A Lost Gaming Franchise: A Retrospective of Resistance 3
With the strong success of the last two Resistance games, Insomniac planned for one last game to end the series off proper.
Like with Fall of Man, I was eagerly looking forward to Resistance 3 after finishing the previous game. Resistance 2 had ended on such a brilliant cliffhanger, in my opinion anyway, and had given us little to no answers to our questions; who would we play as with Hale dead, what were those strange planets in the sky, were the Chimera even defeated? As someone who loves to know everything about a story and wants all the details the ending of Resistance 2 both intrigued and infuriated me.
Thankfully the wait for these answers wasn’t too long as Resistance 3 was released in September 2011 as the final entry in the series. At the time of its release, I had just started my first year in college studying tourism and wasn’t enjoying myself, so for me, Resistance 3 was released at the perfect time, it was something to distract me from a generally unenjoyable period, that was thankfully brief.
Like my previous two articles on the Resistance franchise, I’ll be going through the lifespan of Resistance 2, from its development and marketing to the story and gameplay and how it was received by the gaming community.
Development & Marketing
Development for Resistance 3 was done at Insomniac’s Burbank studio, and while I couldn’t find a specific date for when development began my guess would be that like Resistance 2, Resistance 3 went into production pretty much straight away after the series’ second entry had been released.
Resistance 3 was designed to be much more similar to Fall of Man than it was to Resistance 2, with the development team looking closely at the negative feedback Resistance 2 had received. Development was kept secret from Insomniac’s fans but several leeks including a billboard for the game being seen in a trailer for the movie Battle: Los Angeles and a post on an artist’s LinkedIn page who said he had been working on the game.
Resistance 3 was properly announced at Gamescom 2010, at Sony’s press conference on August 17th 2010 with a live-action trailer. The trailer follows a group of survivors making their way across the ruins of America by train as both feral Chimera and what is left of humanity watch them, the train eventually stops in a tunnel where the group is attacked by feral Chimera, and the fate of the group is left unknown. I love this trailer; it projects the desperation of the survivors and the bleakness of the world they live in, which pairs perfectly with the themes of Resistance 3.
Story
Resistance 3 begins in August 1957, four years after the end of Resistance 2 with us now playing as Joseph Capelli, a secondary character of the previous game. A quick recap of the last four years is given to establish the new world Capelli and the rest of humanity are living in.
After Capelli executed Nathan Hale (the protagonist of the last two games) after he succumbed to the Chimeran virus, Capelli has been dishonourably discharged from SRPA (which makes no sense) and Dr Fyodor Malikov used Hale’s body to create a vaccine for the Chimeran virus. By now only 10% of humanity is left, mostly living in ruins just trying to survive, and Capelli has now married Susan Farley, Hale’s foster sister, and has a son, Jack (Capelli met Susan in the book Resistance: A Hole in the Sky which takes place between Resistance 2 and 3).
Capelli and his family live with several survivors in Haven, Oklahoma, which when the game begins is under attack from a Chimeran patrol. They defeat the patrol but discover that a Chimeran Terraformer, a satellite weapon that fires an energy beam destroying everything in its path, is moving towards Haven and the town needs to be evacuated. Capelli discovers that Dr Malikov has arrived in Haven and that the Chimera followed him there.
Malikov explains that when Hale detonated the nuke at the end of Resistance 2 destroying Daedelus’s fleet, it caused a wormhole to open above the Chimeran Tower in New York City to the Chimeran home world, where the Pure Chimera are waiting to come through, and it is also freezing the planet, the Pure Chimera thrive in cold climates. What is left of the human race will freeze to death if it’s not stopped. He says he can shut down the Chimeran tower but needs Capelli to get him there, Capelli initially refuses but Susan convinces him that Jack, who is very sick, won’t survive if the weather drops.
Capelli and Malikov travel up the Mississippi but are attacked by both regular and feral Chimera, resulting in the boat being destroyed, Malikov getting injured and the pair ending up in St. Louis. They meet up with a group of resistance fighters known as the Remnants who are defending a damaged VTOL. The pair are brought to meet Charlie Tent, the leader of the Remnants, who agrees to give Malikov medicine and take the pair to New York if Capelli helps them get a power core for the VTOL, which they successfully do while fighting a Widow Maker.
While on route to New York they are attacked by Chimeran fighters near Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania, Capelli falls from the VTOL, and Charlie drops Malikov nearby and promises to check in on Capelli’s family after he has nightmares about them. Capelli and Malikov find a small religious community, who surprisingly are not a crazy cult, who have a broken-down train. They agree to repair the train if Capelli takes out a Chimeran monster known as Satan, which Capelli does and the pair set off for New York via train.
While on the train they discuss their mission and the guilt they feel over their past actions, notably around Hale and Daedelus. Malikov informs Capelli that after he was discharged what was left of SRPA tried to attack New York but were massacred and that they are now on a suicide mission, which Capelli excepts.
The pair are attacked by a human faction called The Wardens, former inmates from a nearby prison. While fighting them, the train is derailed, Malikov is brutally executed by Mick Cutler, a former SRPA soldier and leader of the Wardens, and Capelli is taken, prisoner. In the prison, a friendly Warden, named Herbert, informs Capelli that if he can escape his cell and disable the captured Chimeran drones, which are broadcasting an all-clear message, then the Chimera will attack the prison letting Capelli, Herbert and other prisoners’ escape. Capelli fights his way through The Wardens and Chimera, which he draws in, leading to a fist fight with Mick ending with Capelli shooting him in the head with an explosive bullet before detonating it.
Capelli arrives in New York alone, which is now covered in snow and ice and finds a working radio. He sends a goodbye message to his family stating that Malikov is dead and there is no hope of shutting down the tower but he will try anyway. Capelli arrives at the tower but is unable to get in and right before being overwhelmed he is saved by Charlie and his pilot Elis in their VTOL. Charlie tells him he was sent by Susan to bring him home and that there is no way of stopping the Chimera. However, Capelli has one final plan, to hijack a nearby Terraformer and crash it into the tower which will hopefully close the wormhole. Capelli and Charlie board the Terraformer and successfully crash it into the tower closing the wormhole.
Resistance 3 ends with Charlie and Elis returning Capelli to his family in their new home. While the credits roll, we hear reports from resistance groups from around the world winning battles against the Chimera, along with pictures of survivors (including characters) rebuilding the world giving the impression that the Chimera have finally been defeated and humanity can rebuild.
Reception & Thoughts
Resistance 3 was released to major critical success with both critics and the fans, with many, myself included, considering it the best in the franchise. Unfortunately, while Resistance 3 was reviewed well it was a financial failure. In its release month, it was only able to sell around 180,000 copies, I remember buying the game and the guy at the shop saying it has not been doing that well. When compared to Gears of War 3 which was released in the same month, and sold 3 million copies in the first week, it’s easy to see how badly Resistance 3 did.
I have zero idea why Resistance 3 did so bad in sales, there was little competition at the time, and the series still had a strong fanbase, perhaps the marketing strategy wasn’t the best but I can’t remember and couldn’t find any evidence to suggest this.
As for me, like the other two, I loved Resistance 3, it may seem like I’m repeating myself in these articles but I honestly think the Resistance franchise is one of PlayStation’s strongest franchises. As I mentioned above, during the development Insomniac’s developers looked at fan feedback from Resistance 2, and it shows. Resistance 3 combines the best of both games in both narrative and gameplay.
When it comes to the story and the setting Resistance 3 nails the tone, the world just feels bleaker, that humanity is only getting by, that they are just resisting their inevitable end. This is a stark contrast to both Fall of Man and Resistance 2 when you were part of the military fighting a war when humanity still had hope.
I like the four different human factions that we interact with and how each group represents the different types of people who survive in a world like this. The Haven community are just trying to lay low and survive, while Charlie and Remnants are still fighting, believing they can win. The religious group live in fear and hope for a better future but lack the means to make one, and the Wardens revel in the new chaos of the world. On a side note, I like how the religious group weren’t a crazy Chimera worshipping cult, they were just regular good people trying to survive while finding strength in their faith.
I also find Capelli to be a much better protagonist than Hale, he is much more fleshed out and has actual motivation for saving the world, his family. Although I do feel his family could have been better used, like Echo squad in Resistance 2 a bit more time with Susan and Jack could have gone a long way.
The entire story is the best that the Resistance franchise has, we have an actual end goal from the start of the game and the characters while briefly used are quite good, Mick being one of the best. He is a stark contrast to Capelli, two sides of the same coin, both were discharged from SRPA but while Capelli tries to do good for the sake of his family and end the chaos of the world, Mick revels in it. Moments like Malikov’s death and Capelli’s radio message to his family are some good stand-out moments.
I do have some issues with Resistance 3, it’s still quite short only coming in at eight hours or so, and Capelli’s dishonourable discharge just doesn’t make any sense but these moments are so small that I don’t feel they are worth bringing up because they don’t detract from the story or gameplay for me.
Speaking of gameplay, it is at its peak with Resistance 3. The return of the weapon wheel is a big plus for the game and giving the weapons a progression system based on how much we use them is a nice touch. Each of the weapons also has a situation they are best used for and I remember getting enough use out of each one. Also, a peak for the franchise here are the locations, they are nice and varied, and feel lived in and real when compared to Fall of Man and Resistance 2.
One controversy that came up regarding Resistance 3 was the ending, I only remember hearing about it at the time but I can’t remember what it was about, and when I searched it I either found people explaining the ending or talking about the Mass Effect 3 ending for some reason (might talk about that another day). I think it revolved around the ending feeling rushed and that by closing the wormhole it means all the Chimera are defeated, which if that’s the case I do understand but at the same time it doesn’t bother me. The franchise lays enough groundwork through the Angels in Fall of Man or Daedelus in Resistance 2 that without a stronger Chimera controlling them the Chimera die off or become feral making them easier to fight. In Resistance 3 we know that on the other side of the wormhole are Pure Chimera who are waiting for Earth to cool down before they come through, without the wormhole the Chimera on earth have no hivemind and can’t survive. This is hinted at through Resistance 3 but maybe it could have been stated a bit clearer.
Resistance 3 is the high point of the franchise, which makes it such a bigger loss that it’s the last game in the series, but what a brilliant game to end on. I have one more article for this series, and it’s where I think the Resistance series could go in the future.