guido's Profile

I initially bought Fall of Man for no other reason than the fact that I got Resistance 2 free with my PS3 and I wanted to catch up on the back story before playing the sequel. I had little to no expectation of it being a great game and didn’t know much about it going in other than that it was a launch title for PS3. So it was a pleasant surprise to find that it was not only a really solid shooter with a great story but it was also a lot of fun from beginning to end!

Set in an alternate history circa the 1950s, it combines the feel of a WWII shooter with an alien invasion plot which means you get all the cool old school weapons with some crazy alien ones thrown in for kicks. There’s your standards like the shotgun but the real fun starts with weapons that lock on and auto track enemies, target and shoot through walls or belch out alien goo that sticks to everything and explodes. It’s an old school style shooter, there's no Gears style cover system or Halo inspired two weapons only limitation. It lets you carry every weapon the game has to offer at once which I really like as it doesn’t force you to stick to the one best all round weapon but instead lets you endlessly experiment at will. Which is great because most of the time different enemies can be most effectively taken down by one particular weapon and if you had to constantly scour the ground for that particular weapon you’d be dead before you could say “There it is!”. So what if it’s not realistic? It’s not a doco, it’s a game and it’s nice to just have all the toys on tap all the time. Each weapon has a secondary fire that might launch a grenade or maybe throw down a shield or an auto-turret. It's wide and imaginative range of weapons keep things fresh as you experiment and find new ways to use them.

The story is told through a narrator that is relaying past events that you play out as the story progresses. The voice acting is excellent and the script, while not the most exciting, manages to avoid any corny dialogue which is quite refreshing. The environments are pretty top notch and partially destructible. The game was infamous for it’s palette of brown but there are some pretty stunning looking outdoor environments that make you stop and stare on occasion.

The game has a lot to offer overall, splitscreen co-op mode through the single player campaign, online multiplayer, plenty of unlockables and “achievements” (unfortunately it doesn’t support the trophy system but it has it’s own equivalent system of skill points to discover and achieve). It has a co-op feeling during the main campaign because you usually have backup, cover fire, co-drivers and radio chatter to keep you company. These NPCs are mostly cannon fodder but add to the feeling that you’re part of something big. You also get plenty of vehicle sections, tanks and jeeps to drive, and even the odd alien mech to play with. All come equipped with big guns and plenty to shoot at.

So I had low expectations going in. I had briefly played it around the initial launch date and didn’t think much of it at the time but once you’ve got a nice collection of kick arse weaponry together you find that even though it doesn’t break any major new ground, it’s simply fun to play!