Resistance 2 - Review

This is how to finish the fight!


Resistance 2 is the sequel to 2006's best selling PS3 title Resistance: Fall of Man. R2 continues the story of Nathan Hale who is infected but resistant to the Chimeran virus. The game takes place across the United States (the last free area in the world) over 7 chapters and a prologue. It begins immediately with the last cut-scene from Fall of Man and makes a seamless transition into R2. Hale is brought to Iceland by Major Richard Blake, head of tactical ops at SRPA (Special Research Projects Agency) and from there Hale joins the Sentinels, a group of soldiers like himself who are also resistant to the Chimeran virus.

The story then picks up two years later in San Francisco and from there the game transports you to select locations in the U.S. such as Twin Falls Idaho, Chicago and Louisiana. The story is quite good overall and unlike the first game it is centered entirely on Hale with no narration. Focusing the story strictly from Hale's perspective works fine but there are instances where you wish you understood character motivations and thoughts. The progression of the events is well paced and much like the first game you certainly feel as though you are fighting a losing battle. However, R2 succeeds in driving home just how large a conflict the war with the Chimera is. There are moments in every level where you will just pause and go "Wow...". Be it a scene of utter chaos or a confrontation with a swirling swarm ripping the flesh of anyone foolish enough to step near it.

A moment that comes to mind is in Twin Falls, Idaho, where you land in a residential estate and find it completely covered in Grim cocoons. Unlike the first game, the Chimera no longer need to send humans to conversion centers to turn them into Chimera. Instead, they send in Spinners, tiny creatures - about the size of a large rat - that spin people into a cocoon and bake them into mindless Grims. The scale of just how many cocoons are in the area is gruesome, not helped by the fact that in some places you will find a "baby" sized cocoon as well. When one of your comrades comments "Makes you miss when they needed conversion centers...", you can only nod to yourself and agree. The scene over San Francisco is unlike anything I've seen before (below) and I found myself just staring aimlessly around the area, watching the fleet tear the city apart. The shear scale and ambition of the game is incredible to behold.

To compliment the incredible atmosphere, in several points of the game you can listen in to the broadcast of Henry Stillman, the last man alive in Philadelphia. Your story, as you progress through the game is mirrored events of Henry's means of trying to survive. We learn he watched a Spinner wrap his wife in a cocoon and watched on helplessly as grims devoured a young boy and his father. I found myself wanting to listen to what Henry had to say, as though I was experiencing the war from another persons perspective. While you never truly envelope yourself in the 50's setting, as you are constantly under fire and so on, the game succeeds in creating a sense of urgency about everything you do and everything that is happening around you. For instance, there is a moment in Chicago (which is entirely flooded by the way) where you jump over an embankment and as you hit the otherside you knock a beam which bursts the barricade holding back the water. You suddenly find yourself frantically running from high points to the next high points to stay out of the water. Why you ask? Well it's not that you'll drown, it's the fact that there are Chimera, called Furies, which infest the waters and if you're down there too long, BANG, your dead, instantly. What's more, you can't shoot or kill them either. You don't want to die, and there is a genuine sense of fear everytime you have to step into water that a Fury will pop out of nowhere and mince you. Fortunately for you, the Chameleon, which can also kill you with one hit is much easier to take down. They make strange noises, almost like an owl or a pigeon, when they're near you and as they approach you will hear a rumble and your controller will shake before they become visible and try to land the killing blow.

The gameplay in R2 is a step above its predecessor. Gunplay is more fluid and controlled and there is an overall reinfinement of the shooter mechanics to bring the game in line with modern shooter standards. The 4 part regenerating health bar is gone replaced by the now common red blurry ring fully replenshing health system. This also works well into plot, as now that Hale has been infected with the Chimeran virus for so long, it seems only natural that he can now replenish all his health, as opposed to just a quarter. The weapon system is now strictly down to a pair replacing the weapon ring from Fall of Man. Sometimes you will find carefully placed weapons, like the Rossmore before you go near some Chameleons or a LAARK in an area where you face a Titan. Nevertheless the weapons feel fantastic, with added tweaks to some originals from the first game such as the Auger's new heat vision ability aswell as the Rossmore now using a clip of ammo as opposed to single rounds. Insomniac have also thrown in a heap of new weapons which fit well into the Resistance universe and are equally fun to use. Be it the magnum with explosive rounds, the Marksman battle rifle or the Wraith mini-gun, you'll find plenty of new toys to play with as you blast through the single player campaign - which is about 10 hours I might add.



The Chimera feel as bad ass as ever and a bump up in the visual department is welcome. The inclusion of Daedalus - effectively the Chimeran leader - gives a sense of a more organised Chimeran force. While I'm disappointed to see that Angels, Widowmakers and Howlers didn't make it into this game, the challenge the Chimera put to you more than makes up for it. Resistance: Fall of Man was hard, Normal mode felt like Hard mode, and Hard mode was...well....VERY hard. That hasn't changed here, and it's one of the reasons I love the Resistance games. Even on easy mode there were times where I was genuinely challenged, and the Chimera don't make it any easier by attacking strategically in packs and exploiting your own cover when they can. Many reviews I've read have commented on there being too many "cheap deaths", and while I feel that the statement is fair to an extent (I'm looking at you - the 3 Titans in Twin Falls and your surrounded by cars that when they explode they've a 90% chance of killing you section.) this shouldn't be used an excuse for people finding the game too hard. No pussies allowed is how it is. If your going to play R2 you better be freakin' good.

And that's why it's great. Resistance 2 pushes you.... HARD. There are far too many games coming out now that cater for the casual audience and are simply too easy. This only partly extends to the boss fights in R2 which were one of the main advertising points. Let me get one thing clear - there are boss fights, and they are BIG. Some boss fights are disappointingly easy, but some are a genuine challenge. I'll be discussing them in a future post as right now I don't want to talk about spoilers or anything.

Normally this is where the review would end, but guess what??

That's only a THIRD of the whole game!!!!!

Even before I had finished the single player, I had already stabbed at the online Co-op campaign. Initially I was slightly disappointed to find that you couldn't play the story mode co-op style, but once I stared playing the online co-op I almost forgot the game had a single player to begin with. Put simply, the Cooperative is phenomenal, and is unlike anything I have ever played before. In fact, I'll go on the record right now and say it is probably the best online experience I've had to date.

The campaign runs a parallel story to what is going on in the single player. There are several locations such as Chicago, Axbridge, Holar Tower and unlike the single player they make reference to the fight against the Chimera in Europe, from none other than Rachel Parker, the female narrator from the first game. You play as a member of Spectre - like the Sentinels - and fight through a heap load of missions with up to 8 players. Each map is modularised, and each time you play a certain map, the mission objectives will be different and you will experience different sections of the maps in different orders. This adds greatly to the variety and replay value of this mode. Furthermore, at the beginning of each mission you get your intel story - there could be anything up to 12 parts for each map, meaning that at the very minimum you need to play each location that number of times. And with several locations that means a lot of hours spent online.

To add to the diversity the number and types of enemies you face depends on the number of players playing and the various levels of those players. Even after starting the co-op after a lot of people, I have yet to feel like I'm out of my depth in these missions. (Or that could be a testament to just how damn good I am at the game - ignore the vanity). When playing, you have a choice of 3 troop types: Soldier, Special Ops, Medic. The Soldier is your damage sponge, and he can also dish out tonnes of damage. His special ability is to bring up force barriers which can protect the rest of your team members. The Spec Ops can deal out a lot of damage with the Marksman but can't take much, and he is the only team member who can supply the others with ammo. The Medic, uses the Phoenix weapon to sap energy from enemies and then convert it into health for other team members. It is absolutely 100% essential that you have at least one of each type of class and that you all work together to get through this mode. What's more, you gain experience points for everything you do, meaning you're constantly progressing. Levelling up unlocks new weapons, new equipment and new berzerks which all improve the Cooperative experience. It is just amazing how much depth and player support this mode offers.

Finally, we have the competitive online multiplayer. While there are typical modes like Team Deathmatch and so on, it's Skirmish mode you want to look out for. In case you didn't know, Resistance 2 is capable of having up to 60 players on one map at any one time, and Skirmish mode takes full advantage of this. The game splits the 30 Vs 30 teams into 5 man squads, and these squads are then given objectives across the map which will often have one squad vs another competing for the same objective. The maps are so huge that at times you wouldn't realise that there are another couple of dozen players on the map. As the timer counts down, the game then funnels all the squads to a certain location and all hell breaks out. Like Co-op, there is XP to be obtained for kills and so on and all this adds to the development of your character, but XP can only be earned in ranked games.

Presentation: 9.9

The game looks and runs great and is leaps and bounds above the original in every department. The only thing keeping it from a perfect score is minor low-res textures in places and a bit of screen tearing.

Gameplay: 10

Solid through and through and more importantly a hell of a lot of fun. Weapons are creative and it'll be tough to find a favourite. The Chimera put up an ample challenge.

Story: 9.8

A little weaker than the original but not much, and still very good by modern standards.

Design: 10

Bigger is better. Everything about the game is well made and runs great, with no lag whatsoever online either.

Content: 10
If I could give it an 11 I would, a 10 hour single player, unthinkable replay-ability in online coop and competitive it's hard to imagine what else they could've put in and still only charge €50!

Overall: 9.9

Resistance 2 is a top quality production with tonnes of replayability and player support. It successfully continues a gripping plot moulded in the first game and compliments it with impressive performance and gameplay. With multiple difficulties, great trophies and all that XP to earn you really couldn't ask for a more complete package. Kotaku reports it will take on average 420 hours to complete! Let's hope the sequel can somehow do even better....

~The Damo