resistance coming in the form of additional maps and play modes... And because this has been the best selling of all the PS3 launch titles, there's a very strong chance that we will fighting our way through Resistance: Fall of Man 2 before too long... Bring it!!

Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):

öööö1/2 (Heavy duty, quality first person warfare)


"come on then..."


"Eat this!!!!!!"

Links

Another cool Resistance review here: Spong.com

Read my other PS3 game reviews:

Blazing Angels

MotorStorm

PS3 initial reaction / review

Darkmatters: H O M E