All Resistance Games, Ranked

Highlights

• The Resistance series offers a mix of handheld and console FPS experiences.
• Resistance games feature solid gameplay, inventive weaponry, and engaging storylines.
• The series boasts a strong online multiplayer component and still holds up well for shooter fans.

There’s no denying that the PlayStation has launched a great number of first-party franchises, with the likes of Uncharted, God of War, and Ratchet & Clank to name just a few. One of the franchises in that PlayStation Hall of Fame is the alternate history sci-fi shooter Resistance. A franchise that was created by the creative minds at Insomniac Games, before receiving a further two iterations on Sony’s handheld systems from well-regarded developers Bend Studio & nStigate Games.

Though the mainline trilogy never made it off the PlayStation 3 console, the PSP title Resistance: Retribution has now joined the PSP classics lineup, making the game playable to gamers on PlayStation 4/5 consoles. Despite the series being a fan-favorite among PlayStation and shooter fans, the games are yet to receive a remastered collection. There’s still plenty of fun to be had with this inventive sci-fi shooter, so read on to see just how well each game in the franchise ranks.

5 Resistance: Burning Skies

Metascore: 60

Dropping within the first year of the PS Vita, Resistance: Burning Skies was set to be the game that finally delivered fans a true first-person shooter experience on a portable handheld. What gamers ended up with was a middle-of-the-road shooter set within the Resistance universe, a game that teased what the potential of the console could be, rather than being a great shooter in its own right.

Casting players in the role of firefighter Tom Riley, Resistance: Burning Skies took players through a serviceable 6-chapter campaign that saw the players utilizing the Vita’s touchscreen to good effect. Plus, the game still featured all the great weaponry and Chimera forces fans of the series had come to love. The game itself is a solid shooter, but its lackluster online components and functional campaign just don’t showcase the series at its best.

4 Resistance: Retribution

Metascore: 81

From one handheld console to another, this time around, it’s a title on Sony’s earlier portable console, the PSP. Resistance: Retribution was a hit for fans thanks to Bend Studio’s understanding of what made the series great, by delivering an action-packed adventure that delivered a great third-person shooter experience, thanks to clever mechanics that complemented the PSP’s less-than-friendly shooter setup.

This time around, gamers were put in control of former British lieutenant James Grayson as he allies with Maquis, the French resistance group, to help put a stop to a new form of conversion the Chimera had started. Thus ensues an explosive adventure through Chimera-occupied Europe. The game was perfectly suited to PSP and, thanks to a range of weapons and a neat hitbox aim assist, it made playing through the game an enjoyable experience for any level of shooter fan on the system. Though it still doesn’t reach the heights of the PlayStation 3 trilogy, it’s still a noteworthy entry in the franchise.

3 Resistance 3

Metascore: 83

Resistance 3 was a tonal shift for the series. It took players from the established grand-scale adventure that the series was known for and placed them in the shoes of former Sentinel Joseph Capelli, who is now leading an underground survivor camp. The story this time around is a much more personal tale that puts players on a last-ditch mission to try to stop the Chimeran invasion once and for all.

This time around, the series cemented itself in the survival roots of the story, with no health regeneration, forcing players to be more strategic in firefights and manage their ammunition carefully, as they’d often need to swap between weapons to stay alive against the oncoming waves of Chimeran forces. The narrative itself was a stellar sci-fi survivor tale, and Capelli did a good job taking over the lead of the series, but outside the main story mode, it didn’t quite deliver the same wow factor that the previous two entries did. But for any gamer out there looking to experience its fantastic single-player campaign, they can check it out on more modern PlayStation consoles as the game is currently available on PlayStation Plus Premium.

2 Resistance: Fall Of Man

Metascore: 86

Insomniac Games, at the time, was best known for their work on Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet & Clank. However, when the PlayStation 3 debuted, they swapped the cute and cuddly for a gritty alternate history shooter. With Resistance: Fall of Man dropping as a PlayStation 3 launch title, it would become a staple game for console owners and go on to be known as one of the better first-person shooters to ever grace the console.

Although it wasn’t the most colorful entry in the franchise, the dreary grays certainly captured the feeling of a bleak war in 1950s England. What most fans will remember is its solid gameplay, and well-designed online, but most notably, the inventive weaponry, such as the bullet tracking Bullseye or surface penetrating Auger, allowing gamers to tackle gun fights in a variety of ways. It was a fantastic shooter, but it only laid the groundwork for what the series could go on to become.

1 Resistance 2

Metascore: 87

Bigger isn’t always better, but in the case of Resistance 2, it absolutely was. The sequel brought everything: a grander story, more unique weaponry, a bigger Chimera to slay, and a sensational online offering to boot. The story saw Nathan Hale brought back to the United States, taking him on adventures hopping across multiple cities in an attempt to finally put a stop to the Chimeran invasion. It was a blockbuster story in every sense, and the ending had many gamers in disbelief as to what would happen next.

The excellent story mode aside, Resistance 2 had one of the most complete and addictive online offerings the PlayStation 3 had seen at the time. The online multiplayer hosted up to 60 players, allowing gamers to wage large-scale fights with Resistance‘s incredibly fun weaponry. On top of that, the series introduced an online co-op component that saw 2–8 players tackling increasingly difficult missions that ran parallel to the main story. The mode even had multiple classes to choose from that would help balance the odds as players sought to stop hordes of Chimeran forces. Resistance 2 was the complete first-person shooter package and is still a PlayStation 3 shooter that’s still worth revisiting to this day.