Insomniac talks Resistance: Fall of Man

If the game developers at Insomniac were setting out to create an alternate history in which hostile aliens invade the Earth during World War II, they’re a bit late. Science-fiction author Harry Turtledove created that scenario years ago with his “In The Balance” series.

Despite its gritty, mid-20th century appearance, this – according to Insomniac president Ted Price – was not the intention.

“When we began brainstorming on what to do for the PS3 a few years ago, we all agreed that we wanted to make a mature first-person shooter. We wanted something dark, but something that also allowed us to take advantage of our love for cool weapons and sci-fi themes,” Price says. “We started out with a sci-fi concept that doesn’t really resemble what Resistance: Fall of Man is now. But as more and more folks got involved with the story, characters and backgrounds it evolved into what we have today.

“The real turning point for us was when we decided to base the game on Earth in the mid 20th century. The juxtaposition of recognizable environments with monstrous creatures in an alternate history setting got many of us jazzed about what we could do with the story. From there we went nuts creating a deep backstory and we hope players will find a compelling in-game story about the Chimera‘s conquest of Asia and Europe.”

Resistance is definitely a historical military shooter…but Price insists it is “not a WWII game.”

“We didn’t set out to make a WWII game with a twist,” Price says.  “In Resistance: Fall of Man, we’re trying to create a believable, immersive universe that feels like it really could have taken place on Earth in the 1950s. For example, we’re supporting this universe with a meticulously detailed outline of watershed 20th century events leading up to July 11, 1951. We’re creating our own unique fiction and didn’t want to be limited by strictly human weapons or actual historic events and battles. Out of this world weapons are among the things we do best, and we wanted to take advantage of that in a non-traditional way. Not to take anything away from WWII games, but we think our approach is fresh and gives us many more options to pursue a unique direction.”

Despite the premise, the developers had taken some extra trouble to make the virtual world of this game as believable as possible. “We sent one of our environment artists, Steve Ratter, to England for two weeks to take photos of several English cities featured in R:FoM,” Price says. “One highlight for Steve was gaining exclusive access to a special high-security bunker that was erected during the Cold War…in other research, we contacted a Russian folklore professor at a prominent university to help us flesh out the backstory for some mysterious, savage characters in our game.”

Hopeful PS3 gamers (especially those familiar with Harry Turtledove) await the release with baited breath…

If the game developers at Insomniac were setting out to create an alternate history in which hostile aliens invade the Earth during World War II, they’re a bit late. Science-fiction author Harry Turtledove created that scenario years ago with his “In The Balance” series.

Despite its gritty, mid-20th century appearance, this – according to Insomniac president Ted Price – was not the intention.

“When we began brainstorming on what to do for the PS3 a few years ago, we all agreed that we wanted to make a mature first-person shooter. We wanted something dark, but something that also allowed us to take advantage of our love for cool weapons and sci-fi themes,” Price says. “We started out with a sci-fi concept that doesn’t really resemble what Resistance: Fall of Man is now. But as more and more folks got involved with the story, characters and backgrounds it evolved into what we have today.

“The real turning point for us was when we decided to base the game on Earth in the mid 20th century. The juxtaposition of recognizable environments with monstrous creatures in an alternate history setting got many of us jazzed about what we could do with the story. From there we went nuts creating a deep backstory and we hope players will find a compelling in-game story about the Chimera‘s conquest of Asia and Europe.”

Resistance is definitely a historical military shooter…but Price insists it is “not a WWII game.”

“We didn’t set out to make a WWII game with a twist,” Price says.  “In Resistance: Fall of Man, we’re trying to create a believable, immersive universe that feels like it really could have taken place on Earth in the 1950s. For example, we’re supporting this universe with a meticulously detailed outline of watershed 20th century events leading up to July 11, 1951. We’re creating our own unique fiction and didn’t want to be limited by strictly human weapons or actual historic events and battles. Out of this world weapons are among the things we do best, and we wanted to take advantage of that in a non-traditional way. Not to take anything away from WWII games, but we think our approach is fresh and gives us many more options to pursue a unique direction.”

Despite the premise, the developers had taken some extra trouble to make the virtual world of this game as believable as possible. “We sent one of our environment artists, Steve Ratter, to England for two weeks to take photos of several English cities featured in R:FoM,” Price says. “One highlight for Steve was gaining exclusive access to a special high-security bunker that was erected during the Cold War…in other research, we contacted a Russian folklore professor at a prominent university to help us flesh out the backstory for some mysterious, savage characters in our game.”

Hopeful PS3 gamers (especially those familiar with Harry Turtledove) await the release with baited breath…