Opinion #1
Excelling in one genre is great, but variety is even better
Insomniac Games’ Resistance series is in need of a revival.
WRITER BIO
Aaron Potter longs for the days when FPSs weren’t reserved for the online scene, and we could enjoy heroic singleplayer stories.
Nobody would deny that PlayStation has knocked it out of the park recently when it comes to first-party exclusives. Through the reimagining of pre-existing series like God Of War and Demon’s Souls and the introduction of new ones with games like Horizon: Zero Dawn and Marvel’s SpiderMan, Sony has given us many reasons to feel excited as the PS5 era begins.
But why does PlayStation insist upon falling back on the same handful of genres to tell these stories? All the games mentioned above, for example, are third-person action games. There is so much untapped potential in exclusives where the action isn’t primarily viewed from behind the protagonist’s upper body. It’s especially odd seeing as this wasn’t always the case.
You only need to look back to the launch of PS4: that console’s lineup of launchwindow exclusives included a platformer (Knack), a racing game (Driveclub), and a shooter in the form of Killzone Shadow Fall. And while it’s true that this soft reboot of Guerrilla Games’ visually arresting sci-fi series failed to set the world on fire and the developer has since found success elsewhere, there’s a real absence of anything similar to be found on PlayStation’s forthcoming first-party list. Sony appears content to let third-party publishers do the heavy lifting, but even with a new Battlefield and Call Of Duty incoming it’s not the same as the heady days of Killzone, Resistance, and MAG.
RETURNING FIRE
Killzone may have had its day, but I can’t help but feel that Insomniac Games’ wildly underrated Resistance series would be a good candidate for this, as it’s in need of a revival. The devs have been brought into the first-party fold, 2021 marks the tenth anniversary of the third and final game, and though it’s highly unlikely we’ll see a new instalment announced this year, the current gaming landscape is ripe for such an inventive first-person shooter.
Much more than the simple ‘man versus alien’ war story the first game’s marketing sold it as, this was a series with weapons that let you tag people and fire around corners, shoot through solid objects, and even spray a diseased mist that would see your enemies suffer slowly. This aspect alone was enough to set Resistance apart from other shooters available during the mid to late 2000s, and such creative ideas could see this universe return. If Ratchet & Clank is still allowed to flourish, why not Resistance?
I’m not sure why PlayStation has turned its back on first-person shooters of late. It could be that the genre’s associations with competition and online play don’t line up with its focus on developing more mature stories. However, I would argue there’s nothing wrong with a punchy adventure viewed along the iron sights of a gun, as the Metro, BioShock, and Dishonored series have proved.
If only Sony could combine the genre’s bombastic anarchy with the heartfelt narratives PlayStation’s become known for. Whether it’s through the revival of Resistance or not, the goal for such a nuanced first-person shooter is wide open.