In the mid-2000s, Sony was looking for a next-gen game to dethrone Halo. Their titular launch title on the PS3, Resistance: Fall of Man was their contender.

Set in alternate 1950s, Resistance was a hybrid of World War 2 environments with sci-fi aliens and weapons.

It was light on story, only supplying lore for anyone who read the Wiki. Resistance prided itself on innovative gunplay and exciting battle scenarios. Guns came with alternate fire modes like bullet time, X-ray vision, bullet trackers, and grenades, adding gameplay diversity to the run-and-gun formula.

The 1st entry, put out its feelers to see if the franchise had any right to exist next to Halo. The protagonist, Nathan Hale, had very little character development and served as an avatar to experience cool sci-fi things.

The sequel aimed to emulate Call of Duty and Halo gameplay. They nixed the health bar for full regenerative health, only let the player pick up two guns at a time and added iron sights for better aiming. The sequel. Complete with an 8-player coop mode and shiny new deathmatch battles the sequel looked to be the most ambitious.

Reviewers look favorably upon the series, giving it passing marks, but the fans couldn’t keep the franchise afloat. A third installment tried to return the game to its roots, but it only yielded middling reviews. A phenomenal spin-off came out for the PSP and a meh sequel on the Vita, but it was clear that PlayStation couldn’t break into the Halo/Gears of War market.

I applaud Insomniac Games for giving PlayStation players some sci-fi for our trigger fingers. It was an enjoyable effort that put some fresh paint on the alien bullet sponge genre. 8-player coop, alternate fire, horrifying enemies, and a post-WWII setting kept my interest over Bungie’s game.

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