Resistance 2 (PS3) Review

Posted by Mark Salmela on 11.18.2008

Is Nathan Hale humanities last hope? Find out inside.



Title: Resistance 2
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Insomniac Games
Genre: First Person Shooter
Players: 1-60
Rated: M for Mature


With Killzone 2 being delayed until February 2009 Resistance 2 is Sony’s sole first person shooter this holiday season. Resistance: Fall of Man is widely accepted as the best PlayStation 3 launch title *also the best selling launch title*, so it’s no surprise that Insomniac made a sequel. Resistance 2 picks up right where Resistance 1 left off, with Nathan Hale coming back to America to fight off the invading Chimera. Sony has put a lot on the back of Insomniac to carry the Sony brand this holiday season *in addition to Little Big Planet*, so let’s find out how Resistance 2 holds up.



Graphics


It’s good to see that the Generic Russian scientist has a sense of style.


While Resistance 2 isn’t exactly a graphical powerhouse, it does have one thing going in its favor, and that’s the numbers game. Resistance 2 truly makes you feel as if you’re outnumbered, because I swear at times there has got to be over 100 enemies on the screen all looking to take your head off. Sure there are graphical and visual glitches, but overall I am impressed with the way Insomniac managed to fill the screen with enemies to give that epic feel to every battle. The environments themselves are hit and miss, with California for example looking amazing *the Chimeran ships flying over the Golden Gate Bridge is a sight to behold*, and with Iowa looking less than impressive *the background looks flat out terrible during the boss battle, what were they thinking*. I also have a problem with the water looking like some type of gelatin *or as some people have labeled the water “Hot Lava”* but I digress. The game is no Metal Gear Solid 4 *there isn’t any game on the market right now that looks as good as MGS4*, but Resistance 2 manages to hold its own against the competition.



Gameplay


Stay out of my personal bubble you potential sex offender!


Resistance 2 is almost 3 separate games packed into one. There’s a standard first person shooter campaign mode staring Nathan Hale as he tries to fight off the invading Chimeran forces, there’s an 8 player co-operative mode, and finally a 60 person versus multiplayer. I’m going to tackle each of these modes separately. I will state now since I don’t want to repeat myself that the game has terrific weapons *favorites such as the bullseye and the auger return* and the controls handle just fine for a first person shooter.

The single player campaign mode is your traditional first person shooter. You take the role of Nathan Hale and battle across different locations in North America as you slowly succumb to the Chimeran virus while trying to save humanity. I must admit that I was rather bored by Resistance 1’s single player, and thankfully Insomniac has addressed this and made some much needed improvements to Resistance 2. First off, the health bar is gone, and has been replaced with a regenerating health bar similar to Call of Duty 4. You also can only carry around 2 weapons at a time *as well as grenades*, instead of being able to carry as many weapons as you want. Both are great additions to the single player, and really help to even out the experience. The single player mode lasts around 8 hours, which has become the standard for a first person shooter now days. The boss fights are epic, and the only real problem that I have with the single player is the water serpents. You can see these little bastards crawling on the surface of the water, but no matter what you do they are invincible, and if you land in the water they instantly kill you. I know it’s better than just having Hale drown every time you fall into the water, but Insomniac surely could have thought of something more creative than invincible serpents swimming in the water. Also, be aware that the single player campaign cannot be played cooperatively like Resistance 1’s.

The 60 person multiplayer versus mode doesn’t quite live up to my expectations. While you are broken up into teams of 8 and are given specific objectives to complete as well as rival squads to fight, it usually boils down to a massive firefight in specific locations where you spend about half of the game waiting to respawn because you’re dead. That’s not to say that it never happened in Resistance 1’s versus mode, but Resistance 1 had a lot more strategy in how you wanted to fight. Resistance 2 just seems too chaotic. There are people who really enjoy the multiplayer mode of Resistance 2, but I’m not one of them.

The best mode of Resistance 2 is easily the online co-op mode. Up to 8 people can join up and choose between 3 different classes *soldier, spec-ops, and medic* and take on co-op specific missions which are incredibly fun. The soldier is your typical ass-kicker, the medic has a ray gun with infinite ammo that refills his own meter when hitting enemies and he posses the ability to replenish the health bars of the other classes *you don’t have regenerating health in co-op*, and the spec-ops can deploy a shield as well as throw out extra ammo to the rest of the group. All 3 classes are extremely fun to play as and when you get a team of guys working together the co-op is amazing. The best part is that there are dozens of missions that will last PS3 owners a long time to complete. There is a lot of replayability in the co-op mode and it’s definitely the mode that will keep me coming back to Resistance 2 for a long time.



Sound


I swear I went to high school with the one on the right.


The voice acting in Resistance 2 isn’t bad, but it isn’t great either. Hale and his supporting crew all do a decent job of conveying the story and it’s nothing that will offend anyone. The guns all sound pretty good and I must admit the Chimera sound legitimately scary at times. I’m not afraid to admit that there are points where I was constantly looking over my shoulders as I could hear the screams of the Chimera. Overall a solid, but not quite awesome performance in the sound department.



Lasting Appeal


I soooo want this on a postcard…


As I said before the co-op mode is what will keep me coming back for more in Resistance 2. The single player mode is great and I’m sure there’s someone out there who will enjoy the versus multiplayer but I cannot stress enough how cool the co-op mode is in Resistance 2. I have yet to beat all of the co-op missions but that is due to the sheer number of them and I can report with confidence that all of the missions are fun to play. There are frequent boss battles in the co-op to break up the gameplay *although not quite as epic battles as the single player* and there are more enemies to kill in co-op than you can possibly imagine. If you have an internet connection and a PS3 you owe it to yourself to pick up Resistance 2, just be aware that offline modes are limited to 2 players and the single player campaign is short *and cannot be done co-operatively*.



Fun Factor


Wasted potential.


Most people have been down on Resistance 2’s single player campaign, and I don’t quite understand why. Sure it’s no Call of Duty 4, but in my opinion it’s just as good as Halo 3’s single player campaign, and that was held in high regards. In my opinion the weakest link of Resistance 2 is the 60 person online multiplayer. Sure, you’re technically working in groups of 8 and are supposed to complete specific objectives, but most of the time every room boils down to a massive free for all where everyone meets in the same location and everyone is constantly dying. It’s fun for about 10 minutes, but then you’ll want to play something else.

Resistance 1 had a terrific multiplayer. The levels were all tremendously well done and provided for a great time. I just didn’t have the same amount of fun while playing Resistance 2’s multiplayer, as most of the maps are a mess in my opinion and are just there and provide nothing special. Chicago for example is a terrible map and I think there is a ton of wasted potential.

So what it boils down for me is whether or not you enjoyed Resistance 1’s single player and your ability to play co-op online. If you have an internet connection you need to pick up Resistance 2, as the co-op is amazing. The versus mode isn’t exactly my cup of tea but the single player and especially the co-op mode make Resistance 2 a solid recommendation in my book.



The 411


Hey, at least I’m not aiming for the other hole.


Resistance 2 is quite the worthy successor to Resistance 1. While I have issues with the 60 person versus multiplayer the co-op mode more than makes up for it. The single player is also a lot of fun, and is a vast improvement upon the original. Almost all of the awesome weapons from Resistance 1 return, and Insomniac has even added a few more awesome weapons for players to mess around with *a pistol that has exploding bullets? Yes please*. Resistance 2 has a lot to offer, and PlayStation 3 owners with an internet connection should not hesitate to pick this one up.

Graphics	8.5	The number of enemies on screen is absolutely incredible. Sadly there are minor problems that hold it back.
Gameplay	9.5	The single player campaign is a lot of fun and the co-op mode is tremendous. The versus mode is a step back from Resistance 1.
Sound	8.0	The Chimera are actually scary.
Lasting Appeal	9.5	If you have an internet connection than watch out, you are going to be playing this game for a long time.
Fun Factor	9.0	There is a lot of fun to be had no matter which mode you play. I strongly recommend the co-op mode though.
Overall	9.1   [  Amazing ]

Screenshots
All 5 Resistance 2 Screenshots