Resonance game preview – it’s like Uncharted with swords
Resonance: A Plague Tale is the perfect snack for Uncharted-starved fans. After my hands-on session, I can’t wait for the August release.
The latest game from French studio Asobo (yes, the studio behind Microsoft Flight Simulator) has left me baffled. In a good way.
Contrary to what the name would have you believe, Resonance: A Plague Tale has little in common with the famous game series. Instead of child protagonists, stealth sections and plague-ridden rats, you get a pirate hardened by battles, brutal sword action and a supernatural Lost-style monster.
I got to play Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy for about two hours as part of a preview session. The cinematic mix of gameplay and the tropical setting with ancient ruins reminded me of the good old Uncharted games. Are you a fan of Naughty Dog’s cult series? Then you’ll want to mark Resonance’s release date in your calendar in big bold letters.
Of time travel and Minotaurs
You play as the pirate Sophia. Fans of the second A Plague Tale game will recognise her as the seasoned seafarer who helped the siblings Amicia and Hugo reach the island of La Cuna in Requiem.
Resonance is set around 15 years before the events of Requiem. In the preview, I got to play through chapters 5 and 6 – being dropped into the middle of the story, I didn’t quite catch everything the two-hour demo threw at me.
What I did understand, though, has me wanting more. Sophia wants to investigate the mystical Minotaur’s Island. For reasons she can’t explain, she’s felt the island calling to her since childhood. When she arrives, a rival pirate gang starts hunting her.
Source: Focus Entertainment
Sophia is haunted by visions in which she sees the island through the eyes of the Greek warrior Theseus, who participated in a deadly island tournament à la Squid Game hundreds of years ago.
The time jumps let you experience the tropical island in two different eras. With Sophia, you explore crumbling ruins, and with Theseus you see what the island looked like before it fell into decay. It’s a promising concept that makes the most of a stunning backdrop.
Uncharted in spirit
Just a few minutes in, I was already reminded of one of my all-time favourite game series. Resonance radiates Uncharted vibes non-stop with its gameplay mix and setting.
Sophia is basically a female version of Nathan Drake. I can easily imagine the treasure hunter having his eye on Minotaur’s Island – and the riches hidden within.
Sophia is joined by her pirate friend Leni. As they explore, the two of them chat away in true Naughty Dog fashion about what’s happening on the island and what they’re planning to do about it. It’s not just there for storytelling – it deepens the characters and gives you a window into their relationship.
On their journey, the two constantly come up against ancient puzzles. Sophia is equipped with an orb that, when the light hits it, emits coloured beams of light. It can be used to activate ancient mechanisms and open doors.
When the orb isn’t enough, you have to get hands-on. You flip switches, move mirrors and jot down important clues in your adventure journal.
Like I said: it screams Uncharted.
The puzzles strike a perfect balance – one I also appreciate in Naughty Dog games. You need to read the environment and work out how to tackle each challenge with limited tools. At the same time, they never outstay their welcome – you never feel slowed down or like the puzzles are getting in the way of the flow.
The puzzle sections are broken up with short climbing sequences and cinematic set pieces – say, where you’re running for your life across crumbling buildings.
Nathan Drake would be proud of Sophia.
My big concern: the combat system
Unlike in Uncharted, you don’t shoot your way through Resonance. Instead, you carve up enemies with swords and sabres.
The combat system is simple. Nothing that hasn’t been done in dozens of other games. Colour-coded on-screen prompts tell you which attack each enemy is about to use, and you have to react accordingly. You can attack, dodge, parry and counter. Sophia also has a grappling hook she can use to pull distant enemies (like annoying archers) towards her.
The simple combat system becomes complicated with the sheer number of enemies. One-on-one duels are straightforward enough, but when half a dozen pirates are attacking from all sides, it becomes hard to perfectly time your dodges and counters.
On the whole, I enjoyed the fights in the two preview chapters. They broke up the exploration and puzzle gameplay and were – thanks to the finishing moves especially – gloriously brutal.
Source: Focus Entertainment
That said, I do worry the simple gameplay mechanics could wear thin quickly. I’m not convinced the sword duels have enough depth to keep you engaged for 15 to 20 hours (the studio’s official playthrough estimate). The variety of enemies was also disappointing – you keep fighting the same enemy types, all attacking with similarly stiff animations. It’s also a shame you can’t thin out enemy hordes with targeted stealth attacks before switching to open combat.
But it’s too early for a final verdict on the combat system. Unlockable equipment, a skill tree and new weapons all have the potential to add more variety. Switching between Sophia and Theseus across the two time periods could also make for some interesting surprises.
A touch of Lost
The first chapter of the preview had me feeling a kind of nostalgic Uncharted-style joy. In the second one, the game surprised me with a supernatural monster. Not rats, like in the other A Plague Tale games. But something that reminded me of cult show Lost (the greatest TV series of all time, by the way).
Sophia falls down a dark shaft and has to flee from a terrifying creature. At first, I can only hear it. Screaming and rattling in the background, rocking the underground ruins.
And then I see it. A sort of pillar of smoke. Or ash swirling through the air? Either way, it’s a threat I can’t immediately get a read on – neither by sight nor sound. Something menacing, enormous and omnipresent.
In these gameplay sections, you have to sneak through the ruins. Running leaves a glowing blue trail that the monster can use to track you down quickly. At irregular intervals the monster pauses and starts to breathe. Thousands of tiny particles suddenly float through the air. You have to take cover to avoid being hit, inhaled and mummified. What the hell is this thing?
Spots lit by sunlight or torches offer shelter. It reminds me of the light-averse rats from the earlier A Plague Tale games. But that’s where the parallels between Resonance and its rat-infested predecessors end. The stealth sections against the Lost-esque monster play out far faster and with a lot more action than the drawn-out rat sequences. I’m a fan.
If you’re wondering why there are no screenshots of the section with the monster, I’m not allowed to post any. The publisher presumably wants the monster to remain a mystery for now.
Source: Asobo Studio
Preview verdict: Uncharted fans, rejoice!
Two hours with Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy has left me wanting more. As a longtime Uncharted fan, the mix of action, exploration, puzzles and cinematic set-pieces feels like home. The mysterious monster has also piqued my interest.
Fans of the A Plague Tale series should be aware that Resonance takes the gameplay in a completely new direction and tells an entirely new story. It remains to be seen if and how the game’s story connects to the series.
Either way, I’m looking forward to my trip to Minotaur’s Island. Before the preview session, Resonance wasn’t even on my radar – and now it’s one of my most anticipated upcoming releases.
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is out on 27 August for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. For this article, Focus Entertainment provided me with a preview build for PC.
My love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.
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