A Lost Gaming Franchise: A Retrospective of Resistance Fall of Man
Resistance Fall of Man was the first entry in what could, and should, have been one of gaming’s biggest franchises.
It was the early 2000s, the release of the PS3 was fast approaching and Sony needed a new game to release alongside their new console, they needed something that would appeal to a mature audience and that could go toe to toe with Xbox’s Halo franchise. They needed Resistance.
The Resistance series, which started with Fall of Man, was one of the first games I got for my PlayStation 3 back in Christmas 2008 and I completely fell in love with the game. Over the next few years, I played the three main games and thought the franchise would last for years to come, unfortunately, this was not the case. Like so many games before and after the Resistance franchise faded away and became lost to gaming history. Over this article, and the next few, I will look at this incredible franchise and what made it such an incredible opening game for the PlayStation 3.
Development
Resistance Fall of Man was developed by Insomniac Games and directly published by Sony, under the codename I8 just before the release of Ratchet Deadlocked. Up to this point, Insomniac had been developing the Spyro and Ratchet and Clank games, colourful platform games designed for a younger audience, but with a new console on the way, Insomniac wanted a shot at a darker more mature game which suited Sony just fine. With the Xbox 360 already out and Halo 3 on the horizon, Sony needed a contender in Sci-Fi First Person Shooter (FPS), that could go toe to toe with Microsoft’s epic Sci-Fi franchise.
The original concept for Resistance Fall of Man was completely different to the alternative World War 2 in the 1950s that we eventually got, in fact, it was much closer to its rival Halo. Early drafts had the game taking place in the future where space marines fought against giant space lizards, but the development team felt that this setting provided a lack of reality and that players would not be able to connect to the setting. So, the setting was changed to an alternative World War 2 set in 1950s England, and instead of lizard aliens, we got the Chimera, a human-alien hybrid species. Insomniac hoped that combining the Sci-Fi elements but in a real-world relatable setting would help stand Resistance Fall of Man out from the crowd.
Resistance Fall of Man was released alongside the PlayStation 3 on November 17 2006, in the Americas, and on March 23 2007, in Europe and other parts of the world.
Story
If there was one part of the Resistance franchise that stands out then it is the world-building. From the very beginning of Resistance Fall of Man, we are shown that the story we are experiencing is just a small but pivotal part of a massive global issue.
The story of Resistance Fall of Man begins in Russia in the 1920s, although this is not where the game begins. Russia, which in this alternative history never fell to Communism, has exiled itself from the rest of the world and is slowly conquered by the Chimera through the use of a virus that turned the Russian people, and later the people of Europe, into Chimera. By 1950 all of Europe has fallen to the Chimera and they have begun to invade Britain, which had up until this point believed to be safe.
The game begins in July 1951 and we play as Sgt. Nathan Hale a United States Army Ranger, who is part of a massive invasion force sent to help liberate Britain from the Chimera and collect a secret weapon that the British resistance has which can supposedly end the war.
After landing in York, Hale and his squad are infected by the Chimeran virus, but unlike the others who fall into a coma, Hale awakens and finds himself to be stronger than before, giving us Fall of Man’s first question that needs answering. Hale, along with many others are captured and taken to a Chimeran Conversation Centre to be turned into Chimera. During his escape, Hale meets Captain Rachel Parker, who is narrating the story of the game to us, almost like it’s a military report given after the game has ended, a form of storytelling I really enjoy.
Once the pair escape, they make their way to the resistance headquarters where Hale finds the secret weapon, a Chimera known as an Angel. The Angles are the highest forms of Chimeran life, they control the other Chimera, and Hale is forced to kill this one.
After this Hale continues to fight the Chimera, with Parker assisting over coms, and alongside Lieutenant Steven Cartwright a British Royal Marines Commando. Eventually, they begin to investigate the massive Chimeran towers that dot the British countryside and come to the shocking conclusion that the Chimera are not building the towers but excavating them. This is just one of the many times Fall of Man throws a curve ball at the player, leaving us with more questions than answers.
Hale finds that the towers are all connected to a massive central tower in London, which is covered in snow and ice despite it being July, another puzzle the game raises. Hale convinces Parker to have the British and US forces attack London and destroy this tower, which he believes is the key to defeating the Chimera.
After a long and gruelling battle, the tower is destroyed, this causes a chain reaction destroying the other towers across the island and killing the Angels inside, leading to the deaths of all Chimera in Britain, however, they still have a firm grip on Europe and are spreading throughout the world. Hale is presumed dead, having not been able to escape the tower, but a post-credit scene shows him being collected by an unknown Black Ops group in a VTOL aircraft setting up a sequel.
Reception & Thoughts
Resistance Fall of Man was both a critical and financial success for Insomniac and Sony, receiving high scores from most reviewers, with a score of 86 out of 100 on Metacritic, and selling over 2 million copies within its first year. Many reviewers praised the game’s setting and gameplay, referring to Fall of Man as one of the best launch games at the time. Fall of Man’s online multiplayer also received heavy praise for its game modes and player count of 40 player matches.
Surprisingly one of Fall of Man’s biggest detractors was the Church of England. One of Resistance’s missions takes place in the city of Manchester during which Hale is forced to fight against the Chimera in the iconic C. The Church of England claimed that having the Cathedral in the game was both desecration and an infringement of copyright, further issues were raised around having players shoot enemies inside the Cathedral when Manchester was dealing with large amounts of gun violence. Several legal threats were made by the Church of England, from what I could find their demands included an apology, a large donation, removing or modifying the game to remove the Cathedral segment, and financial support for a local group tackling gun crime in Manchester.
Sony did issue an apology but stated that they did not use real photography or video recordings of the Cathedral, that it was no different than a famous landmark being used in TV or film, and that they would not be making any donations.
As for my own opinions, I absolutely love Fall of Man, although I do have some issues that I’ll get to in a bit. I’ve never really been interested in FPSs before playing Resistance, and still don’t today. My main reason for not being a fan of FPSs is that for every Resistance or Wolfenstein that has a great detailed story, there are countless Call of Duties and Battlefields that could not care less and I just don’t care for most multiplayer games.
What I love about Resistance Fall of Man and the Resistance franchise, is the setting of World War 2 and alternative history. I am a massive history buff and World War 2 is one of my favourite settings to study and experience, Band of Brothers is one of my favourite shows, and I love a story taking place in an alternative history, seeing what could have been for our world and history has always fascinated me.
If I had to pick Fall of Man’s best aspects then it’s easily the story and the Chimera. The story is very well put together, and completely enjoyable from start to finish. As I mentioned I really enjoyed how the story is presented as a story within a story through Parker’s report, through this narration we get to learn more information about the Chimera, their invasions of Europe and Britain, and what follows after the game ends. This information is the type of detailed lore that I love but something that could get lost and bogged down in explaining it to Hale through gameplay and cutscenes, although plenty of information is given this way too.
The Chimera are a big unique selling point for Fall of Man, the background and lore behind them is detailed and well explained but at the same time, it’s not all given to you, by the end of the game there are still plenty of questions left to explore in further games. As an enemy in gameplay, the Chimera come in plenty of varieties from the basic Hybrids, the smaller Leapers and the giant Titans and Widowmakers. These enemies are delivered in varied groups keeping the combat interesting, but I never found it to be too difficult.
Other positives for Fall of Man are the wide range of different and unique weapons, and the fun and well-spaced-out vehicle sections.
However, Resistance Fall of Man is not perfect, there are plenty of issues. While most of the levels are interesting, especially the Chimera bases, the ruins of the different cities are quite bland with little to set them apart and everything seems to be coloured just brown, which was an issue for many games at the time, everyone remembers Fallout 3 basically being coloured in grey.
Despite these few negatives, and there really are just a few, Resistance Fall of Man was one of my favourite games for the PlayStation 3. It was an interesting take on an already saturated genre, that provided plenty of challenge with a great story, but above all else it was fun. Fall of Man was an incredible starting point for the PlayStation 3 life and what could have been the start of one of gaming’s best franchises. Check back soon for more articles on the rest of the Resistance franchise.