Resistance 3 (2011)

Resistance 3 is the final main game of the series and the strongest, at least for the campaign. It gives us another shift in style which means that each game of the trilogy has its own visual style. Along with more trend following like Resistance 2, only this time it is deeper more general trends that coincide with the golden era of gaming winding down during this time. Thankfully it also brings back some things that were great from the first game too.

Resistance 3 was doing things that many games started doing around this time. They were placing more importance on story and in particular focusing on characters, often to the detriment of and sometimes in complete disregard for gameplay. They were becoming easier, blander, more hand holdy and less trusting of player’s intelligence, patience and ability. The simplification of gameplay and the homogenisation of gameplay and controls was taking hold. Videogames were becoming safer, taking fewer risks and trying to broaden their appeal as much as possible. Gameplay literacy and legacy skills were being eroded, diluted and not built up well in new players. This all continued, with plenty of other factors, to get us where we are now. I’ve finally reached the point where I have spent more time and money on games from two or more generations ago then new stuff in the past year and a lot of the ‘new stuff’ I have bought is re-releases, remasters, remakes, reimagining’s and throwbacks. If you’re feeling unhappy with the general current state of gaming I would recommend doing something similar. By looking back and focusing more on the past I have become more excited about gaming than I have been in maybe about seven years. This is why I’m sitting here writing about Resistance.

Resistance 3 opens up with a man spending time with his family. After the cut scene the player is only allowed to move and jump. You just follow and listen. This is followed up with a really basic shooting gallery tutorial. Shit does finally hit the fan and things get started but then I noticed very quickly that this was an easier game, especially when compared to the first. There are more moments throughout the game that could be brought up in addition to these. It has more scripted sequences and there is a large jump in the number of documents too. Despite this approach the story and characters were not that much better than previous Resistance games. It is good but not great with some odd or awkward moments. It also takes an unwelcome detour and runs too long. Resistance 3 does pick up though and finishes strong. I don’t mean to bash this game, I like it and it isn’t even extremely guilty of what I have brought up but while playing through these games I noticed that it might make for a decent example to talk about this stuff.

As much as I have just complained and brought up the downfall of the medium some aspects work in favour of Resistance 3. It is set in the post Chimeran apocalypse not during, so focusing on the characters and their survival makes sense. Things being slowed down a little helps you appreciate one of this games strengths which is environmental story telling. It’s really damn good here, maybe some of the best of the generation. Every place feels lived in and then struck by the Chimeran invasion and take over. The atmosphere is fantastic with lots of nice little touches. It is impressive how much more detailed environments became during this time. They also went with a sort of graphic novel visual style this time around and it goes really well with this old, tired, worn out world.

There’s no excuse or good reason for the game to be easier though but there is still a harder difficulty option I guess. It’s disappointing that shoot outs with the Chimera just feel a bit less enjoyable and intense and there is more down time in between action. They also had to add stealth for some reason and vehicle sections are still absent. Fortunately there are some great gameplay choices here as well. The weapon wheel and having all weapons available is back. There is a simple but good weapon upgrade system. It moves back to health working more like the first game. It has encounters that mix human enemies with Chimeran enemies and there are even feral Chimera that attack anything. Movement feels better than the second game and there is good variety in weapons, locations and encounters with some sections crossing the line into horror. Even with some stuff that bugs me it is mostly a great game to play. It has co op too and multiplayer but this was scaled down from the second game.

I like the first Resistance game the most but I will admit that Resistance 3 is the best game in the series when it comes to the campaign. It is absolutely worth playing and the whole PS3 trilogy is a must buy for PS3 owners. It would be great to get a remastered collection and this series deserves and has the potential for a fourth game or prequel or Retribution 2.

8.3/10

The Resistance series has always seemed to me like a waste of the talented team at Insomniac Games. Before playing this series, it looked like a generic shooter that was supposed to be Sony's answer to Halo. Playing the first two games only reinforced this opinion, as the first game was fine for a launch title, but a step down for Insomniac, whereas Resistance 2 is arguably one of the worst games I've played on the Playstation 3, especially considering how highly I regard Insomniac. After I played the first two games in the Resistance series, I couldn't help wishing Insomniac would move on to something completely different, but after Resistance 3, I actually want them to return to this world.

With Resistance 3, Insomniac finally reaches the promise that this series had, crafting a stunning, inventive and always unique world. Every level and weapon feels different, every chapter a new surprise. If someone were to say "a first-person game from the makers of Ratchet & Clank," THIS is what I would imagine it would be like.

Immediately, the combat has been vastly improved, as it no longer feels cheap or artificial in battles. Each weapon - like Ratchet & Clank - is unique and has its own important uses. The ability to upgrade these weapons by using them is so simple, but adds so much to the way I played through this game, as opposed to the other Resistance games where I mostly just stuck to one weapon I liked. It's actually kind of insane that this franchise didn't always do this upgrade system, since again, that's how Ratchet & Clank handled weaponry.

The story here moves at a quick clip, with decent surprises, characters that are actually worth caring about and a refreshing amount of diversity in level design. No longer are you just doing the same thing in different locations, over and over again.

That's not to say that all of Resistance's problems have been ironed out. Close combat can still get overwhelming all too easy, and larger maps can lead to confusion as to what to do next. I still had problems fighting and finding smaller enemies the game needed me to kill, and whenever the game got too dark, it was hard to see where I was going. If there was a Resistance 4 one day, my biggest hope would be that the game would get better at navigating the player as to where they need to go, because that's a consistent problem I had throughout the trilogy.

But I don't know if I've ever played an entire series of games that I didn't like, only to end up really won over by the final installment the way I was with Resistance 3. This seems like this should've been the starting point for this franchise and not the impressive end. This is a remarkable improvement, a jump forward that I didn't see coming from this series. After having just played Resistance 2 before this, I started this game angry and frustrated by what I had just played, and by the end of Resistance 3, Insomniac completely won me over - an insanely hard feat.