Resistance: Fall of Man

"So many opportunities to blow up some aliens."

Resistance: Fall of Man (developed under the name "I8") is Insomniac's launch title for the Playstation 3. You step into the boots of one Sergeant Nathan Hale and blast your way through a horrid alien virus that mutates its victims into the antagonistic force of the game, the Chimera.



Graphics: 9/10
The graphics are extremely well done and the textures go along with every environment presented. Alien structures are shiny and dotted with machinery and consoles, and the bombed out landscape of Great Britain provides the player with a visceral sense of awe. Bomb blasts and mortar impacts leave the earth black, and every round kicks up dust, blood, dirt, or concrete.

That being said, there are a few areas where the textures are lacking or just plain. For example, in the underground level of Northern Command, there just doesn't seem to be any evidence that a battle took place. Sure, they are some bodies scattered about, but nothing else: no bullet holes, scorched walls, nothing. And that's another thing: Certain objects don't react to their environment. If you shoot a table, it won't have any bullet holes in it.



Sound: 10/10
The sounds are some of the best I've heard in any type of game, and many of them are genuinely creepy. As you're traveling along, you may hear the guttural groans of barks of Chimeran creatures, or the screams of your comrades as they fight. The larger Chimera have a very deep sound, with exception to the Widowmaker, a large spider-like strain that screeches and howls with every action. The standard Chimeran soldier "talks" in the heat of battle and roars as it brings its gun to bear point-blank at an unlucky human.
Each weapon sounds equally amazing. The Hedgehog Grenade, a grenade that shoots out dozens of spikes, sounds like a dozen knives being sharpened at once. The Chimeran weaponry sounds exotic and futuristic as it whines and charges up in your hands. Human guns have a tremendous boom to them, especially the M5A2 Carbine and the Rossmore 236 Shotgun.

The sounds of battle permeate every environment as if it were a living thing. The Manchester level is a prime example of this. Right from the start, you're flooded by nothing but screams, blasts, and Chimeran vocalizations. Even when all is seemingly quiet, you hear battle off in the distance, like a staccato burst of gunfire, or the occasional series of "booms" from a mortar bombardment.

The voice acting is well done and suits its purpose. Most of it is in British since, well, you're in Britain. The tones of the characters speak volumes about the situation, and you'll be able to tell when they're joking or when they're fighting for their lives, regardless of what's going on around you. There's a particulary humourous exchange between two snipers regarding the Chimera's teeth.

The music is entirely orchestral, and whenever it kicks in, there's definitely a feeling of epic battle. The pieces are each tailored to their own level, with ominous bass and low whining trumpets for tense or scary moments, while the entire range of musical instruments begins to blare upon entering the next battle.



Gameplay: 9/10
The game plays very well and actions are fluid and precise. The game forgoes the fad of only being able to carry a select few weapons and allows you to carry whatever you can, giving you a wide selection of killing machines at any point.

Certain enemies will attempt to jump onto you in order to inflict more damage than usual. Once they've latched onto you, there's nothing you can do except the natural instinct. If someone grabs you, you try to shake them off right? This game actually utilizes that reflex. Give your controller a thorough shake and you'll smack the foe in the face, knocking him away and killing him.

Each weapon lends itself very well towards gameplay, often in innovative ways. The Chimeran Auger rifle fires through walls, giving you the ability to stay behind cover while returning fire. The Bullseye, another Chimeran weapon, allows to you "tag" an enemy so that every subsequent shot will home in on the tag. The Hailstorm, a massive piece of human weaponry, can fire autonomous turrets with its secondary function. The magazine pops out and each round is fired off towards a nearby enemy over the course of a few seconds. You can launch a turret into a room and not bother wasting your health.

The entire game is full of such situations and choices where there is no single way to defeat an enemy. Granted, one may be more effective, but that doesn't mean the others don't do their job. The shotgun is good against tightly packed groups of enemies, but a grenade would do just as well. Where a grenade would do nicely, so would a turret from the Hailstorm. Or just forget the room and fire into it using the Auger.

The vehicle sections seem a little rushed and somewhat arcade-like. The jeep, known as the Lynx, moves very fast and covers a lot of ground, and your ally usually mans the turret as you drive. However, it handles somewhat loosely and demonstrates no real-world physics. It cannot be rolled, there are no damage effects, or anything like that. Granted, Insomniac probably made it indestructible so that you wouldn't have to spend 30 minutes trying to get from point A to point B.

The tank handles more like its real-life counterpart, but the sections that involve commandeering it seem much to easy. The tank is virtually indestructible and obscenely powerful, making such sections seem more like a guided shooting gallery.



Story: 8/10
While nothing ground-breaking, R:FoM does an extremely nice job of expanding upon the story by including collectable documents of intelligence, each of which adds a new piece to the story. Some will describe Chimeran species or vehicles, while others will tell of a particularly harrowing tale faced by human soldiers. Others mention foreign soldiers that fight for neither side, but you can figure that stuff out on your own. I won't give it away.



Online: 9/10
R:FoM's online is the best I've seen yet for a console shooter. Even with up to 40 players, there is no lag whatsoever, an astounding feat considering the amount of action that can be onscreen at once. Some weapons from single-player are not available in multi-player, presumably for balancing issues.

The only downside is that it is extremely easy to die. Just a couple hits will do you in, and it becomes an exceedingly hectic and twitch-paced deathmatch.

However, in team deathmatch games, Insomniac was nice enough to allow players to choose between playing as Chimera or Human, each with unique abilities. Humans have a radar that shows friendlies and spotted enemies, and they can sprint. Chimeran soldiers are bigger targets, but are tougher to kill. They also have the ability to go into "Rage Mode", where enemies can be seen through walls and the player can deal significantly more damage. However, staying in Rage Mode for too long can have disasterous consequences, such as...death.



Replayability: 9/10
Unless you're using a guide, you are bound to miss a few skill points and intel documents on your first playthrough. After beating the game, you can go back into the game (perhaps on a harder difficulty, if you like) and collect the things that you missed. Not to mention it's always nice to say you beat a game on "Superhuman" difficulty, which only becomes available after beating it on Hard.



Conclusion: 9/10
There are several games that do some things better than R:FoM, but Insomniac's story-telling skills and taste for exotic weapons and aliens prove to be an exciting combination that propels you through the game with a sense that you are doing something for the good of the world.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/26/07

Game Release: Resistance: Fall of Man (US, 11/14/06)