Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus vs. Resistance 3, Who Did It Better?

Seems like an odd comparison, Resistance 3 and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. However, when you think about these 2 games have a lot in common. Both offer epic single-player adventures set in an alternate version of history where something different happened during WW2. In Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus the Nazis won the war and in Resistance humanity is at war with an alien race. Both games essentially do away with FPS staples such as regenerative health and short single-player campaigns. Instead, both Resistance 3 and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus gave gamers a satisfying adventure full of exciting moments, varied environments, and brilliantly written stories thanks to phenomenal cutscenes and characters. But which did it better?

Story

Both Resistance 3 and The New Colossus dealt with established heroes dealing with their own mortality. BJ's body is held together by a mechanical suit left behind by his closest friend. Joseph Capelli is a broken warrior blamed for the death of Nathan Hale and just trying to survive each day as the Chimera slaughter what remains of humanity. Both adventures have a fantastic cast of characters that help give their worlds life whether it's Max Hass trying to save his pig from being killed or what remains of a town telling stories to children about the world before the Chimera.

In both Resistance 3 and The New Colossus, the sense of dread and desperation is constantly being brought up. However, unlike Resistance 3 The New Colossus has a light-hearted side to its campaign. Situations of complete absurdity come much more frequent than you might expect. With drugs, sex, and drinking bringing out the brighter side of the characters. In Resistance 3 this never happens, with each new challenge pushing Joseph and everyone else around him to new limits. 

This made the intense scenes of depression, anger, and suicide most profound in The New Colossus. Seeing someone talk about a functional toilet with such glee was laugh-out-loud funny but when followed by crippling stories of losing a loved one it reminded me that this is war. In Resistance 3 you expect horrible things to happen but in The New Colossus, these fearful moments surprisingly catch you off guard regularly.

While Resistance 3 did have some stellar villains, like Mick Cutler and Satan, you mostly end up fighting a random assortment of Chimera and humans for most of the game. General Irene Engel in The New Colossus steals the show with her sadistic tactics and violent behavior. You can't predict this woman and she takes great pleasure in torturing her victims, leading to a lot of unnerving cutscenes.  

Winner: The New Colossus

Gameplay

Resistance 3 and The New Colossus remove regenerated health for different reasons. For Resistance 3 it was part of the game's story. The ability of regeneration was limited to the Sentinels, special forces who survived the Chimera Conversion process before it was completed. This gave them the ability to heal like the Chimera but once the virus was cured Joseph Capelli lost this ability to heal swiftly and must rely on health vials to keep alive. The New Colossus doesn't include this mechanic because MachineGames' focus was to deliver an FPS game that remained loyal to the genre's most traditional mechanics, picking up health and armor.

Since The New Colossus attempts to capture the traditional FPS system found in games like Doom and Wolfenstein 3D other things such as minimaps and increased mobility were removed. At times BJ would choose what he could vault over and which ledge he could grab. Resistance 3 doesn't have this issue as it's made clear of what Joseph can and cannot do. What Resistance 3 does excel above The New Colossus is weapons.

Both games offer a variety of weapons and upgrades but when comparing the 2 Resistance 3 comes out on top. To list some; The Auger can shoot through walls, the Bullseye can shoot tracking darts, and the HE .44 Magnum uses explosive rounds. Nothing in The New Colossus compares to the insane arsenal found in Resistance 3. You may be able to dual wield in The New Colossus but compared to the sheer firepower of Resistance 3's weapons it's nothing.

Best of all was the impact of each weapon. Similar to how Destiny handles the feeling of hitting someone with a melee attack Resistance 3 offers that same reaction with every weapon that makes contact. This is amplified thanks to the fantastic sound design and animations where each stab, bullet, and headshot gave immediate feedback. The New Colossus does have excellent sound design and hatcheting apart Nazis is brutal fun, it just doesn't have the same perception of impact that Resistance 3 provided.

Winner: Resistance 3

Level Design

What's the point of going of having great gameplay without exciting levels? Resistance 3 offers a plentiful array of areas to explore that range from destroyed cities cover in snow and rain to ravaged prisons. Each environment provides a myriad of places that house different landscapes, requiring creative tactics to defeat the enemies within. Resistance 3 never slowed down by providing diverse domains but Wolfenstein did.

The New Colossus provided an assortment of areas to explore with most of them relying on the same patterns; destroyed towns and Nazi-built facilities. The landscape was different and they did require imaginative approaches but never of them felt truly memorable. I still remember darting through Chimera shied generators while dodging snipers in destroyed New York as snow covered everything and heading into the sewers ready to face Grims. The New Colossus cutscenes did have some shocking moments not a lot of truly memorable happened while I was in control. Nothing compared to leading a one-man charge against an alien superweapon.

Winner: Resistance 3

Resistance 3's varied level design, an assortment of weapons, and memorable moments finished out this franchise on a high note. Seeing Joseph Capelli survive one nightmare after another still remains on the best campaigns I've played on the PlayStation 3. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus has an excellent cast of characters and the combination of humor and trepidation gave way for some remarkable cutscenes. However, it didn't compare to the journey of Resistance 3 as you faced an army with nothing more than the weapons in your very deep pockets.  

Winner: Resistance 3

Which did you prefer, let us know in the comments below!

Adam Siddiqui, NoobFeed
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