Resistance: Fall of Man

In the 1900s, an insect-like alien race known as the Chimera arrive in Russia. Using advanced technology, they infect hundreds of innocent civilians and subject them to artificial evolution, creating a diverse army of creatures ranging from simple foot soldiers to spider-like giants. By 1949, all of Europe has fallen to the Chimera. The following year, a vast invasion force tunnels under the English Channel, conquering much of England and leaving only scattered pockets of human resistance.

In 1951, the United States, despite taking a position of neutrality in the conflict, sends a task force to assist the UK as part of "Operation Deliverance". Among the soldiers is Army Ranger Sgt. Nathan Hale. However, soon after landing in York, he and his squad are ambushed by enemy troops, who infect them with the Chimera virus. Hale, the only survivor, discovers that he has an innate resistance to full infection. Instead, he gains increased strength and reflexes, the ability to instantly heal light injuries, and gold-colored irises, a common trait of the Chimera.

Sent to a Chimera conversion center in Grimsby, Hale meets British intelligence officer Captain Rachel Parker and helps her escape. In turn, Parker allows him to accompany British forces launching an offensive in Manchester to recover a missing convoy. The convoy's cargo is subsequently transferred to a resistance command center in Cheshire, which soon comes under attack from the Chimera. While attempting to provide assistance, Hale is separated from Parker and ends up fighting off the attack single-handedly. He then investigates the cargo, which turns out to be an Angel, a powerful creature that directs the Chimera's hive mind. The Angel tries to use its telepathy to control Hale, forcing him to kill it.

Hale then links up with Lieutenant Stephen Cartwright, a UK Royal Marines Commando. The two of them learn that the Chimera have established a series of metallic towers throughout Britain, connected by a network of tunnels and power conduits. To make the matter even more puzzling, Parker learns that the towers were excavated, not built. After the Chimera destroy the last British command post in Bristol, Hale undertakes a solo mission into the tunnels, following them all the way to a nexus point in London. Recognizing that the towers are altering the Earth's climate, Hale concludes that destroying them is the key to victory.

Under Parker and Cartwright's leadership, a massive UK-US force enters London and storms the central tower. Despite their best efforts, the Chimera rally themselves and initiate a counterattack, killing countless soldiers and leaving Cartwright mortally wounded. Against all odds, Hale destroys the tower's power core, causing it to ignite in a massive explosion. This triggers a chain reaction, destroying the other towers and leading to a mass extinction of the Chimera in the UK, ending their threat.

As Hale's body is never found, the US Army lists him as killed in action. Parker is not convinced, though, and believes that he may still be alive. In a post-credits scene, Hale is shown walking through the snow when a squad of unknown soldiers surround him. Hale briefly contemplates committing suicide with his last grenade, but ultimately surrenders himself to their custody.

Gameplay image, facing a Chimeran Hybrid. The player is using the XR-005 Hailstorm.

Resistance: Fall of Man is a first-person shooter set in an alternate history. Many of its gameplay features stem from this, most notably the weapons. Some weapons are based on real weapons circa the 1950s, while some weapons are futuristically altered in accordance with the game's storyline. Insomniac Games has combined its passion for creating exotic weapons and vehicles, such as those found in the Ratchet and Clank series, with its proprietary development engine and physics system to create unique human and Chimeran weaponry. Each weapon provides a unique play style and strategy. An example of this is found with the Auger (Chimeran). The primary fire for this weapon is simple rapid fire, but the bullets burrow through walls, actually coming out stronger on the other side, opening up a whole new level of strategy. The secondary fire creates a barrier that is resistant to all bullets but its own. In addition to the usual short- and long-range weapons, the game features several different types of grenades, with both historical and futuristic varieties. For example, one grenade, known as the Backlash grenade, is capable of creating a dome-shaped barrier, where the player can enter for cover. The barrier reflects shots from opposing Chimera. Some weapons are not available on the first play-through of the game but can be found at certain locations on replaying the game.[2]

The game features melee attacks, and the motion sensing feature of the SIXAXIS controller is used for a number of things including shaking off enemies that grab onto the player, shaking off tags and flames in multiplayer, and quickly bringing up a map or leaderboard in a multiplayer match. The player also has access to turrets and a drivable jeep with a gun turret on certain levels. The game was also on Sony's list of titles to receive an online update to support the vibration feature of the DualShock 3 controller for Japan, North America, and Europe.

There are also skill points that can be earned throughout the single player game. These are awarded for certain actions[2] that are hinted at by their titles; however, the specific details are not revealed until the skill point is actually earned. There are generic skill points that can be earned during any single level, and some that are specific to certain levels of the game. Each task is worth a different number of points which are used to unlock additional media for the game. The requirements for the skill points are not told to the player until unlocked making it more difficult to achieve these points

In addition, multiple Intel documents can be found scattered throughout each level. These give the player an insight into what has happened, is happening, and will happen.

Resistance: Fall of Man featured a multiplayer mode for up to 40 players online and up to 4 players offline.

Multiplayer games had little to no latency (subject to player's connection and host location), even while playing the 40 player online due to the implementation of dedicated servers across the PlayStation Network.[3]

The multiplayer version of the game also enabled players to create their own clan, create their own matches (custom games) or join pre-set games (Ranked Games). While in games, players could talk to their team mates by using a Bluetooth or USB headset. Text chat was also enabled in pre-game lobbies.

The online multiplayer had an integrated friends system which allowed players to add one another without becoming friends on the PSN. The online friends list showed a player's friend to be either In Lobby, staging or in-game. From here players could Invite to Game, Invite to Party or Send a Message. This in game system allowed for user-friendly interaction between friends and bypassed the need for players to exit the game to talk to friends; a feature that was absent from most other PS3 titles, until system firmware 2.40 was released.

The online servers for the game (and the sequels) were closed on March 28, 2014 and the online multiplayer is now unavailable. The closure also disabled the game updates, as it used a different updating system, through the multiplayer servers.[4]

The game was previously known as I-8 when a demo of the game was first shown in E3 2005 as a World War II-inspired, alien-infested first-person shooter. Insomniac Games, who developed the Spyro and Ratchet & Clank series' of video games, were going to be developers of the game. A new demo was shown by Sony Computer Entertainment in the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in March 2006. The new demo was in real-time, demonstrating the gameplay, graphics and effects like bump mapping. Insomniac was said to "love the Blu-ray's contribution of tremendous space to gaming". The team also "loved the multiple simultaneous processor units".[7]

Officially-renamed Resistance (Fall of Man), it was unveiled as part of Phil Harrison's "Beyond the Box" keynote address, and was fully playable on the GDC stage. Insomniac President Ted Price spoke about the benefits of PlayStation 3, the advantages of Blu-ray storage, and the reasons that his team at Insomniac decided to develop for Sony Computer Entertainment in the next generation. It was also officially revealed that Resistance would be released before the end of 2006, but no information about it being a launch title.[8]

Resistance: Fall of Man received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[32] indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[33]

Resistance: Fall of Man received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[1]

Within the first few hours of the PS3's Japanese launch, the game had already received praise from some publications. Famitsu gave the game a score of 33 out of 40.[14] IGN was the first Western site to review the game, with reviewer Jeremy Dunham declaring that while other consoles had to wait years to get their killer app, "PlayStation 3 users get theirs on day one."[22]

Following closely GameBrink.com posted their review.[34] However, the scores at the time of European launch were less brilliant. Eurogamer's UK review complained that, while functional, and even occasionally entertaining, the game completely failed to innovate.[13]

411Mania gave it a score of 9.6 out of 10 and said that it initially "felt like Call of Duty, but as I progressed through the game, I found that there was substantially more. The game plays it by the numbers in many ways but it's very polished and fun. The multiplayer will keep you occupied for months. Any PS3 owner will do themselves a disservice by not picking up this game."[35] USA Today gave it a score of four stars out of five, saying, "Easily the best game for the new Sony PlayStation 3 game console, Resistance: Fall of Man is a first-person shooter that lets you, as an American soldier stationed in the United Kingdom, lead the fight to rid the world of a vicious alien race."[27] Maxim similarly gave it a score of eight out of ten, saying that the game "managed to exceed our lofty expectations, but only by an wirey [sic] crotch hair."[36] The Sydney Morning Herald also gave it four stars out of five and called it "an accomplished shooter providing many fun online modes, engaging solo missions and superb weapons."[26] However, The New York Times gave it an average review, saying that "In spite of rave reviews it’s a fairly pedestrian humans-versus-aliens first-person shooter that brings nothing new to the genre. The artificial intelligence of combatants is lackluster, and the semi-sepia-toned graphics are surprisingly unimpressive, no better than what you would see on the five-year-old Xbox."[37]

The combat scenes that take place within a virtual representation of Manchester Cathedral in England caused controversy with the leaders of the Church of England. They claimed its depiction to be desecration and copyright infringement, and that it was inappropriate of Sony to allow players to fire guns in a city with a gun problem. They made several legal threats against Sony.[38]

• Resistance: Fall of Man at MobyGames