Resistance Fall Of Man
Review of Resistance Fall Of Man
Insomniac Games are best known for their work on the Ratchet and Clank series of games. However, some don't know that some of their early work was on a first-person shooter called Disruptor for the original PlayStation. We have a return to their roots with Resistance: Fall Of Man, one of the launch titles for the PlayStation 3.
The game takes place in the year 1951 and in this alternate timeline World War 2 never happened. Instead, a race of creatures called the Chimera have overrun all of Europe. As a member of the US Army Rangers you, Seargeant Nathan Hale, are part of a joint effort between Britain and the US to halt their advance. You have a slight advantage over your fellow soldiers, however- early into the game you find yourself infected by the Chimera and for some reason you are the only one to have awoken from this happening. This gives you a healing ability which kicks in when you avoid taking fire for a few seconds. This ability will come in very handy as the attacks can be relentless. You can see your health level with a guage in the lower left corner. The regeneration only goes up to that particular quarter of the bar you are currently at. To refill more of your bar one has to find cannisters of Sym-Bac, a yellowish liquid.
You get a variety of weaponry at your disposal, both human and Chimera- based. You start off with a standard issue machine gun and grenades and as you progres through the game you will pick up items like a shotgun, a sniper rifle, the Bullseye (which lets you fire a tracer and the shots will track to it), the Hedgehog (a spiny grenade of Chimeran origin that fires sharp spikes in all directions) and a weapon that fires a concentrated burst of radiation that goes through solid objects and gets stronger as it passes through. Each weapon has a secondary fire option for additional ways to inflict damage. Certain stages will also let you pilot the M-12 Sabretooth tank or LU-P Lynx jeep. Thankfully there is lots of ammunition to be found throughout the game for most weapons so you shouldn't find yourself completely helpless.
The enemies in this game range from scorpion-like Leaper to the common Hybrid to giant vehicles called Stalkers, which are armed with guns and missles. Some enemies are weak only if hit in certain areas- you can find tips about these by finding Intel files as you go through the level. The Chimera sport a very high level of A.I. (artificial intelligence) not normally found in games like this. You'll find yourself coming under fire as they provide cover for others to advance on your position and flank you.
Eventually one will get tired of playing alone and want to go at it against other players. Insomniac has you well covered. A total of six online modes are available, both of free-for-all and team matches. You have Deathmatch and team Deathmatch along with Meltdown (where your team must defend coolant nodes while attacking the enemies' reactors to make them overheat), Breach (similar to Meltdown only the task is to infirtrate and destroy the reactor), Capture The Flag and Conversion (a unique twist on the Deathmatch where you start as a human but if you die you respawn as a Chimera hybrid- if you die again you are out of the match). Teams have the choice of being human or Chimera, each with their own pros and cons. A soon to be released patch will make some slight tweaks to the online play to level the playing field a bit as currently there is a slight bit of unevenness there. Some of these matches can be huge with up to 40 players on the field at one time. The ability to set up clans is also available for those that want to play with friends together.
Graphically there is quite a bit going on. The level of detail in the surroundings is high and you can see lots of movement with no sign of slowdown. There is a good use of particle effects in place in explosions. Even with a large number of enemies and fellow soldiers moving onscreen at once there is no sign of slowdown at all. Loading times between levels can take about 30 seconds or so at times- considering the size of some of these this isn't bad but it is long enough to maybe put some off. The sounds are standard fare with nothing to distinguish themselves from other games. Not to say it isn't good because it is- it just isn't unique when compared to other games in the genre.
Controls are fairly standard for console FPS games with everything placed appropriately- move with the left stick, aim with the right, fire with R1, etc. and it overall works well. Those that have played other games such as the Call Of Duty series will feel comfortable with them very quickly. The use of the SixAxis control is limited to shaking off the more affectionate enemies by shaking the controller. Again, this works well and makes a good use for the controller's big selling point.
OUR PLEDGE: We promise that we have fully played 'Resistance Fall Of Man' before writing this review. The scores given above are our honest opinion and were not influenced in any way by the manufacturer or distributor of the game.
This review was written by Lyndon McLeod © Absolute PlayStation
Parents Guide to Resistance Fall Of Man
During the reviewing process Lyndon McLeod made the following notes that we think parents of younger children may be interested in hearing before they deciding if they should allow them to play the PS3 version of Resistance Fall Of Man.
Resistance Fall of Man is a first person shooter, so by its nature it is violent, containing scenes of killing. While the enemy are a race of aliens, the graphics are of such high detail that we suggest that parents check this game before allowing their children to play it, as some may find it disturbing.
Please note that these points are not a complete guide to every mature element contained within Resistance Fall Of Man, only those that we found. They are not provided as facts, only information.
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