Resistance 3 Campaign and Multiplayer Guide

Insomniac Games launched Resistance 3 last week, and we've put together a handy Resistance 3 campaign and multiplayer guide to help you on your way. Resistance 3 brings the trilogy to a close that started all the way back when the PlayStation 3 launched in 2006. The series has changed quite a bit since the original Resistance: Fall of Man. The weapons are both more numerous and more full-featured, especially with this new game adding two levels of weapon-specific upgrades that unlock through repeated use (or when you buy them in the game's multiplayer mode).

Resistance 3 feels similar to many other first-person shooters out there at its most basic level, but it can be a challenge for new players to step into, especially when they're thinking in terms of the play in popular titles like Call of Duty or Halo. If you're stepping into humanity's ongoing struggle against the alien Chimera for the first time with Resistance 3, here are some basic tips that will help prepare you for the series' unique style and approach.

Plan For Prep Time

It's unfortunate that this has to qualify as a "hint" for getting the most out of your Resistance 3 experience, but that's the PlayStation 3 for you. Plan to juggle your way through menus for at least a half-hour, probably closer to an hour, as the game installs itself and downloads any necessary updates after being fired up for the first time. There's no quick way around it; you can't "skip" any of these steps and just get to playing. Just be patient, ensure that your PS3's net connection is fully functional and relax with a good book or TV show.

Stay Healthy

Unlike most other shooters on the market today, keeping protagonist Joseph Capelli alive requires you to keep a close eye on his health bar. Oh yes: no regenerating health in Resistance 3's campaign (multiplayer is a different story). Fortunately, Insomniac worked hard to ensure that the game isn't too overwhelmingly difficult, and so you can usually find health-restoring items (look for glowing green canisters) scattered around the battlefield. Check every corner if you're low on health and walking into a big fight, but also scour the field after the bullets stop flying as enemies frequently drop these canisters. You can tell which ones do, as the health pickup is visible among their gear.

Don't Be Precious With Your Guns

There's a LOT of ammo scattered around the world of Resistance 3. If you walk into the game intent on conserving ammo, you're doing it wrong. The guns are a big attraction for this series, so make sure you put them to use. Fire freely and always remember that each weapon's secondary fire draws ammo from a separate supply. Make sure you use it all. If you're not clear on what each weapon's secondary fire does, know that whenever you pick up a new one, information about it is unlocked in your journal. Just go to the journal and find that weapon's entry for a breakdown of what it can do. The same goes for bosses and all other enemy types as well; very useful information to be found here.

Focus Your Fire

On the campaign side, weapons can be upgraded through repeated use. It's really simple: the more you shoot things with one gun or another, the more that weapon's progress bar fills. Top it off once, you unlock an upgrade. Do so again, and the second upgrade is yours. It's a good idea to pick one or two guns early on that will be your standbys, firearms that you'll switch to anytime you've got more ammo handy. More on specific weapons below.

Be Tactical, But Be Smart About It

There's no cover mechanic in Resistance 3, but that doesn't mean running and gunning is okay. The Resistance series has always featured some smart enemies, and this latest game is no exception. You won't be able to hold off an approaching horde of enemy forces from a single position, but you will be taken down if you rush forward to meet them head-on. More than many other FPS titles on the market, Resistance 3 requires you to maintain a tactical awareness of your surroundings at all times.

Some enemies can shoot through walls, some can leap themselves behind you and some simply have no fear, rushing your position to chip away more of that precious health before they inevitably go down. Be mindful of the aggressive AI and always be ready to move. Hell, take the initiative and change positions every time you take one or two Chimera down or when you get to feeling like you've been in one spot for too long (an alien rifle jabbed at your face is usually a good sign of that). Don't run out into the open if you can help it -- Chimera are crack shots -- but don't give them an opportunity to form up and surround you either. Because they will, given the opportunity.

Getting Started In Multiplayer

Like many other FPS games these days, the multiplayer component of Resistance 3 has an elaborate system of character progression built around it in which players are rewarded for long-term play with better weapons, abilities and upgrades. The game also happens to feature some of the most unique weapons in the business -- even the standard machine gun has something funky going on -- and Insomniac was very smart about structuring the early multiplayer progression around letting players have a taste of a broad cross-section before they get to spend any of the precious Skill Points that they've earned.

When you fire up Resistance 3's multiplayer for the first time, you'll notice that there's only a single class, equipped with the game's take on a basic machine gun. It's got a secondary attack just like every other weapon in the game, but it's nothing you haven't seen before. As you climb through the first handful of levels, additional classes unlock, each one armed with a new weapon and probably a new grenade or ability (there are both passive and active "perk"-type boosts in R3).

For those who aren't familiar with the game especially, I strongly recommend using each newly unlocked class until you level up again and unlock the next one. That way you get a taste of some of the game's core weapons. Once you hit level six -- which should take more than a few play sessions -- you can start building custom classes and spending skill points to buy more weapons, abilities and upgrades for both. Use the know-how you picked up during your initial hours with the game to help inform your choices. Skill Points don't come frequently, so spend them wisely.

Generally speaking, you'll want to equip a Hedgehog as your grenade (unlocks at level six), which is basically a throwable Chimeran mine. Just toss it down and wait for some hapless enemy to run over it and feed you some points. Ammo Beacon and Bubble Shield are also quite useful among the game's Support Abilities; consider equipping one of the two on your initial custom class.

If you're not familiar with the Marksman from the campaign, that's a good option to purchase once you unlock custom classes. It's far more accurate than the M5A2 Carbine (the starting class machine gun) and much better at range, though it's a burst-fire-only weapon. I generally prefer the Bullseye to the Carbine as my go-to fully automatic machine gun, especially since tagging enemies at range with the weapon's secondary fire can be very helpful.