You may not recognize Insomniac by name, but most will recognize them by game. Perhaps better known as the studio behind Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet & Clank, the crew over at Insomniac has built almost the whole of their reputation on charmingly cute platformers.

But there's a side to Insomniac many aren't aware of, one that came before Ratchet, before Spyro. Way back in 1996, Insomniac released their debut PlayStation game, Disruptor. An inventive first-person shooter, Disruptor was dark, fast-paced, and violent. It's a sharp contrast to Insomniac's later efforts, and after almost an entire decade of nothing but lighthearted cartoony platformers, you can see why they were eager to do something different.

Enter Resistance: Fall of Man. Insomniac's launch title for the PlayStation 3 isn't a happy place; it's gritty, realistic, and basically everything their past seven games weren't. And much like the oft-forgotten Disruptor, Resistance is story-driven first-person shooter with a strong emphasis on creative weaponry.

Story

Resistance begins as the US invades the east coast of England on July 11, 1951, but the events leading up to this began decades before. Following a carefully researched alternate history, rumors that Russia was up to something started circulating in the 1930s. However, the world wouldn't become aware of exactly what that something was until nearly two decades later, at which point, it was too late to stop. By 1949, the Chimera, a race of unknown origin, had completely overtaken Russia and spilled into the rest of Europe. England set up a series of blockades in an attempt to hinder their progress, but the Chimera bypassed these and invaded England through a series of underground tunnels in 1950.

This brings us to July 11, 1951, which is when the United States government opts to reverse their isolation policy and sends aides to England. Included in the invading forces is Sgt. Nathan Hale, a soldier who plays a significant role in the battles that follow across the next three days, only to completely disappear. In an attempt to determine Hale's fate, Captain Rachel Parker, who grew quite close to Hale throughout their time together, retraces the events of those days and acts as the game's narrator.

Exactly what it is that sets Hale apart from the rest of the forces is unclear, but he's the only human known to survive a direct Chimeran infection. The Chimera reproduce by converting humans into Hybrids, a process that begins when a small Chimeran bug crawls into a human's mouth. From there, the human falls into a coma, and eventually pupate with a protective cocoon forming around them. They emerge from the cocoon a Hybrid, with a series of conversion factories set up throughout Chimeran territory to speed up this process, and also to equip the new Hybrids with a cooling unit, necessary as the Chimeran metabolism is twelve times faster that of a normal human.

But Hale is different. Instead of pupating, Hale wakes up shortly after his platoon is overrun with the infectious bugs. No one, including Hale, knows whether he's innately resistant or if the infection is merely taking longer than normal to progress. This adds another layer to the story, especially as Hale works his way through one of those conversion factories, constantly wondering if he'll eventually undergo the process he's observing.