Resistance: Fall of Man [PS3]

When Sony unveiled footage from the first batch of PS3 titles at their annual E3 press conference two years ago, there weren't a lot of surprises. We saw the obligatory Gran Turismo title, a new entry in the Metal Gear saga, and a Killzone trailer that caused a great deal of controversy. Surprisingly, the biggest shock to our system came in the form of the first PS3 title by Insomniac, creators of the hugely popular Ratchet and Clank franchise. The game -- originally referred to by the codename I-8 -- looked like someone took a standard WWII first-person shooter, threw some terrifying aliens into the mix, then added some crazy weapons for good measure. We had a chance to check out the game again at this year's E3, but it was our recent trip to Insomniac's offices that told us everything we need to know about Resistance: Fall of Man. It's a bit too early to predict how the game will stack up to Microsoft's flagship shooter, but it looks like Sony just might have found themselves a Halo killer.

Resistance imagines a world in which an alien race called the Chimera has swept across Russia like a plague (literally and figuratively), before breaking out and taking over most of Europe in the 1940s. The game takes place in 1951, the year that the Chimera makes a final push into Great Britain. You'll play as Nathan Hale, an American soldier that's sent to England with the rest of the U.S. Armed Forces, as they attempt to turn the tides against the vicious aliens. The game is told through flashbacks, since all that's known about Hale is the fact that he was infected by the alien virus, yet managed to stay alive and return to duty. As you play through the game, you'll learn more about what happened to Hale over the course of three days in July, the last time he was seen alive.

One of the knocks against the PlayStation 2 was the fact that first-person shooters just didn't feel quite right, as opposed to the shooter-friendly Xbox and Xbox 360. After just a few moments with Resistance, it became clear that it wasn't the hardware that was a problem, it was the developers. This game handles beautifully, and anyone who worried that the creators of Ratchet and Clank couldn't make a first-person shooter (and let's not forget that Insomniac also made Disruptor back in the PS1 days) is in for a pleasant surprise. This is one intense game, featuring a bunch of large-scale firefights as well as plenty of frightening close-quarters battles. Of course, exterminating the Chimera shouldn't be much of a problem if you've got the right tools for the job.