To this day, the Halo franchise is one of the most well-known names in the FPS genre. After Halo: Combat Evolved, I was hooked on the franchise, but I wanted more. Thankfully, the years to follow after the first Halo's release would bring forth a trend of what the industry would call the "Halo-Killer." Any game in the early to mid 2000s that was deemed a Halo-Killer was attempting to knock Halo down from its podium, but this was a task far easier said than done. The original Halo trilogy had a chokehold on the FPS genre, making it a particularly difficult Goliath to take down.
There was one Halo-Killer that stood out, though. Resistance: Fall of Man marked a big change for Insomniac Games in 2006. The developer was known for beloved franchises like Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet & Clank, but the team at Insomniac Games wanted to do something different and more mature for the PS3 era. Thus, Resistance: Fall of Man was born. The game never reached Halo heights, but it remains one of the most notable Halo-Killers. The Resistance franchise got off to a good start by being a PS3 launch title, but after a few years of sequels and spin-offs, the series now seems to be dead in the water.
20 Years Later, Resistance: Fall of Man Demonstrates Insomniac Games' Eagerness to Dive Into Darker Waters
Resistance: Fall of Man was a stark contrast to Insomniac Games' usual brand of mascot platformers, and it was exciting to see what else the developer was capable of making. From a gameplay perspective, Resistance: Fall of Man is one of the best games of the PS3 era. The controls are satisfying, the number of gun options is great, and the combat is intense. The most interesting aspect of Resistance: Fall of Man, though, is its story.
Even though Insomniac Games made a name for itself with platformers, its first game, Disruptor, was also an FPS.
Resistance: Fall of Man's Alternate History Still Stands Out After Two Decades
Unlike Halo's futuristic story, Resistance: Fall of Man takes place in the past. Set in the United Kingdom in the 1950s, players take on the role of American soldier Nathan Hale as he and the allied U.S. And U.K. Forces fight against an alien army called the Chimera. The mission Hale is on goes wrong, and he's ultimately infected by the Chimera. Resistance: Fall of Man's Chimera uses a virus to grow their ranks, but Nathan Hale has an immunity and simply becomes more like a super soldier than another member of the alien ranks. Between Resistance: Fall of Man's setting and inventive take on what a 1950s alien invasion could be like, it's still one of the most unique worlds in the FPS genre.
The Chimera is a Highlight, While Nathan Hale Struggles to Reach Master Chief Status
In many ways, Resistance: Fall of Man feels kind of like a game centered completely around one of Halo's most terrifying enemies. A mysterious alien force with a main goal of increasing its ranks through infection sounds an awful lot like the Flood in Halo, but the Chimera is a horror all its own.
When it comes to Nathan as a protagonist, though, he doesn't have much of a personality. Yes, Master Chief is the strong, silent type, but even with his armor masking his expressions, he still conveys a lot of subtle emotion. Trying to recapture the nuance of Master Chief is something plenty of Halo-Killers have tried, and failed, to do.
Even though Nathan is a low point of the game, it doesn't mean Resistance: Fall of Man is a bad time. It's far from that. The game may be slightly dated, but almost everything from a gameplay aspect holds up surprisingly well.
The Resistance Franchise Had a Solid Six-Year Run That Abruptly Came to an End
During the franchise's six-year run, five Resistance games were released. As the franchise continued, each entry seemingly made less and less money. This is ultimately the main reason why the series's trail ran cold, but hopes of a Resistance reboot continue to pop up now and then.
Every Resistance Game in Order
- Resistance: Fall of Man (2006)
- Resistance 2 (2008)
- Resistance: Retribution (2009, Bend Studio)
- Resistance 3 (2011)
- Resistance: Burning Skies (2012, Nihilistic Software)
For many, the Resistance franchise feels like somewhat of a forgotten gem. With the newer generations, there are now probably plenty of gamers who haven't even heard of Resistance. Whether the series has been thrown into a horde of Chimera or is simply in dormancy is still a question that lingers in a lot of fans' minds, but it's unclear if another title, reboot or otherwise, ever sees the light of day.
Will Insomniac Ever Bring Resistance Back From the Dead?
Right now, a new Resistance game seems highly unlikely. Nothing is impossible, though. Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price even spoke last year about the potential for more Resistance during an interview with Kinda Funny Games. He confirmed that Resistance 4 was pitched, but never greenlit by Sony, saying, "We did pitch that one, and it was a wonderful concept, and it just, in terms of timing and market opportunity, didn’t work out."
The timing of the last game in the series, Resistance: Burning Skies, is an important detail to this, too. Just a year later, The Last of Us would become one of the most successful PS3 games ever. Ever since The Last of Us showed a new kind of video game storytelling, Sony has become far more focused on third-person narrative-driven projects. Games like God of War (2018), the Horizon series, Ghost of Tsushima, and Ghost Yotei have dominated PlayStation. With Insomniac Games now fully on board with Sony's path with Marvel's Spider-Man and the upcoming Marvel's Wolverine, the Resistance franchise will likely remain in the past as a nostalgic reminder of the golden era of Halo-Killers.
- Released
- November 17, 2006
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- Insomniac Games
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Computer Entertainment
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- FPS
