Don't expect anything too novel here. Fun and interesting, but easily falls prey to the cues of low expectations.
But premise and plot can only take a story so far, and sadly, this plot is sadly far too clichéd to hold up on its own. Resistance can be fun if you want it to be, or if you are an extreme and can really get into it. But as hard as Resistance tries, it's nothing more than your average first person shooter among the throng of its peers.
First off, why in the world is Resistance set in 1951? Human technology is awfully advanced for this day and age; how our 1950s counter-parts could ever actually fend off alien hordes in their time would have been an exciting experience. But of course, you're given GPS radars, complex weaponry with all number of complex uses, all of which don't compare to the overpowered laser guns your enemies will be carrying (except for maybe their accuracy).
The graphics of Resistance are smooth and slick, and the sound is dead on, making you feel thoroughly in the middle of a crazy conflict. But the graphics seem to be nothing more than a bit of glitz and glamour, as every battle fought is done at such a fast pace, you have no time to even become away of your surroundings before you find yourself staring at the blunt end of a broad object that you've taken cover from. In fact, when you're not shooting at something - instead of exploring expansive scenarios that were so expertly created - you're normally just hiding behind sandbags or walls. While this may have a certain sense of necessity, you can only become so acquainted with your inanimate cover before you want to just hop out into the thrall of bullets and lasers to try and trample your opponents.
And unfortunately, this seems to be the most accurate stratagem for 90% of your battles in Resistance. First person shooters are intended to be a mix of chess and American football, where you try to trample anything in your way, but do so strategically. But there is simply no strategy needed in Resistance; if you can point your gun in the generally right direction, and run in said direction, you're likely to kill everything you need to. And if you're unlucky enough to take gunshots to the gut like the mobile canon fodder you are, a short three seconds spent behind your best friend, Cover, will regenerate your health, whereupon you can frolic about the battlefield once more, fully renewed.
It is Resistance's fast paced, gun-ho attitude which proves to be its downfall. All the battle are simple TOO FAST; the game forces you to comprehend extensive amounts of information within two seconds, and expects you to react on instinct rather than thought; granted, maybe this was Sony's intention: keep you so distracted trying to figure out which of the five oncoming enemies to shoot first, so you don't notice the extremely thin threads that are holding most of this game together. And while the writers certainly spent a fair amount of time trying to create an intriguing story of invasion from creepy baddies, the plot of Resistance is simply too cliché, to the point that you can probably predict most of the tale before even taking the wrapping off the game.
To be fair, Resistance's online multiplayer modes to present a hefty amount of fun. While the enemy AI operates simply, your fellow gaming gunners will not be so kind, and will approach you with keen ideas on this way would be best to blow your brains out. The battles are fast paced and fun; but again, this fun can only last so long, unless you're dead-set in rising in the online ranks. While fun, the multiplayer mode for Resistance can indeed get old, fast.
Is Resistance a bad game? Well, it's not the worst. But though it shouldn't win many awards of praise, it presents some fun and interesting concepts. In the end, if you don't have very high expectations for Resistance, it is likely to be everything you've been waiting for. If you're looking for a complex FPS that requires some intensive skill, you're barking up the wrong tree.