Resistance 3 is coming later this year, the third game in a trilogy that has been a cornerstone of Sony‘s first-party franchises for its PlayStation family of products. The previous game, released in 2008, was carried along by a single overriding concept: bigger is better. The action in the single player campaign rose to new heights while online multiplayer was expanded to allow for 60-player matches and 8-player co-op challenges. Resistance 3 will scale things back; maps are smaller, online matches have been stripped down to support no more than 16 players and the new protagonist, Joseph Capelli, is not the model of your average super-soldier.
A new PlayStation Blog post reveals new information about both the campaign and the multiplayer mode, along with a generous eight minutes of video. Capelli’s adventure begins in Oklahoma, where he is hunkered down with his family, trying to eke out an existence as invading Chimera forces sweep across the planet. That’s when xenobiologist Dr. Fyodor Malikov shows up, convincing Capelli to set off on a road trip to New York City, where a last-ditch plan to wipe out the alien invaders is being prepared.
That road trip appears to be at the heart of the story. Capelli starts his adventure in Haven, Okla., where he faces off against a Chimera attack forces as a hurricane swells up. He’ll visit a diverse array of locations before arriving in the Big Apple, taking on invisible Chimeran snipers in Mt. Pleasant, Pa. and riding a boat along the Mississippi River into St. Louis, Mo.. Players will see signs of alien terraforming wherever they go, including an explosive form of plant life called “blast roots.” The Longlegs and Brawler are two new types of Chimera players can expect to encounter, and the first game’s spider-like Widowmaker will be making a return as well.
Weapons have been tweaked as well, with added abilities and an newly implemented upgrade system. The Marksman rifle, for example, is able to drop a cover fire-providing micro-turret. As you play through the game, weapon upgrades will unlock that bring additional flexibility to Capelli’s armory, such as incendiary shotgun shells or Magnum-fired cluster bombs. Repeated use is what levels you up, so the more you use a particular firearm, the greater the range of options you’ll have for it.
The multiplayer mode steps outside the United States borders to show a more global picture of the ongoing human/Chimeran war. Columbia and the Republic of Chad (in Africa) are two of the confirmed map locations. The character customization options have been bulked up here as well, with new support abilities like Lightning Shield and Ammo Beacon and tactical abilities like Dash and Doppelganger. All players will be able to set a “personal attribute” and “combat attribute” as well, which both seem to be synonymous with the perks seen in Call of Duty. One of them seems to involve “giving birth to vicious Leapers upon death,” which is definitely somewhere Duty has never gone.
Check out the video below for a look at how the game is coming along:
