Resistance (video game series)

Resistance is a series of first-person shooter video games developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable game consoles. The series takes places in an alternate history around the year 1950 in which an alien species known as the Chimera have taken over all of Russia and continue to expand to Europe, Britain, and the United States, converting humans into super-powered soldiers. The player takes the role of one of the remaining human armed forces as they fight against the Chimera invasion.

The series is noted for its use of both conventional and futuristic weaponry, reflecting Insomniac's previous work on the Ratchet & Clank series.

Games

Title	Release date	Released for	Information
Resistance: Fall of Man	2006	PlayStation 3	Resistance: Fall of Man was released on the PlayStation 3 in 2006. The story introduces Nathan Hale, and describes the attempt by United States armed forces from stopping the Chimera invasion of Britain in 1951.
Resistance 2	2008	PlayStation 3	Resistance 2 was released on the PlayStation 3 in November 2008. The game continues Nathan Hale's story shortly after the events of the first game, as the Chimera have managed to cross over into North America and threaten to take over the continent there.
Resistance: Retribution	2009	PlayStation Portable	Resistance: Retribution was released on the PlayStation Portable on March 17 2009. The player takes the role of British Royal Marine James Grayson as he helps the human resistance force in Europe to retake the continent from the Chimera.

Overview

Setting

The alternate history of the Resistance series diverges from current history primarily at the end of World War I, leading to a prosperous European alliance and worldwide peace, preventing the Great Depression, the rise of the Nazis in Germany, and World War II, but also leading to the rise of an isolationist Russian Empire, one that is still under Tsarist rule as Lenin's revolution was squashed.

Approximate location of the Tunguska event, in Siberia.

However, a new menace arises from Siberia, with the epicenter corresponding to the time and location of the Tunguska event of 1908. In 1921, Russia initiated a communications blackout with the rest of the world, and built a wall against its European border called the "Red Curtain". Word spreads of small towns, villages, and eventually cities in Russia and Eastern Europe that are destroyed within a single night. A strange cold front also develops over Russia and spreads outwards. European intelligence agencies attempt to listen in on Russian radio stations, only to hear a single message repeated over and over: "Brotherhood, Strength, and Fortitude...in the face of the angry night."

In December 1949, the Red Curtain is suddenly breached by numerous Chimeran forces. The Chimera overrun continental Europe by February 1950, leaving very few survivors. The Chimera then proceed to dig underneath the English Channel, invading Britain in late 1950. The bulk of the British forces are wiped out, with the rest fleeing to scattered bases in the northern parts of England.

Some time after the invasion of England the SRPA (Special Research Projects Agency) begins experimenting with the virus in order to find a cure. It is never revealed whether they are attempting to find a cure for the virus or create a group of superhumans just as Malikov did with the Cloven. This project is known as Project Abraham.

There are only two known locations where Project Abraham took place. One was an unspecified military facility in Alaska and another in Bryce Canyon Utah. Out of the viral website Project Abraham it is known that the only survivors are Joseph Capelli and Nathan Hale. They are both later transferred into Sentinel squad echo.

After the events of Project Abraham the soldiers who were infected with the Chimeran virus were formed into an elite squad known as sentinels.

The Chimera

The Chimera are a species of unconfirmed origin, who serve as the main enemies in the game. They first appeared in Siberia shortly after the Tunguska event in the game's alternate history. The human forces initially believe the Chimera to be the result of a biological experiment gone wrong, but through events and revelations during the course of the game, along with the Chimeras' advanced technologies such as weather control, energy weapons, and force fields, it becomes obvious to the humans that the Chimera are extraterrestrial in origin. The Chimeran army expands by infecting humans with a mutagenic virus that causes its victims to fall into a coma, then slowly transform into Chimera while inside cocoons. Intelligence reports in the game speculate that more than one human body is needed for the larger strains of Chimera. The Chimera build conversion centers across their territory to both speed up this process, and create new breeds of Chimeran creatures. Large, jellyfish-like creatures, called Carriers, bring infected humans that have fallen into comas to these conversion centers. The centers do however become redundant in Resistance 2, leaving the converging in cocoons right in the cities where they were infected.

The main character of Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance 2 is Nathan Hale, a human that has been partially affected by the Chimeran virus that gives him regenerative abilities but has not completely taken over his body. It is revealed in Resistance 2 that Hale participated in an American experiment named Project Abraham. The Americans tested the chimeran virus on human subjects, and tried to inhibit the virus in some way. Hale however, was tested with a different strain originating from what Dr. Malikov describes as Ancient Chimera. They are more than 60 million years old.

The Chimera are much stronger than regular humans, and have between two and six yellow eyes. The Chimeran metabolism is said to be roughly twelve times that of humans', which allows for extraordinary healing abilities, but it also causes their bodies to overheat quickly. For that reason, Chimeran soldiers have cooling devices implanted into their backs. The Chimera thrive in very cold temperatures, which has led them to alter the Earth's climate through unknown means, reducing temperatures to the point where London is frozen over in July. The Chimera are led by creatures called Angels (large, flying monsters with multiple limbs emanating from their backs and extending toward the front around their heads) which possess a telepathic link to the Chimeran soldiers. Individual Chimera die without this psychic link. It is said in several intelligence reports during the game that the Chimera will devour their own kind, usually their wounded or dead.

In Resistance: Fall of Man it is revealed that the angels take shelter in areas known as Chimeran towers which are massive spire like structures that are often hundreds of feet tall. In the Resistance: Fall of Man Level "A mysterious discovery" it turns out that the towers are excavated rather than constructed as was originally believed. This suggests that the Chimera were on earth before humans. This turns out to be true when in Resistance 2 it is revealed that the towers were on earth several million years ago. Apparently something radical happened in the Gulf of Mexico, which incapacitated all the towers that are scattered around the world. It is presumed that the Chicxulub event is linked to this due to a mysterious object being described by intel in the second game and the location in the Gulf.

In Resistance 2 a Chimera known as Daedalus, which originated from the very same experiment as Nathan Hale, takes control of the Chimeran forces world wide after the surprise Chimeran attack on station Igloo. It is speculated that because he is supposed to be an older form of Chimera that he has more precise control over the Chimera than the Angels. It is revealed in several intelligence documents and mission briefings that the Chimeran command structure became more and more complex since the arrival of Daedalus and that the Chimeran offensive strategy has also become more tactical.

It's mentioned in Resistance: Retribution, since human bodies have been running low, the Chimera have apparently been dismantling old conversion centers around Europe, and building new ones, in which they are using a new raw material, yet to be revealed. During the demo chapter, Grayson tries to rescue a soldier named Bouchard, who is in the conversion process. She mentions that she is surrounded by bodies that are deformed, neither alive or dead, all of them female.

Cloven

The Cloven have not appeared in the story campaign mode for Resistance: Fall of Man but are mentioned in discovered intelligence reports. However, they are revealed as an unlockable skin in the multiplayer mode. They are bald, pale-skinned humanoids in foreign military uniforms. In intelligence reports and on the official site, they are said to be maniacs who speak Russian, ritualistically mutilate themselves and their victims, and feed on the bodies of their own dead soldiers. They appear to be enemies of both the Chimera and the British-American forces, due to their hostility towards both. Despite this, they seem to be somehow connected to the Chimera, but in what way is unknown. In two of the intelligence reports found later on in the game it appears that the British started hunting for groups of Cloven. Also in one of these two it makes reference to a possible leader that may control the Cloven.

Information from Resistance's Map Pack 1 on the Official Website reports on a possible alliance between the Chimera and the Cloven. The Cloven were spotted ransacking Chimeran bases and encountering no resistance. It also reads in an intelligence report that the Cloven purposely lead the Chimera to York where the American soldiers would be landing, indicating York was a trap from the beginning. The equipment being taken by the Cloven is different from what has been seen in their possession so far. U.S. forces speculate that the Cloven are stockpiling Chimeran technology to be used against Allied forces. An encounter with the Cloven has shown that they now have weapons far stronger than anything witnessed from either side in combat. Whether the Cloven are in possession of advanced Chimeran technology or simply modifying existing Chimeran technology is unknown.

It is revealed in Resistance 2 by Doctor Malikov that they are hybrids of human and chimera. He created them himself, during some experiments involving the chimeran virus. It was because of his "success" in Russia that he was transferred to the American chimeran virus experimental program, known as Project Abraham. He then continued his work, thus creating The Sentinels.

Gameplay

The Resistance games play similar to most first-person shooters, and feature a variety of weapons. The weapons include both conventional weapons for the setting of the game, weapons created by the Chimera that possess unique features, and human weapons that have been modified to take advantage of the Chimera technology. Each weapon features two modes of fire which work in conjunction with each other. The human assault rifles include grenade launches, while the Chimera "Bullseye" has a secondary mode that fires a marker, such that all bullets shot in the primary mode will strike the marked target for a short time.

The two PlayStation 3 games feature large-scale multiplayer modes with support up to 60 players in Resistance 2 and up to 40 players in 'Resistance: Fall of Man'. Both console games offer extensive stat tracking for online combat, with Resistance 2 featuring trophies that require online play to earn.

Characters

Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale was born on November 23, 1922, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He joined the Army in 1945 where he started his training at Camp Wolters, Texas. In 1946, he was promoted to Private First Class, and was cited for lack of reasonable effort because he, according to a report, consistently drove tanks beyond speed limits. Two years later he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. In February 1949, he was transferred to a military camp in Achnacarry, Scotland where he went through the Ranger Orientation Program which he passed later in May 1949. Two months later he was transferred to the 1st Ranger Regiment in Fort Benning, Georgia and wounded in a live fire exercise.

In December 1949, the Chimera attacked Europe, but the United States government did not reveal the truth to the American citizens, covering it up by saying that an influenza epidemic was going on in Europe. A government project called Project Abraham starts, whose purpose is to find a cure for the Chimera virus. Hale heard of the project and volunteered for it on December 1, 1950. He said in an induction interview that he thought that something else is going on in Europe that the government isn't telling them. He also said that he thinks that someone like him should volunteer for the project. During his time at the project base in Alaska, he gets to know Doctor Cassandra "Cassie" Aklin. Aklin falls in love with Hale during the time he is there. Hale was injected with the anti-virus in December 6 the same year, and fell into a coma, but woke up from it a few days later.

Hale ships out to fight the Chimera, and is part of Operation: Deliverance, where a 5000-man taskforce is flown into York to secure a site for reinforcements and re-supply, and gradually work their way to liberate Britain. After a pitched battle, Hale is left as the only survivor since the enhancements he received during Project Abraham allowed him to survive and remain conscious. Hale joins up with the British Resistance, under the command of Captain Rachel Parker (who is strongly hinted at being romantically interested, or involved with, Hale during the course of the game). After repeated missions, sometimes alongside Lieutenant Steven Cartwright, Hale separates when casualties reach critical levels, and embarks on a one-man mission that allows Hale, who possesses Chimera abilities, to ascertain the central tower in London as the source of Chimera throughout the country. With fresh American reinforcements, the British Resistances launches a final assault on the tower with Hale personally ensuring it would succeed. All of Britain is liberated from the Chimera for good.

Hale narrowly escapes the tower before its complete destruction, and is then intercepted and picked up by Special Research Project Administration Black Ops soldiers. Hale is forcibly recruited into their Sentinel Program, a task force of soldiers who are all semi-immune to the virus, like Hale (in certain cases, the members include fellow Project Abraham survivors). Hale eventually ascends to command his own squad, with him finally reaching officer status with the rank of Lieutenant. Hale and SRPA's fight against the Chimera, now led by "Daedalus" (actually Jordan Adam Shepherd, an old friend of Hale's), becomes increasingly desperate after Daedalus launches an successful invasion of the United States, and later successfully overruns the Liberty Defense Perimeter after a botched SRPA mission that leaves half of Hale's men dead and Hale himself on the verge of transformation into a Chimera (having neglected to have a compulsory viral inhibitor treatment well over the recommended timeframe). Hale and surviving SRPA forces launch a final attack to save America which succeeds; Daedalus is killed and the Chimera fleet is destroyed. Unfortunately, shortly after crash-landing his escape shuttle, Joseph Capelli, the only soldier other than Hale to be a survivor of the squad and the mission, finds Hale has finished transforming and is now a Chimera. Capelli regretfully executes his superior officer with his pistol.

Playstation: The Official Magazine states that "The Resistance 2 story is all about Nathan Hale and his role in this great conflict. Playstation Universe lists Hale among the top five Playstation 3 characters thus far. Rob Smith writes that "Nathan Hale is, on paper, a fascinating protagonist," explaining that "Hale's character and fight against the virus was well played, solidly voiced, yet missed the expected spark."

Rachel Parker

Rachel Parker was born the daughter of a three-star general of the British Army, and her father was restationed too often for Parker to ever know what a home was. The lifestyle was too much for her mother to bear; she left when Parker was six. Parker became inseparable from her father. Despite her desire to join him in the military, he steered her toward a university education. Her eagerness to impress him led her all the way to the theoretical physics department at Oxford. Before Parker could graduate, her father offered her the job she always wanted with British Army Intelligence. The Chimeran threat was just becoming known in British Intelligence circles, and he needed someone he could trust to be a liaison for the military.

Initially serving as an intelligence operator, Parker and her father worked closely together at Central Command in London, until the Chimera invaded the UK and attacked the base. Parker's father died helping her escape. With the deaths of the British Armed Forces' hierarchy; Parker, only a Captain at the time, became head of the British Intelligence Corps, and de-facto head of the British Resistance. At her direction, the Corps, who were given tacit control of the Royal Marine Commandos; the de-facto unit leader now Lieutenant Stephen Cartwright, ordered the Commandos in a guerrilla campaign against the Chimera. Parker had since continued to serve on the front lines in the war against the Chimera; her brilliance at collecting and interpreting strategic intelligence is the only weapon that hasn't failed against them. Parker has since long since become accustomed to losing everything she's ever cared for, but wants to believe the war against the Chimera can still be won, and found herself willing to support long shots.

Eventually, with Hale supporting the efforts every step of the way, Britain was liberated and all Chimera on British soil eradicated following the destruction of the tower network; with Parker sadly assuming Hale perished in the colossal explosion of the central tower in London.

Parker worked quickly, initiating restoration and rescue efforts throughout the country, restoring and re-deploying armed forces, beginning research efforts into the Chimera's mysterious history and reverse-engineering the Chimera's left-over nuclear reactor technology and energy weapons. At this time, Parker was promoted to Colonel and made official head of the British Intelligence Corps and de-facto head of the British Armed Forces.

Parker eventually re-started the conflict in Europe by launching a re-invasion of the country, coordinating with the SRPA and "Maquis" to succeed (in the case of the former; she learns Hale survived and now served with SRPA's Sentinel Program, and so drafted a sealed letter to him; the contents of which will be revealed in "Resistance: Retribution".

James Grayson

James Grayson was a Lieutenant with the Royal Marines fighting in the re-opened European conflict theatre a few weeks following the liberation of Britain (by Nathan Hale). Initially shirking off his wartime duties following the traumatic loss of his father; an RAF officer, which led to him giving up his own RAF career and briefly turn to petty crime, James was inspired to return to service, this time as a Marine, when his beloved older brother Jonny went MIA during a mission while fighting the Chimera in France. James was devastated to find Jonny in one of the conversion centres he and a team of soldiers were raiding for technology, and, following orders to terminate any infected soldiers, James takes out a pistol and executes his half-converted brother. While accomplishing the mission, James has an emotional meltdown that eventually drives him to go AWOL and travel around Europe destroying every conversion centre he can find. After destroying 26 centres, Steven Cartwright finally captures him and, despite being an effective folk hero for his actions, he is charged with desertion and sentenced to death via. firing squad. However, Raine Bouchard, the leader of the "Maquis" European Resistance, finds that James, from his repeated incursions into conversion centres of many types, is now an invaluable source of intelligence and an de-facto expert on conversion centres. James is released and officially designated an SRPA-contracted Maquis mercenary, and he joins them, along with Cartwright and Colonel Rachel Parker, in Operation: Overstrike; the mission to retake Europe from the Chimera. While he supports his "comrades" mission to destroy every conversion centre so they can gather enough information to create a permanent cure to the virus, in truth, James is only supporting them to gain retribution for his brother's death.

Other media

Aggregate review scores

Game	Game Rankings	Metacritic
Resistance: Fall of Man	86.69%	86
Resistance 2	87.14%	87
Resistance: Retribution	83.56%	83

Novels

Resistance: The Gathering Storm is a novel by William C. Dietz which is expected to be released in early 2009. It will detail what happened to Nathan Hale during the two years between the events that unfolded in Iceland; after his extraction from Great Britain, and later in San Francisco; where the Chimera launch the invasion of the USA.

Comics

Main article: Resistance (comics)

Resistance is six-issue comic book limited series that began in January 2009. The first issue, Resistance #0 (which was available as part of the Resistance 2 Collector's Edition), details the early history of Private Jordan Adam Shepherd, the seemingly innocent soldier who volunteered to be a test subject in Project Abraham, and, due to the machinations of Doctor Fyodor Malikov, would transform into "Daedalus"; the Leader of the Chimera.

External links

• the Resistance Wiki, an external wiki