Resistance-3Considering the mind-boggling array of FPS on the market, it’s no surprise that the Resistance series has struggled to make its mark.

With its predecessors suffering the odd critical and commercial complaint (the franchise’s hopscotch approach to gaming modes, an ironic use of AI, a lack of innovation etc), Killzone, Halo, Call of Duty et al’s all-consuming marketing blitz and polished packages inevitably dominated the column inches. But what Resistance 3 does have in spades is an alterna-universe-tastic story and atmosphere that’s guaranteed to grab you every time.

And finally, thankfully, Insomniac Games have crafted a game that lives up to the series’ potential.

Resistance 2’s shocker of an ending has had a decidedly lasting effect, with former protagonist Hale well and truly out of the picture (a bullet to the head tends to do that), and players put in the shoes of family man (and now near pariah after delivering said bullet) Capelli. When the surviving human resistance discover that the Chimera are terraforming the planet into a new Ice Age, he’s forced to leave his wife and baby behind and travel to New York to bring down the alien’s magical MacGuffin in the hope of saving the planet one (hopefully) final time.

If it’s one thing Resistance knows well, it’s kick-ass weaponry and ET enemies satisfyingly fugly to want to blast away. The core gameplay and explosive impact of the gunfights have been refined even further, meaning all your favourite guns from previous games (like the shield-spewing, wall-piercing Augur) are back with a vengeance, and this time the whole thing is bolstered by a perfectly paced narrative, and a polished visual variety that maximises the game’s creative context.

On your travels across country, you’ll get to see/blow up the sights of everything from rural Oklahoma outposts to a crumbling New Yoik, crafting a genuine atmosphere – and, through the eyes of the series’ new, relatable leading man – one that’s infinitely more affecting and intimate.

Resistance 3

As for the aforementioned ‘hopscotch gaming modes’? Insomniac have listened to fans, reinstating the weapon wheel and health bar from the first game, and honing the multiplayer to near unbeatable effect (co-op through story mode, your standard deathmatch modes), and have even thrown in some lovely 3D/Playstation Move action to give everything that a flashy, hi-tech flare (should you have forked out on the hi-tech to support it).

That said, in the process of stripping everything back to a more focused, refined and human experience, they’ve inevitably done away with some of the deadwood that the hardcore niche will still gripe over. So if you’re expecting the chaotic lunacy of Resistance 2’s 60-person multi-player battles and 8-player co-op campaigns then you’re out of luck.

Considering the honing of the game’s overall package and the solid single and multiplayer surrounding it though, that’s hardly a dealbreaker.

Insomniac have admitted that the don’t plan on supporting the series going forward. Whether that’s actually the case following Resistance 3’s worthwhile acclaim is another thing, although if this truly is their swansong, then at least they’re letting the fat lady belt out her final song with gusto.

And then blowing it up in gloriously gun-ho style for all the world to see.

[Rating:5/5]

Resistance 3 is on General Release now, and available on PS3.