Resistance 3's Strength is its Story

I'm sure a lot of previews from Sony and Insomniac Games' latest Resistance 3 demo are going to talk about the new sniper rifle with its secondary fire mode that blows up enemies, and the Chimera's new cloaking ability. I'm going to talk about the protagonist Joseph Capelli and how much he loves his wife.


Resistance 3 is Insomniac's latest first-person shooter and picks up the tale of aliens invading Earth. At this point, the Chimera have won the Earth and eliminated most of humanity; they're now focusing on retrofitting the planet to make it the icy environment they thrive in. You'll play as Joseph Capelli, the man who killed Nathan Hale at the end of Resistance 2. Since we last saw him, Capelli washed out of the armed forces, married, and fathered a son.

Capelli and his family hide in Haven, Oklahoma until Dr. Malikov, a figure from the previous games, arrives. It seems the doctor has a plan to put a dent in the Chimera weather experiment and needs Capelli to come with him to New York to do it. Capelli refuses, insisting he won't leave his wife and son. He loves them too much.

It's a totally selfish act, one that I connect with. At the end of the world, chances are I'd tell some scientist with a death wish to take a hike rather than leave my loved ones. But Capelli's wife begs him to go. She doesn't want to see her son die before her as the Earth freezes over. Capelli concedes. This setup is more powerful than any weapon Insomniac could've shown.

At least I think it is -- I hope it is. The Resistance 3 demo didn't show anyone begging anyone for anything; this story tidbit was a just a brief description before we were shown Chimera heads exploding from magnum fire. Still, I think there's a good chance the moment I've imagined in my head is going to be powerful. Insomniac seems to have gotten that it's not going to make Resistance 3's mark in graphics (there are definitely sharper shooters out there); making people care about this game is going to come down to story and how it's told.

This is a road movie -- a buddy flick. Capelli and the good doctor travel from Oklahoma to New York, crossing healthy swath of the States. I thought the locales in the last two Resistance games blurred together, and Insomniac seems set on making sure that doesn't happen again.

That's a lot of bad stuff!

There were three single-player missions at the Resistance 3 presentation, and each felt very unique. One was a frantic gunfight in a sandy gas station with bullets coming from every angle. Another was a slow, tense boat ride through the foggy, flooded streets of a Mississippi town. And the third had Capelli operating under moonlight in the woods as he methodically sniped Chimera from trees and decrepit cabins.

Three missions, three moods, three gameplay styles -- it wasn't just the "go here and shoot everything with the Auger" mission from the previous games. There were moods here. It was refreshing, and I'm not even that big a fan of first-person shooters. Still, Resistance 3 seems like one of those games I'll get behind because I understand and share the main character's motivation -- a motivation I was constantly reminded of. Every time Capelli reached out to open a door in my demo, the ring on his left hand was glaringly obvious.