The Chinese first-person shooter game "The Resisters" by Hangzhou Haotang Technology offers a single-player campaign set during the 1940s Anti-Japanese War. The demo presents 15 hours of gameplay divided into four chapters depicting different battlefields and roles such as spies, guerrillas, and resistance fighters [1, 2, 3, 4].
Players in the demo fought through a snowy battlefield in Northeast China against large numbers of Japanese infantry. Weapons include historically accurate bolt-action rifles, submachine guns, sniper rifles, heavy machine guns, and grenades, aiming to capture authentic handling and appearance [1, 2, 3, 4].
The game uses a traditional FPS format with two guns and grenades carried by players. It features a bleeding screen effect and breathing-based health regeneration instead of medical kits. Movement abilities include sliding but exclude jumping and prone postures. Some testers noted the slower overall mobility and limited enemy AI behavior [1, 5, 4, 6].
Developer efforts focus heavily on story and historical authenticity. Battlefield environments are reconstructed from real battles, and weapon animations benefit from input by military-experienced staff to create a weighty anti-Japanese atmosphere [1, 3, 7, 4].
The 4-chapter campaign explores themes of resistance and sacrifice through shooter, stealth, puzzle, and combat destruction mechanics. Coverage of a war rarely touched upon in Western games has attracted international media attention; IGN's Tristan Ogilvie described the game as recalling a story-driven shooter era while filling an underrepresented WWII setting [1, 7, 4]. Japanese outlet GameWith praised its visuals and battlefield ambiance [3].
Players and media praised the detailed visuals, lighting, immersive atmosphere, good gun feel, and deep story with cinematic scenes. Criticism targeted the AI's limited intelligence, restrictive player motions, and incomplete mechanics like lack of prone and jump. The development team acknowledged current demo flaws and intends to refine those aspects over the next 1-2 years [1, 3, 5, 8, 4, 9, 6].
The demo also revealed plans for a cooperative multiplayer mode for 4-8 players, loosely based on main content but without storyline integration. The mode remains conceptual with details still undecided [1, 4, 9].
In China, the game's online discussion is notably more active than for other domestic indie titles, reflecting strong community interest ahead of its full release. Players expressed diverse opinions; some prioritize strict historical realism while others emphasize core gameplay enjoyment. One prominent Bilibili content creator argued that solid gameplay quality is essential, cautioning against relying solely on patriotic themes to attract players [5, 10, 6].
The game supports 14 languages with simplified and traditional Chinese, English, Japanese, and multiple European languages, including historically appropriate Japanese voice acting for enemy troops [11].
After a July 30 IGN demo report and Japanese media coverage, Steam added the game to its wishlist on July 31, boosting visibility [1, 3, 11, 8, 7]. Most recently, on August 7, Bilibili creators shared further gameplay impressions with suggestions for AI and detail improvements [5]. On August 11, domestic media highlighted the title’s distinction in indie game publicity and player engagement [12].
Hangzhou Haotang Technology continues refining "The Resisters" based on feedback. The full release date is not set yet, with 1-2 years needed to polish gameplay and AI systems.
