The Resistance series has been an interesting series to follow along since its original launch back in 2006. It’s enjoyed a good amount interest from the press and gamers alike but is constantly debated on its quality and dated gameplay mechanics. It has since earned far less commendation then that of Uncharted or even inFAMOUS. It has very easily snuck into it’s own place as the “B” shooter and has really seemed to struggle to find its place. The past two titles have been entirely different from each other that you come to wonder what kind of identity the game really has and if Resistance 3 can still retain some sort of dignity among the its fellow crew. Luckily it seems that Insomniac Games has found that identity with Resistance 3.

Resistance 3’s campaign puts us right back in the alternate timeline of the 1950’s United States with the Chimera in firm control of Earth. Joseph Capelli is the man responsible for killing former protagonist, Nathan Hale and has been dishonorably discharged from the Army and is currently hiding with a group of survivors in Haven, Oklahoma. However, that doesn’t last long as the Resistance find out about the Chimera plans to freeze the planet force Capelli to make the long winding road trip to New York City to save humanity. There is a bit of an issue, I have, with the story, however, and that’s not to dampen the game in terms of quality. The Chimera have all but turned into humans with an alien infection turning them into Chimera to fight on the races behalf. In this respect the game doesn’t seem to know if it’s turned into an alien shooter, military shooter or zombie shooter.

The game takes place across twenty chapters that should take you about 8-10 hours to complete. At first glance Resistance 3 is yet another brown shooter with cover based mechanics, regenerating health and two weapon slots. Wait a minute, one thing’s noticeably different, as you notice on the ground you’ll find glowing items called medikits. As the light bulb might have gone off in your head by now, Resistance 3 does not have regenerating health and you’ll be fleeing on your last limb desperately seeking health through each firefight making things tense and exciting. It would also be more competent if you could carry ten weapons at once, wouldn’t it? Well, fear not as you can. There is a variety of different Chimera and Human weapons you’ll encounter throughout the campaign and despite some minor balancing issues you’ll enjoy experiencing each weapon. This is one thing Insomniac has been good and that’s making cool weapons. There is a weapon wheel, which you can open to pick through a variety of weapons you’ll find throughout the game and each weapon does level up as you play. There are even no cover mechanics, as you’ll just have to strategically use your surroundings around you as cover and keep those medikits close by in case of emergency.

The game does present you with a bit of variety through the story keeping you busy throughout different environments between escort missions, boss battles and firefight encounters around every corner. After completing the campaign unlocks include cheats that let you mess around with the main campaign whether it be glitches, to super weapons and even infinite ammo. The game also offers co-op gameplay in online and offline split screen delight. While there’s no other incentive for co-op it does bring a chance to bring a friend into the story to help you move along. You’ll be able to revive each other when you’re down and the only down side is the visuals are scaled back a bit to handle the extra player.

Speaking of scaling back, multiplayer allows for 8 vs. 8 online plays with the standard modes available to choose from. New modes include Breach, which pits players on a mission to destroy each other’s generators. Finally you also have Chain Reaction, which is essentially tug-of-war to fight for capture points on the map. Regenerating health is put here in place of medikits and if you rack up kill streaks you’ll earn rewards though don’t expect deep rewards like that of Call of Duty. Your level of experience determines the tools of your destruction that you can apply as you play. There are pre set load outs with custom ones you earn later on that let you purchase weapons allowing you to mix and match.

Like recent Sony releases, Resistance 3 has support for 3D TVs, and PlayStation Move. Resistance 3 also kicked off the Online Pass system, which forces you to input a code in the PlayStation Store in order to access the multiplayer content. This is in an effort to stop piracy and for to warn off people from purchasing used copies of the game. Each copy of the game comes with a code on the back of the manual that you have to redeem if you wish to play online. Resistance 3 looks pretty good in terms of visuals and is easy on the eyes, but that doesn’t mean it’s leading the pack in this department. There are still other games miles ahead in this department when you compare the game to the likes of Killzone and Uncharted. The game doesn’t take long to load on your system and is a breeze to play through. There are plenty of diverse environments with dust and wind effects blowing through the air breathe life into each area of the game. The audio design is great though the facial animations could be loosened up given their stiffness when the game shifts to pre-rendered cut scenes.

Bottom Line: The shift to cooler weapons in Resistance 3 is an excellent move by Insomniac to bring more variety to the series. Trying out each new weapon and upgrading it is fun and gives you an opportunity to enjoy the story with a few surprises thrown in. The multiplayer doesn’t exactly stand out in this entry considering it’s lack of content, but hopefully post-launch support will help to fill the gap. The excellent pacing and variety of the campaign, despite its short run makes it the best of the series and a title that we can faithfully recommend.

EA and Insomniac Games have announced Overstrike, a new four-player co-op action game. According to the press release, “a shadowy organization has threatened to take over the world and there’s only one team that can stop it: Overstrike 9”. Expect teamwork and gadgets, alongside some America-fuck yeah style terrorist popping. Vintage. This is Insomniac’s first multiplatform release, as Overstrike will be released on both the 360 and the PS3. We’re not sold on it yet, but you can check out the trailer on the game’s official site.

Insomniac Games and Sony have confirmed that Resistance 3 will be released on September 6th 2011. That’s nearly three years after the release of Resistance 2. Apparently in 3, you play as the dude that killed the hero of the first two games. We hope it’s not as cheesy and weird as its prequels.

Sony has lifted the lid on Resistance 3 at their press conference at Germany’s gamescom earlier. The company showed off a trailer (we’ll embed it somewhere at some point, but we’re in a rush at the moment). The trailer contained depressed train commuters (nothing unusual there then), blood-drenched railroad tracks and some aliens. The game will be released sometime in 2011.

Insomniac Games has signed a multi-platform deal with EA Partners for an upcoming new franchise. The developers are the people behind both the Resistance and Ratchet & Clank series’. The new franchise will be developed for the PS3 and 360, with Insomniac owning the IP. This is the first time the development outfit is developing for the 360. No other information has been announced, except that the studio will still be developing Resistance and Ratchet & Clank games.