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Resistance 2
November 6, 2008 | 8:21 PM PST
Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What the Game's About
Resistance 2 is the direct sequel to the PS3 launch game Resistance: Fall of Man. The game picks up exactly where the last game left off. The hero of the story, Nathan Hale, suppressed the Chimera, but the war is far from over. Your Chimera infection needs to be controlled but there is no time to rest. America is under attack from these evil forces and could fall like the rest of the world. This alternative history in the 1950s sure doesn't look like "Leave it to Beaver."
What's Hot
The game is developed by Insomniac Games, the creator of Ratchet and Clank. With the release of Resistance: Fall of Man, Insomniac is taking some risk and branching out with new genres. The normally lighthearted nature of their past titles was put in a safe, and a darker, more brooding tone was taken with the Resistance series. If you thought if the first game did a good job at creating an atmospheric world, Resistance 2 is going to scare the crap out of you. The first level you play, you have to take down a huge Chimera that resembles a skyscraper more than it does a monster and that sets the mood for the rest of the game. You'll be treated to stunning vistas that could be painting all by themselves, I was personally stunned when Hale escapes a bunker and you see Chimera forces hovering around the Golden Gate Bridge. As surreal as the visual was, it was extremely believable and, frankly, scary in an "OMG I can't look away" kind of way. Much of that has to do with the impressive lighting and shadow work. Things from harsh warehouse type lighting to glowing in an eerie yellow sunset will add some mood to the settings you explore.
The story thus far of the Chimera invasion and the push back from humanity feels very epic in scale. Even if I'm not a fan of the main character, Hale, this alternate history tale is on par with other epic titles such as Gears of War and Halo. You'll get drawn into the drama with each twist and turn of the narrative. There is a real sense of tension you'll feel as you bark orders to your squad and come under heavy fire from intelligent enemies. Walking through deserted neighborhoods will give you a sense of hopelessness as you see a lone swing set rusting amid growing Chimera pods. You cant help but feel melancholy when you walk past a radio that transmits programs of a survivor in Philadelphia who bears his soul while you imagine his time is running out. Sound plays such an important role with this. From the opening scene, you have the heroic, yet haunting music but it is sampled with some dissonant cords on the violin that create tension from the first press of any button. If you haven't figured it out by now, playing Resistance 2 will put you through the emotional wringer.
To give you a fighting chance, the inventive weapons from the first game make a comeback plus a few new arms to lay waste to some of the bigger foes. One of the intriguing new weapons, for example, is the Revolver. Not only are the slugs powerful, you can remotely detonate a small charge on each one of them. So not only do you get six shots per clip but you get six shots plus six tiny explosives to set traps or pack an extra punch with. These new devices come in handy for the many boss fights you'll encounter. Right from the beginning, you'll be trying to down some hearty Chimera and you need to know how to work each weapon and their secondary function to progress.
All this and we haven't even talked about multiplayer yet. There are two fronts to the multiplayer game. Let's tackle the new eight-player co-op mode. In lieu of planting two players in the single player campaign and calling it good, a new way to play co-op was invented. You are in a squad of up to eight people and are dropped in specially designed missions that are based around soldier classes that need to work together to succeed. You gain experience points and doing so will unlock more weapons to use and be more deadly versus the Chimera. You can play this mode either online or offline, which makes this a very fun, exciting and new mode to experience. There is the standard multiplayer mode where it pits two teams against each other, but in Resistance 2, the total number of people in a match can be up to 60. The battles can get very active and lively with that many people firing with reckless abandon. The scope of the multiplayer is sure to extend the life of the game for a long time to come.
What's Not
With Resistance 2 being such a polished game, the technical flaws that pop up are mostly negligible. Once, I encountered some odd clipping issue when I was crouch walking backward in a large pipe from robotic drones. The AI will also seem to target you over your squad mates which is very frustrating. Other than that, I didn't encounter anything else that would mar the game from being technically perfect. Parts that might cause some problems are design choices.
One of those design choices is the checkpoint and health system. The game features some really intelligent AI and because of that, you need to play carefully. If not, you'll meet your demise frequently. That is not the problem, the problem is the checkpoint system makes it too easy to keep trying to fight your way out of a situation rather than think about it strategically. There is a part where you are being swarmed by these zombie-type Chimera and if you aren't quick enough with the trigger, you'll die almost immediately. You do that segment as many times as it takes you to hack your way through. Part of the issue is that Resistance 2 is a linear game. You get to point A to point B to point C and so on. With the large battle being waged, it would have been nice to open up the levels a bit more to give players a grand scale to plan firefights rather than look for visual cues to see where good spots are to shoot behind.
I'm not going to complain about the awesome new co-op feature included with Resistance 2, but I am going to complain about the lack of "traditional co-op." Because you and a friend can't knock out some campaign levels, you must play the designated levels designed for the co-op purpose. I question why that is the case. This game, more than ever, it makes sense for Hale to be fighting alongside other soldiers just like him and it would have extended the lasting appeal of the game that much more.
Final Word
With Resistance 2, Insomniac Games has shown they are a developer that can command any genre they want. Resistance 2 is perfect example of epic storytelling at its finest. It innovates the FPS genre with a unique twist on co-op modes and large scale, and its 60 person fragfests breathe excitement into the title. It does fall into some conventional FPS trappings, like linear level design, but you can't fault the game too much because the entire experience from front to cover is so polished, you can practically see your reflection when you look at it. Resistance 2 is one of the finest titles on the PS3 this year and carries the Resistance with a giant step forward.
What the Game's About
Resistance 2 is the direct sequel to the PS3 launch game Resistance: Fall of Man. The game picks up exactly where the last game left off. The hero of the story, Nathan Hale, suppressed the Chimera, but the war is far from over. Your Chimera infection needs to be controlled but there is no time to rest. America is under attack from these evil forces and could fall like the rest of the world. This alternative history in the 1950s sure doesn't look like "Leave it to Beaver."
What's Hot
The game is developed by Insomniac Games, the creator of Ratchet and Clank. With the release of Resistance: Fall of Man, Insomniac is taking some risk and branching out with new genres. The normally lighthearted nature of their past titles was put in a safe, and a darker, more brooding tone was taken with the Resistance series. If you thought if the first game did a good job at creating an atmospheric world, Resistance 2 is going to scare the crap out of you. The first level you play, you have to take down a huge Chimera that resembles a skyscraper more than it does a monster and that sets the mood for the rest of the game. You'll be treated to stunning vistas that could be painting all by themselves, I was personally stunned when Hale escapes a bunker and you see Chimera forces hovering around the Golden Gate Bridge. As surreal as the visual was, it was extremely believable and, frankly, scary in an "OMG I can't look away" kind of way. Much of that has to do with the impressive lighting and shadow work. Things from harsh warehouse type lighting to glowing in an eerie yellow sunset will add some mood to the settings you explore.
The story thus far of the Chimera invasion and the push back from humanity feels very epic in scale. Even if I'm not a fan of the main character, Hale, this alternate history tale is on par with other epic titles such as Gears of War and Halo. You'll get drawn into the drama with each twist and turn of the narrative. There is a real sense of tension you'll feel as you bark orders to your squad and come under heavy fire from intelligent enemies. Walking through deserted neighborhoods will give you a sense of hopelessness as you see a lone swing set rusting amid growing Chimera pods. You cant help but feel melancholy when you walk past a radio that transmits programs of a survivor in Philadelphia who bears his soul while you imagine his time is running out. Sound plays such an important role with this. From the opening scene, you have the heroic, yet haunting music but it is sampled with some dissonant cords on the violin that create tension from the first press of any button. If you haven't figured it out by now, playing Resistance 2 will put you through the emotional wringer.
To give you a fighting chance, the inventive weapons from the first game make a comeback plus a few new arms to lay waste to some of the bigger foes. One of the intriguing new weapons, for example, is the Revolver. Not only are the slugs powerful, you can remotely detonate a small charge on each one of them. So not only do you get six shots per clip but you get six shots plus six tiny explosives to set traps or pack an extra punch with. These new devices come in handy for the many boss fights you'll encounter. Right from the beginning, you'll be trying to down some hearty Chimera and you need to know how to work each weapon and their secondary function to progress.
All this and we haven't even talked about multiplayer yet. There are two fronts to the multiplayer game. Let's tackle the new eight-player co-op mode. In lieu of planting two players in the single player campaign and calling it good, a new way to play co-op was invented. You are in a squad of up to eight people and are dropped in specially designed missions that are based around soldier classes that need to work together to succeed. You gain experience points and doing so will unlock more weapons to use and be more deadly versus the Chimera. You can play this mode either online or offline, which makes this a very fun, exciting and new mode to experience. There is the standard multiplayer mode where it pits two teams against each other, but in Resistance 2, the total number of people in a match can be up to 60. The battles can get very active and lively with that many people firing with reckless abandon. The scope of the multiplayer is sure to extend the life of the game for a long time to come.
What's Not
With Resistance 2 being such a polished game, the technical flaws that pop up are mostly negligible. Once, I encountered some odd clipping issue when I was crouch walking backward in a large pipe from robotic drones. The AI will also seem to target you over your squad mates which is very frustrating. Other than that, I didn't encounter anything else that would mar the game from being technically perfect. Parts that might cause some problems are design choices.
One of those design choices is the checkpoint and health system. The game features some really intelligent AI and because of that, you need to play carefully. If not, you'll meet your demise frequently. That is not the problem, the problem is the checkpoint system makes it too easy to keep trying to fight your way out of a situation rather than think about it strategically. There is a part where you are being swarmed by these zombie-type Chimera and if you aren't quick enough with the trigger, you'll die almost immediately. You do that segment as many times as it takes you to hack your way through. Part of the issue is that Resistance 2 is a linear game. You get to point A to point B to point C and so on. With the large battle being waged, it would have been nice to open up the levels a bit more to give players a grand scale to plan firefights rather than look for visual cues to see where good spots are to shoot behind.
I'm not going to complain about the awesome new co-op feature included with Resistance 2, but I am going to complain about the lack of "traditional co-op." Because you and a friend can't knock out some campaign levels, you must play the designated levels designed for the co-op purpose. I question why that is the case. This game, more than ever, it makes sense for Hale to be fighting alongside other soldiers just like him and it would have extended the lasting appeal of the game that much more.
Final Word
With Resistance 2, Insomniac Games has shown they are a developer that can command any genre they want. Resistance 2 is perfect example of epic storytelling at its finest. It innovates the FPS genre with a unique twist on co-op modes and large scale, and its 60 person fragfests breathe excitement into the title. It does fall into some conventional FPS trappings, like linear level design, but you can't fault the game too much because the entire experience from front to cover is so polished, you can practically see your reflection when you look at it. Resistance 2 is one of the finest titles on the PS3 this year and carries the Resistance with a giant step forward.
February 8, 2010
