Game name: Resistance: Fall of Man
Players: max 4 offline, max 40 online
Age rating: UK: 15, NA: Mature

So this may be a bit late for a review, considering it was a release title, but regardless, there will still be a lot of people out there who will still not have played it. If you're one of those people, then this review is for you.

Resistance: Fall Of Man is a first person shooter set in England in the late 1940s, but its far from WWII game. Very far from it.

A seemingly virulent infection named Chimera has seen Russia itself in, isolating it from the rest of the world. No-one really knows whats going on or why Russia has done this, but after the "virus" escapes, it takes over the rest of Europe within weeks. People in England think they're safe, the fools that they are, but the carriers of this virus tunnel under the Channel and invade England. It soon becomes apparent that the carriers of this virus are, while humanoid, not entirely human, and within days, England is overrun.

Enter the Yanks. You play Sargeant Nathan Hale, US Army. Dropped into York in what you believe is a simple collect-and-withdraw mission, you're soon hit with the realisation that the plan has not only sailed itself up shit creek without a paddle, but the canoe has also sprung a leak, and you're wearing your best suit. The rest of your platoon is wiped out within minutes and soon afterwards, you are attacked - and infected - by what appears to be cockroaches.

As the story slowly unfolds, it becomes apparent that the virus is in fact an alien army, who aren't just invading the planet but also the human species, as each infected person is slowly transformed into the many alien creatures you will invariably blow to kingdom come with a large variety of weaponry. In order to keep the story going, you appear to be the only person who has survived the infection process without turning, but you do inherit certain alien traits, such as regeneration, and for some reason, yellow eyes.

Along your travels through such lucious scenery as downtown Manchester, York, and.... erm.... Grimsby, you will marvel at just how many different shades of brown there are. Seriously, everything is brown. But then again, this IS post-WWII England. Aside from the issue over the lack of colour, the scenery itself is astoundingly detailed. Each and every brick in a wall actually LOOKS like a brick, and its hard to find two that are alike, giving the impression that each brick is an individual one in its own right.

The enemies themselves come in only three or four different "flavours", from your standard humanoid soldiers to your Half-Life headcrab-like creatures, to your bigger soldiers, and the infamous "Angels", but that's something you won't encounter until late on so we'll leave that as a surprise. While they only come in these limited flavours, the same cannot be said for their numbers. These buggers are EVERYWHERE. Hundreds per level, all ready to be sent to hell via whatever weapon you seem to be holding. Which is another great feature of the game.

You start with your standard army issue automatic rifle. Partway through the first level, you pick up a Bullseye from a fallen alien. The Bullseye, like all weaponry, has two modes of fire. R1 will fire off a volley of shots, but pressing L1 will fire off a homing tag. Hit an enemy with this, and it doesn't matter WHERE you shoot, all your Bullseye shots will home in on the tag. Great for firing from cover. Other weaponry includes the obligatory sniper rifles, shotguns, other alien weaponry, grenades, etc. Nothing stands out as especially unique, but considering this is 1940s England, the lack of a bright, shiny, glowing semi-invisible plasma bolt rifle is almost welcome to try and keep a sense of realism in a fantasy game.

As the story unfolds over the 4 day period, you will travel across the middle of England, right down to the finale in London, in an attempt to halt the invading Chimera. You will meet new people along the way, only one of whom hold any interest (the female radio operative who acts as the story's narrator), the rest all just there to move the story along. Which is a real shame, as there's no-one to emotionally connect with except for Hale who, despite being the main character, actually does very little else other than blow away aliens. This kinda makes you wonder exactly WHY you're playing the game. You're not doing it for some emotionally-driven reason, but for some duty-driven reason instead, essentially turning what could have been a very interesting character into nothing more than a flesh-covered, emotionless machine.

On top of all this, there are the dedicated servers for online play, allowing up to 40 people to play a number of modes, such as deathmatch, team deathmatch, and objective-based games. There's also online and offline co-op modes, but if you can't find a friend to play with, then there's always the hidden intel reports throughout each level. Nabbing these will give you a slight insight into current events, and may even give you tips on how to take down the Chimerean threat.

Despite its flaws, Resistance: Fall Of Man is a bloody good FPS. It ain't perfect, and if you're anything like me you'll get a little too happy with your sniper ammo before getting to an area that requires a full sniper cache, but you'll get there with no more than 3 sniper rounds to your name, then you'll quit cos its too hard, then rebuys it and tries again, you might find certain areas so annoying it will put you off completing it. But for those who stick with it, there are rewards to be had. Just don't expect them to come from Nathan Hale, the cardboard cut-out he is. Expect them to come from Chimerean soldiers jumping out at you, from the awesome Hedgehog grenades, from the insanely detailed scenery, and from the intriguing story with its many twists and turns.

Ratings
Graphics: B+
Sounds: B+
Gameplay: B
Replayability: B

Overall score: B

he isn't dropped in manchester.

he's dropped in york.

Um.

Well done. You found my deliberate mistake.

Yes.

You win.... something.

*ahem*

its also a very faithful rendition of york

bitches did their research

This is why I'm not as fussed about Resistance 2. I enjoyed that Resistance was set in English towns and cities, it was different.

For games like this... I wish I had a PS3. It might scare the shit out of me (I get scared easy ) but I would most likely love the game. Sad face..

It's a generic shooter. Get Dead Space instead, if you want to get scared..

Did someone say "Halo 3"?

I'll accept that you think Halo 3 is generic, but compared to Resistance? LOL.

Resistance
Alien enemies
Big crab-like machines
Various weapons to choose from
Only 3 or 4 enemy types
"Intelligent" enemies that duck and dive
Vehicles to pilot
Story involves stopping the alien invaders taking over the planet
Main character "not quite" human

Halo 3
Erm....

k, so they're both pretty generic? D: I still like Halo 3 way more though..

LOL. Each to their own, I guess. I enjoyed the first one, so-so'd the second, and aren't too fussed about the third. Plus the fact I'm not all that into FPS games.

I bought my 360 for Halo 3. The Halo 3 launch day, actually =D Was epic.. so epic..

I know a lot of people bought a PS3 for Resistance (or, well, because it was one of the few decent launch games). It didn't appeal too much to me, and I think the strongest launch title was Motorstorm.

I thought it was a Horror-Survival-Shooter my bad

I'm going to buy this i've been looking at loads of reviews and now i'm certain and then i'm going to buy the new one as well if i like it. thanks blokeh