Ludography
78/100
Players97 ratings
88/100
Critics6 reviews
Resistance 3 cover

2011 · Insomniac Games · First-person shooter · Horror

Resistance 3

PlayStation exclusive

The third and currently final installment in the Resistance series. Resistance 3 portrays Capelli's heroic survival inside the brutal Resistance world. Featuring new upgradeable weapons, the return of the weapon wheel, two-player online or split-screen campaign co-op and a progression-based multiplayer experience, Resistance 3 delivers a heroic-yet savage first-person shooter experience.

Released
6 September 2011
Platforms
PlayStation 3
Genres
First-person shooterHorrorLight gun shooterPost-apocalypticShooter
Developers
Insomniac Games
Publishers
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Series
Resistance
Modes
Co-opMultiplayerSingle-player
Perspective
First person
Themes
ActionFantasyScience fictionSurvivalHistorical
Engine
Insomniac Games
Country
United States
Age ratings
PEGI 18CERO DESRB M

About

Resistance 3 is a 2011 first-person shooter video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the third installment in the Resistance series and the last to be developed by Insomniac Games. Resistance 3 is the first in the series to support 3D and PlayStation Move and was the first to introduce the PSN Pass program. The game shifts away from the military aspect of Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance 2 and takes on a post-apocalyptic survival-horror feel.

Resistance 3 received generally positive reviews from critics, some of whom deemed it the best in the series, but the game sold poorly and was deemed a commercial failure. On April 8, 2014, the Resistance 3 online servers, along with those for Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance 2, were shut down by Sony.

›Story

August, 1957. America is lost. Four years after the end of the critically-acclaimed Resistance 2, dishonorably discharged Sentinel Joseph Capelli has given up fighting the Chimeran menace. Now he’s in hiding with other survivors, including his wife and young son.

But when Dr. Fyodor Malikov arrives with the opportunity to deliver a blow to the occupying Chimeran force, Capelli must leave his family and journey the harrowing road from Oklahoma to New York City. Along the way, he’ll encounter the remnants of humanity left in the aftermath of the brutal Chimeran invasion.

Keywords

  • aliens
  • world war ii - ww2
  • military
  • building
  • sequel
  • train level
  • bink video
  • playstation move support
  • real-time combat
  • rpg elements
  • linear gameplay
  • playstation home tie-in

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The game retains mostly the same gameplay mechanics as its predecessor albeit with several changes. The weapon wheel and health bar from the first Resistance game return. There are also new environmental objects such as chimeran plants which explode when shot. The game sees a mixture of new and old weapons; returning weapons include the Bullseye, Magnum, Rossmore, Auger, Marksman and Carbine.

New weapons include the Mutator, which shoots biological mist that causes enemies to eventually explode causing splash damage, the Deadeye sniper rifle, and a new food-can based explosive, the shrapnel grenade, which releases a shower of nails when it explodes. Weapons are upgradeable, and become more powerful the more they are used. Humans are forced to assemble their weapons from whatever scrap they can gather. The game features PlayStation Move support and Stereoscopic 3D.

Story

In 1953, shortly after Lt. Nathan Hale's death, Corporal Joseph Capelli, the only remaining member of the Sentinels, is dishonorably discharged for executing the former, despite having done it due to Hale having turned into a Chimera. Four years later, Capelli marries Susan Farley, the adoptive-sister of Nathan Hale, and now lives with a community of survivors in Haven, Oklahoma. Despite their best efforts, they are discovered by Chimeran forces, who have launched a full-scale genocide against the human race, now that their virus can be cured. Capelli and his militia company fight off the attackers, but not before they summon a massive terraforming platform to destroy the town.

While prepping for evacuation, Capelli runs into Dr. Fyoder Malikov, who explains that the Chimera have opened a wormhole in the middle of New York as part of their plan to permanently freeze the planet and render it uninhabitable for humanity. Capelli refuses to help him, but his wife begs him to reconsider, as their son is too weak to survive such a harsh environment. Stealing an old trawler, the two make their way up the Mississippi River, fighting off hordes of feral Chimera until the boat is destroyed by a Goliath.

Development

(as the film is set in nearly one month prior to the game's release), Though neither Sony nor Insomniac Games commented on the appearance, Insomniac announced on May 25, 2010, that, in addition to creating a new multiplatform franchise, they would be developing multiple games exclusively for the PlayStation 3. The game was officially announced at Sony's Gamescom 2010 press conference in Cologne, Germany on August 17, 2010, alongside a live-action trailer for the game. On September 28, 2010, leaked concept art and screenshots were released onto a Flickr account which depict a number of different Chimera and two unidentified human characters (later confirmed in Game Informer's November 2010 cover story as Joseph Capelli and Susan Farley). When asked about the authenticity of the images, Insomniac replied with "no comment".

The first gameplay was revealed at the Spike Video Game Awards, showing new weapons and enemies. Insomniac worked with Olly Moss to create the logo and box art.

Reception

Resistance 3 received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. IGN said, "In terms of tone, Insomniac has really amped up the gut-wrenching terror for Resistance 3. This is the darkest and most violent game in the series, and almost the entire second act of the game will have you on the edge of your seat." Thierry Nguyen of 1UP.com said that "While Resistance 3 clearly steps forward as a improvement to the series, it's still not quite a great game overall."

GameSpot praised the game for its exciting, deep campaign and fun multiplayer and said, "No matter what your gaming setup, you're in for a treat. Resistance 3 offers a brand of excitement you won't find in any other shooter franchise." Game Informer criticized the "bland environments", "predictable" level design, and "numerous glitches" that "halt the flow of the game entirely." In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of one nine, two eights, and one nine for a total of 34 out of 40.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
PlayStation 36 September 2011North America · Japan 8 September 2011 · Australia 8 September 2011 · Europe 9 September 2011

Editions and related releases

Included in
Resistance Collection
Follows
Resistance 2

In the same series

Games like this

Collections5 collections

Platform libraries

Genres

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.