Resistance 3

Resistance is a series I fell into by accident, mostly because it was free.  An old co-worker of mine in electronics retail land went to one of those trade shows and brought back goodies for everybody in the department.  I was lucky in that I was the only person there who owned a PS3 at the time, so free game for me!  Resistance: Fall of Man was not a good game.  It dragged on too long, the shooting mechanics and level design were stale and mostly boring, but it did have one thing going for it: the story.  In the midst of World War 2, aliens show up in Europe and start an invasion, forcing military forces there to quit fighting each other and take out this new threat.  I love alternate history stuff so I was pretty bummed when the actual gameplay left me wanting.  I gave it one more chance in the form of Resistance 2.  That turned out to be a great idea because Resistance 2 was fantastic.  Varied level design and encounters, the alien race known as the Chimera invading America, and series protagonist Nathan Hale slowly succumbing to the virus that would turn him alien, but gaining super human abilities in the process.  Spoilers for Resistance 2 (and the first cinematic of 3, this is not a secret)!  As the previous game ended Hale was killed by one Joseph Capelli, a fellow American soldier who was an ally against the Chimera.  It wasn’t a betrayal though, it was because Hale was about to give in to the alien disease.  Making another game in a series after your hero is dead is a tough sell, but Resistance 3 surprises.  It’s different from both of the previous titles in terms of story and gameplay, and I think manages to almost outshine Resistance 2.  It’s nice to see something different!