Resistance 3 Arrives in Terrifying Style

‘The security has been breached.’ These are five words you definitely don’t want to hear when you’re in the dark underneath Waterloo Station with zombies lurking around every corner. With only strangers for support however this is the situation I found myself in at the launch of PlayStation 3’s Resistance 3. Familiar with the typical horror film ‘rules’, as the irrational squealing female, I wasn’t holding out much hope for my survival either.

In order to mark the release of the latest episode in the Resistance trilogy with a difference, PlayStation had transformed the Waterloo Station Arches into a post-apocalyptic world for five consecutive nights. To make sure that this preview and prequel to the game was a truly interactive nightmare, they also enlisted the expertise of theatre specialists Punchdrunk – fresh from their work on The Crash of the Elysium.

With stilettos swapped for trainers therefore I was ushered into the darkness beneath Waterloo to explore a physically tangible and multi-sensory experience. With just three torches and each other for company, participant groups were set the task of sending a message to their fellow US survivors and Resistance 3 hero Joseph Capelli as a prequel to the next gaming installment. Sound too easy? That’s because I missed out a vital part – we weren’t alone. Lurking among the boxes, staircase and dark alleyways of this desolate world was the Chimera. A blood sniffing, knife-wielding savage bunch that literally had me running for my (gaming) life.

Playing on the game’s multi-player function, this interactive experience required groups to work together in order to find their way out of the subterranean nightmare. With only a lonely survivor of the British resistance left for support (well, for a little while at least!!), this involved cracking codes, finding exits and running – A LOT of running.

In true gaming style, getting caught meant not only a terrifying encounter but the end of your game too. Not that our victorious group knew anything about that, as we burst through the victorious red exit screen into the waiting bar area – sweating, panting and joining the queues ahead of the game’s release. I still haven’t slept properly since!