Resistance 3 PS3 Review

I was never into the Resistance series until I saw the Resistance 2 commercial that caught my eye in 2008. Unfortunately, I played the second game before the first and as a result I personally favor the second game even though it was panned by critics. Resistance 3 takes place four years after the events of the second game and the protagonist, Joseph Capelli, that the player controls is the one who killed Nathan Hale at the end of Resistance 2. The Chimera have taken over the globe, with the United States being the only nation with survivors. Instead of converting humans into Chimera as was done in previous games, the Chimera are now exterminating the remaining humans. The scientist Malikov from Resistance 2 has developed a cure for the Chimera virus from Nathan Hale’s blood and has also discovered a way to finally defeat the Chimera, but needs Joseph to travel to New York with him to put the plan in motion.

The game has a nostalgic sepia tone throughout the game that creates an oppressive mood. The variety of enemies is minimal with only Hybrids, Grims, and Leechers being the regular fare and only a handful of Ravagers, two Brawlers, and one Widowmaker for the player to battle against, plus one large boss midway through the game. The gameplay becomes quite repetitive with the same grunts charging after the player. The levels are fairly short and restrictive in movement, that it seems the player is playing on rails compared to the other games in the series. Weapons are varied with the standard sniper rifle, assault rifle, and the well-known Bullseye and Auger making a comeback. Other weapons include the Wildfire (a rocket launcher), the Atomizer (reduces enemies to nothing with an electric charge), and the Mutator which infects victims with the Chimera virus. The campaign is fairly short and can be played solo or with a friend through local split screen or online coop. Multiplayer consists of 16 player matches through five modes of the typical Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Chain Reaction, Breach, and Capture the Flag varieties. Players gain rankings that unlock customized loadouts. The 8 player cooperative missions from Resistance 2 are no longer present though.

Resistance 3 could have been a fantastic ending to an interesting series, but instead the game feels lackluster and rushed, with a short single player campaign, on-rails level design, and a multiplayer that has been cut back compared to the previous game. Unfortunately, this game is a rental just so that players of previous entries in the series can have some closure; otherwise I would skip the game altogether. For new players, stick to Resistance 1 and 2, which are far better games.