Resistance 3 has been announced and our 3-part Resistance reviews are ongoing. Our next stop was the 2008 title Resistance 2. The game came out 2 years into the PS3’s life-cycle and 2 years after the hit game Resistance: Fall of Man. Is Resistance 2 the best of the series or does it fall under the hype? Here we will examine what was right and wrong with Resistance 2 and what Insomniac should change for Resistance 3.

Story

Resistance 2 takes place two years after the destruction of London’s tower. Hale gets recruited into the Sentinel program with fellow soldiers to combat the Chimeran threat that has now reached the U.S. shores. It’s up to Hale and his group of Sentinels to find a way to stop the Chimera before it’s too late.

Unlike Fall of Man, Resistance 2’s story just doesn’t hold up that well. Rather than the third-person narration with still images that made the original so compelling, we get a strict first-person narrative. Not much is learned about anything really except form the Intel that is possible to miss if you aren’t paying attention. Despite the fact that we now get the story from the character, we learn virtually nothing until the correct pieces of Intel are collected.

What is in the Intel though tells a great story. Like Fall of Man, the Intel details what happened in the 2 years between the 1^st and 2^nd, more info about the Chimera and their origins, and also some great government conspiracy. The game falls under the pressure of a B-line action flick. The material we’re given to watch and play is standard action material. The stuff we get to read tells us the interesting parts that fans want to read, because of this though Insomniac alienates a lot of potential fans that do not want to read through hours of Intel.

A new addition to the franchise is a central Villain. The character Deadalus is a Human-Chimera hybrid. He comes in at the worst of times to create Hell and havoc for Hale and the rest of SRPA. The problem with Dadealus, like all the other characters, is that we don’t learn anything about him. His motives are clear but due to the small amount of time spent with him we never learn about him. There isn’t even much Intel relating to him.

Resistance 2’s plot and story has numerous pacing issues. The game starts strongly with the first 2 levels, and then it pretty much dies until the end. Nothing of true significance happened with many levels feeling like they didn’t need to even happen. In fact an entire level ends up being a wild goose-chase. Kind of like how all of Super Mario Bros. was a goose chase to find the princess. It isn’t till the end that things really pick back up and it becomes enthralling again.

This also feeds into the locations. While the original was set in England, every area visited felt fluid and belonged within the game to help tell the story. Resistance 2’s locations feel like they’ve been shoehorned in. Some of the locations make absolutely no sense to go to, especially the one level that is a wild goose-chase. Nothing about these locations feels inspired other than the fact that Insomniac wanted to get some amazing sites from America in.

Resistance 2 feels like it’s trying really hard to be a hardcore action game, but because of this it lost what made the original’s story so special. Every change that Insomniac employed to make the story more like other shooter stories just backfires and for that the game’s story feels like a complete backseat. If it were not for the Intel, then the story would be a true backseat.

Score: 6/10

Design

Resistance 2 falls into a lot of clichés that other First-Person shooters have fallen under. The game still offers a meaty playtime, but it isn’t always a fun playtime.

Many missions in the game can get wearisome especially because the game is just not built to handle the cliché shooter conventions the game tries to emulate. Some breathtaking environments are shown, and they reek of exploration, but invisible walls litter everywhere cutting off exploration. This problem also leaks into gunfights which feel a lot weaker then Fall of Man. Set pieces just aren’t as big and battlegrounds feel much more sparse then the original. What is there basically screams to find different ways to fight the Chimera, but this is a false hope as everything is just so streamlined.

It also gets down to the point where the entire middle of the game gets boring. The story does take some fault while the design takes the other. Everything is just so bland and straightforward. At times the game hints at bringing something truly amazing, but it soon becomes repetitive and wearisome. This includes the proclaimed epic bosses. They all give off a great first impression, but it is soon lost once you find out their attack patterns and just how easy they are to kill. Behemoths like the Leviathan should not be so easily killed off by 6 small rockets to the face.

What really gives Resistance 2 its legs is the excellent replay value. The campaign is still a meaty length with so much left to do after the game. Once again, many Intel pieces are scattered throughout the levels detailing the rich back-story of the universe. On top of this are the excellent co-op and competitive modes that will keep you coming back for more.

Resistance 2 doesn’t have a horrible design. It truly does succeed in making the player come back for more. However, many things in Resistance 2 just lack in comparison to Fall of Man. Many things that made the original so unique were lost as Resistance 2 aimed to be much more like current shooters.

Score: 8/10

Gameplay

Fall of Man was made famous by its unique weapons, run-and-gun style of gameplay, and its huge sense of variety. Insomniac opted out of their formula for a Call of Duty like game. Resistance 2 relies heavily upon certain mechanics that truly do not feel like they fit the game.

Unlike the original, Resistance 2 relies heavily upon the Aim down the Sights System. Due to this, many buttons had to be re-mapped to the point where it does feel like a mod for Call of Duty. While the system isn’t broken at all, it doesn’t feel like it fits the game. Returning guns such as the Bullseye and Carbine don’t work very well with the system. In fact, during multiplayer it is much easier to get kills with these guns by just pointing and shooting rather than aiming. Newer guns do feel good with the new aiming system but the old guns just aren’t built for it.

Speaking of guns, Insomniac continued their tradition of providing inventive ways to kill with Fall of Man. Insomniac has forsaken this tradition in this game. While it is understandable that some guns have to continue over since it is a series, far too many guns return and barely any new guns make an appearance. Guns like the Bellock, Splicer, and Marksman just aren’t interesting and have been done in other games better. Another problem is the reloading and clip sizes.

Instead of a fast-reload, large clip-size, and tough enemies, Resistance 2 features slow-reload, small clip-size, and still tough enemies. Common hybrids take far too many bullets and they’re just a simple enemy! While it isn’t as bad towards the beginning of the game, once the enemies get more armor it can become a huge problem and it just takes away from the enjoyment of the game.

What can be said though is that everything just works. While it isn’t as enjoyable as the first, the game manages to stay playable with no bugs. The new gameplay system also works really great with co-op since the slow nature and smaller clip sizes force players to work together to overcome the various obstacles.

All in all, Resistance 2 provides average gameplay. Unlike other shooters, it just doesn’t have much charm or originality.

Score: 7/10

Multiplayer

Resistance 2 ups the multiplayer from Fall of Man in more positive than negative ways. While the gameplay isn’t as fast or intense the game is still quite fun. Competitive-wise the game hits all the right spots. The maps are smartly designed to take advantage of a large amount of players.

Games take place in 30 vs. 30 teams. Resistance 2 manages to never lag despite the fact that 60 players are causing mass mayhem throughout some truly remarkable maps. There is a large variety of modes including some excellent objective based matches. Even with the slower controls it manages to find the sense of speed the Single-Player just can’t capture.

What’s even better than the competitive multiplayer is the deep and rewarding co-operative play. The co-op in Resistance 2 sends groups of 8 players on Campaign-esque missions. The group is given a main objective across 8 locations (6 from the campaign, 2 from England). Some of these objectives could include killing a boss, gathering a certain amount of “Grey Tech,” or rescuing civilians. Every time the map changes to keep you on your toes. The loading screen also unlocks even more Intel which details events that happened before the game and what is going on in Europe with Parker from Fall of Man. Three classes are given, the Soldier, Recon, and Medic with each getting a specific weapon to use. It is a bit of a disappointment that more classes are not available, as this could’ve further increased the depth of this already fine co-op mode.

What pulls every mode together (Co-op, Competitive, and Single-Player) is experience. You earn experience from everything you do that goes towards building your own personal Avatar for both the Humans and Chimera. Different skins are available for both factions as well as miscellaneous gear to customize your look. Co-Op allows you to buy weapon and armor upgrades with Grey Tech. This experience based system gives Resistance 2 an edge over other shooters because it is fun to collect all those little things to create an avatar that just looks awesome. Plus this gives the game a deep RPG feel that is truly unique.

Sure, it isn’t as fun as Fall of Man, but Resistance 2 does a lot of things right with its multiplayer and offers up a lot of content not found in a lot of other shooters.

Score: 8/10

Presentation

Resistance 2 puts it best foot forward from the very beginning showing spectacular epic battles with a giant Goliath. However things start to go downhill from there. With the advancement in visuals on the PS3, one would expect Resistance 2 to take full advantage of the PS3 and its architecture, however the game doesn’t.

Once again the Chimera take the spotlight from the humans. All of the Chimera and their toys are superb. The models, textures, animations, and even the saliva that crawl down their teeth are rather impressive. While not as many variations appear, the amount that can be shoved on screen is quite impressive with the frame-rate never buckling once.

The problems once again come from the humans. Like Fall of Man the models, textures, and animations are sub-par. No one ever looks quite right with the humans looking more alien then the Chimera.

Effects border the line between fantastic and creepy. Water looks good when it’s in puddles or small amounts, however when in large amount it just looks extremely creepy as it wobbles around like jelly. Blood looks great with entrails and intestines popping out of bodies in glory goodness. Clipping does happen every once in a while, especially with falling water.

The atmosphere exchanges dreary England for sunny America. While there are some truly jaw-dropping moments in the game, it never manages to capture the same feeling that Fall of Man captured. It never really ever feels like all hope is lost or that you really are alone. It isn’t horrible, but America just doesn’t add much to the game.

Resistance 2 is a fine looking game. It may not be the best looking on the block, but it still manages to hold up ok in today’s market with its impressive Chimera.

Score: 9/10

Final Thoughts

Resistance 2 is clearly the weakest link in the franchise. Rather than sticking with what worked, Insomniac went out and almost ended up creating a whole new game and while some of the new ideas add to the universe many other fail. Hopefully Resistance 3 will not follow Resistance 2’s path. It’s not a bad game by any means, but it just doesn’t do enough to stand out.