When I awoke my PS3 from it's slumber, Resistance was the game I started my trip down memory lane with. Resistance 3 was my cheif reason for doing so. I had such fond memories of an incredible game from my younger years, and I was itching to revisit it. Normally I'd be worried about having rose-tinted glasses, but my revisit of games 1 and 2 (I have reviewed these) went so well, I figured I had nothing to worry about.
My revisit confirmed for me that Resistance 3 was absolutely the best FPS of the PS3 era.
Gameplay-wise, Insomniac listened to the fan bases displeasure with 2s changes and so brought us back to health packs and weapon wheels. What they did keep from 2, which game 1 did lack in areas, was the sense of scale. When a giant spider monster turns up, it isn't just another thing to shoot, it's a house sized monster that you need to outwit to survive. Survival being the word, as this whole game feels like you are fighting just to see the next level. It's incredible how immersive this game is, even compared to the already incredibly engaging past 2 games.
The story helps out a lot. At times it can get distractingly like Half Life 2 (namely the mouthain town chapter), but it works great as an apocalyptic road trip. It's a suicide mission, and the story does a great job at bringing hope in a hopeless situation. It's much more character focused, and Cappelli is a much better protagonist than Hale in that regard. There's a lot of humanity to this fallen soldier, and you do feel what he feels. The prison character in particular makes his character shine through.
If I had a complaint though, it would be that the game just kinda stops. It feels like we played through another general chapter and then we've suddenly beaten the game. It kinda feels like Insomniac didn't really know how to end it. Narratively it works well enough, but as a game it is a little weak to end on. But the rest of it is so good that it doesn't really bother me. This isn't a Mass Effect 3 situation.
While FPS games may have had better released after, or before, or possibly on the 360, Resistance 3 is an absolute cut above the rest of the FPS games released for the PS3. And considering that includes Resistance 1 and 2, Killzone, COD4, Far Cry 3, Doom BFG and Crisis, among others, that is a huge bar to reach. If you need just 1 game to convince you to fire up the old console, Resistance 3 is definitely it.
My revisit confirmed for me that Resistance 3 was absolutely the best FPS of the PS3 era.
Gameplay-wise, Insomniac listened to the fan bases displeasure with 2s changes and so brought us back to health packs and weapon wheels. What they did keep from 2, which game 1 did lack in areas, was the sense of scale. When a giant spider monster turns up, it isn't just another thing to shoot, it's a house sized monster that you need to outwit to survive. Survival being the word, as this whole game feels like you are fighting just to see the next level. It's incredible how immersive this game is, even compared to the already incredibly engaging past 2 games.
The story helps out a lot. At times it can get distractingly like Half Life 2 (namely the mouthain town chapter), but it works great as an apocalyptic road trip. It's a suicide mission, and the story does a great job at bringing hope in a hopeless situation. It's much more character focused, and Cappelli is a much better protagonist than Hale in that regard. There's a lot of humanity to this fallen soldier, and you do feel what he feels. The prison character in particular makes his character shine through.
If I had a complaint though, it would be that the game just kinda stops. It feels like we played through another general chapter and then we've suddenly beaten the game. It kinda feels like Insomniac didn't really know how to end it. Narratively it works well enough, but as a game it is a little weak to end on. But the rest of it is so good that it doesn't really bother me. This isn't a Mass Effect 3 situation.
While FPS games may have had better released after, or before, or possibly on the 360, Resistance 3 is an absolute cut above the rest of the FPS games released for the PS3. And considering that includes Resistance 1 and 2, Killzone, COD4, Far Cry 3, Doom BFG and Crisis, among others, that is a huge bar to reach. If you need just 1 game to convince you to fire up the old console, Resistance 3 is definitely it.