I’m on a boat: Hands-on with Resistance 3′s SP demo
The Chimera have won. Humanity is all but dead. Joseph Capelli is its final hope. Johnny Cullen plays through the single-player demo of Insomniac shooter Resistance 3. Spoiler alert for those who haven't finished Resistance 2.
I seem to be in the minority that actually liked Resistance 2. Insomniac even went as far as saying that feedback on the game was like being bitten by a loyal dog. So for those that preferred Fall of Man, you'll be glad to hear that some touches from the original have returned for R3. For a start, the weapon wheel, which was absent from R2, is back.
Don't like the regenerative health system? It's gone. Instead, you'll get a health bar with a compass alongside it. You'll only be able to heal yourself using health packs.
We know because we've played the demo, which comes packed with the Blu-ray of Battle: Los Angeles in a code, and sees new main character Joseph Cappelli, who took on the role of saving humankind after putting one in Nathan Hale's head at the end of R2 as he starts turning into a Chimera, and Dr Malikov, who was thought to have committed suicide near the end of the last game with an morphine overdose, take off on a boat down the Mississippi River to help bring down the Chimera threat.
"You're doing the right thing, Joseph," says Malikov. "Shut up and drive," snaps back Cappelli, who himself has had to leave behind his wife and kid.
Video of the level in action.
You're given three difficulty options when you play the demo: Casual, Normal and Difficult. After picking your option and watching a cutscene, we find ourselves on the boat heading downstream. Along the way, we hear calls on the radio from people sending out messages for missing family and supplies, and see Chimeran Leapers feed off a fallen Kraken and a Goliath. They don't spot us.
As we pass the Kraken, Malikov hands me a Rossmore shotgun - one of five weapons you get in the demo alongside the Auger, Bullseye, Magnum and Marksman - suggesting we might not be alone.
After trying out the shotgun, which disperses rounds with fire and concusion grenades, we're surrounded by a group of Grimms, which throw objects at us as well as jump onboard the boat. Those who get on the boat are easy to get rid of: just one shot from the Rossmore does the trick.
After getting away from the area and the Grimms, we encounter the flying Shock Drones. Tracer and Bullseye gets the job done with these lot. We're easily able to shake off the drones before we head underneath a bridge where spot an incoming Goliath.
A couple of Shock Drones are back for another round, just as the Goliath comes past, before firing a couple of rockets from behind. We head frantically down the river, only to have dropships and the leaping Longlegs enter the frey.
"The Chimera monitor the roads. We will be safer on the water."
We think we're safe, but then sight two Goliaths firing away before turning their attention to us. A swarm of missiles hit and capsize the boat, sending Cappelli and Malikov underwater.
If Sony does decide to release a single-play taster of the game before the September release - and I'm guessing it's likely - this is probably what you're going to be getting from the PS Store. And for what it is, it isn't a bad taster to go on. I would have preferred a something a little more open than just a boat, but it isn't too shabby.
Insomniac would like to have learned lessons from Resistance 2. Going by this, it looks like it's on its way to doing so.
Resistance 3 launches on September 6 in the US and September 9 in the UK for PS3.