GameDaily
Swarms of enemies, 60-person multiplayer and eight-player co-op makes Resistance 2 equal one bad momma.
by Chris Buffa on Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Resistance: Fall of Man is a cool first person shooter, but not something we'd purchase a PlayStation 3 for. Its sequel, however, might become that system seller. Resistance 2 (also known as R2) trumps its prequel in every respect, from its frantic 60 person multiplayer matches to its chaotic eight player co-op.
Everything about it is bigger, uglier (and we mean that as a compliment) and more brutal, the type of FPS that'll suck you into its large scale battles, chew you up and leave you desperately running for the next save point. That is, unless something tears you to pieces first.
Resistance 2
After a valiant struggle to stop the Chimera invasion in Europe, mankind must make its last stand on the shores of the United States. In the highly anticipated follow-up to the best-selling PLAYSTATION 3 game, Resistance 2 places players in the heroic role of Sgt. Nathan Hale as he struggles against overwhelming odds to defend mankind from the unstoppable Chimera. While wrestling with this insidious war machine, Hale must also battle the virus raging inside of his own body that threatens to transform him into the very creatures he fights against. Powered by Insomniac Games' third-generation PLAYSTATION 3 technology, Resistance 2 will deliver unprecedented console gaming breakthroughs with a standalone eight-player, class-based online co-op campaign and 60-player online competitive multiplayer. An epic single-player campaign will feature a new weapons arsenal to combat giant boss encounters that increase the scale of the conflict to new heights. And players will enjoy a new level of community support. (Screenshot 1 of 28)
After a valiant struggle to stop the Chimera invasion in Europe, mankind must make its last stand on the shores of the United States. In the highly anticipated follow-up to the best-selling PLAYSTATION 3 game, Resistance 2 places players in the heroic role of Sgt. Nathan Hale as he struggles against overwhelming odds to defend mankind from the unstoppable Chimera. While wrestling with this insidious war machine, Hale must also battle the virus raging inside of his own body that threatens to transform him into the very creatures he fights against. Powered by Insomniac Games' third-generation PLAYSTATION 3 technology, Resistance 2 will deliver unprecedented console gaming breakthroughs with a standalone eight-player, class-based online co-op campaign and 60-player online competitive multiplayer. An epic single-player campaign will feature a new weapons arsenal to combat giant boss encounters that increase the scale of the conflict to new heights. And players will enjoy a new level of community support. (Screenshot 2 of 28)
After a valiant struggle to stop the Chimera invasion in Europe, mankind must make its last stand on the shores of the United States. In the highly anticipated follow-up to the best-selling PLAYSTATION 3 game, Resistance 2 places players in the heroic role of Sgt. Nathan Hale as he struggles against overwhelming odds to defend mankind from the unstoppable Chimera. While wrestling with this insidious war machine, Hale must also battle the virus raging inside of his own body that threatens to transform him into the very creatures he fights against. Powered by Insomniac Games' third-generation PLAYSTATION 3 technology, Resistance 2 will deliver unprecedented console gaming breakthroughs with a standalone eight-player, class-based online co-op campaign and 60-player online competitive multiplayer. An epic single-player campaign will feature a new weapons arsenal to combat giant boss encounters that increase the scale of the conflict to new heights. And players will enjoy a new level of community support. (Screenshot 3 of 28)
After a valiant struggle to stop the Chimera invasion in Europe, mankind must make its last stand on the shores of the United States. In the highly anticipated follow-up to the best-selling PLAYSTATION 3 game, Resistance 2 places players in the heroic role of Sgt. Nathan Hale as he struggles against overwhelming odds to defend mankind from the unstoppable Chimera. While wrestling with this insidious war machine, Hale must also battle the virus raging inside of his own body that threatens to transform him into the very creatures he fights against. Powered by Insomniac Games' third-generation PLAYSTATION 3 technology, Resistance 2 will deliver unprecedented console gaming breakthroughs with a standalone eight-player, class-based online co-op campaign and 60-player online competitive multiplayer. An epic single-player campaign will feature a new weapons arsenal to combat giant boss encounters that increase the scale of the conflict to new heights. And players will enjoy a new level of community support. (Screenshot 4 of 28)
After a valiant struggle to stop the Chimera invasion in Europe, mankind must make its last stand on the shores of the United States. In the highly anticipated follow-up to the best-selling PLAYSTATION 3 game, Resistance 2 places players in the heroic role of Sgt. Nathan Hale as he struggles against overwhelming odds to defend mankind from the unstoppable Chimera. While wrestling with this insidious war machine, Hale must also battle the virus raging inside of his own body that threatens to transform him into the very creatures he fights against. Powered by Insomniac Games' third-generation PLAYSTATION 3 technology, Resistance 2 will deliver unprecedented console gaming breakthroughs with a standalone eight-player, class-based online co-op campaign and 60-player online competitive multiplayer. An epic single-player campaign will feature a new weapons arsenal to combat giant boss encounters that increase the scale of the conflict to new heights. And players will enjoy a new level of community support. (Screenshot 5 of 28)
After a valiant struggle to stop the Chimera invasion in Europe, mankind must make its last stand on the shores of the United States. In the highly anticipated follow-up to the best-selling PLAYSTATION 3 game, Resistance 2 places players in the heroic role of Sgt. Nathan Hale as he struggles against overwhelming odds to defend mankind from the unstoppable Chimera. While wrestling with this insidious war machine, Hale must also battle the virus raging inside of his own body that threatens to transform him into the very creatures he fights against. Powered by Insomniac Games' third-generation PLAYSTATION 3 technology, Resistance 2 will deliver unprecedented console gaming breakthroughs with a standalone eight-player, class-based online co-op campaign and 60-player online competitive multiplayer. An epic single-player campaign will feature a new weapons arsenal to combat giant boss encounters that increase the scale of the conflict to new heights. And players will enjoy a new level of community support. (Screenshot 6 of 28)
After a valiant struggle to stop the Chimera invasion in Europe, mankind must make its last stand on the shores of the United States. In the highly anticipated follow-up to the best-selling PLAYSTATION 3 game, Resistance 2 places players in the heroic role of Sgt. Nathan Hale as he struggles against overwhelming odds to defend mankind from the unstoppable Chimera. While wrestling with this insidious war machine, Hale must also battle the virus raging inside of his own body that threatens to transform him into the very creatures he fights against. Powered by Insomniac Games' third-generation PLAYSTATION 3 technology, Resistance 2 will deliver unprecedented console gaming breakthroughs with a standalone eight-player, class-based online co-op campaign and 60-player online competitive multiplayer. An epic single-player campaign will feature a new weapons arsenal to combat giant boss encounters that increase the scale of the conflict to new heights. And players will enjoy a new level of community support. (Screenshot 7 of 28)
After a valiant struggle to stop the Chimera invasion in Europe, mankind must make its last stand on the shores of the United States. In the highly anticipated follow-up to the best-selling PLAYSTATION 3 game, Resistance 2 places players in the heroic role of Sgt. Nathan Hale as he struggles against overwhelming odds to defend mankind from the unstoppable Chimera. While wrestling with this insidious war machine, Hale must also battle the virus raging inside of his own body that threatens to transform him into the very creatures he fights against. Powered by Insomniac Games' third-generation PLAYSTATION 3 technology, Resistance 2 will deliver unprecedented console gaming breakthroughs with a standalone eight-player, class-based online co-op campaign and 60-player online competitive multiplayer. An epic single-player campaign will feature a new weapons arsenal to combat giant boss encounters that increase the scale of the conflict to new heights. And players will enjoy a new level of community support. (Screenshot 8 of 28)
After a valiant struggle to stop the Chimera invasion in Europe, mankind must make its last stand on the shores of the United States. In the highly anticipated follow-up to the best-selling PLAYSTATION 3 game, Resistance 2 places players in the heroic role of Sgt. Nathan Hale as he struggles against overwhelming odds to defend mankind from the unstoppable Chimera. While wrestling with this insidious war machine, Hale must also battle the virus raging inside of his own body that threatens to transform him into the very creatures he fights against. Powered by Insomniac Games' third-generation PLAYSTATION 3 technology, Resistance 2 will deliver unprecedented console gaming breakthroughs with a standalone eight-player, class-based online co-op campaign and 60-player online competitive multiplayer. An epic single-player campaign will feature a new weapons arsenal to combat giant boss encounters that increase the scale of the conflict to new heights. And players will enjoy a new level of community support. (Screenshot 9 of 28)
After a valiant struggle to stop the Chimera invasion in Europe, mankind must make its last stand on the shores of the United States. In the highly anticipated follow-up to the best-selling PLAYSTATION 3 game, Resistance 2 places players in the heroic role of Sgt. Nathan Hale as he struggles against overwhelming odds to defend mankind from the unstoppable Chimera. While wrestling with this insidious war machine, Hale must also battle the virus raging inside of his own body that threatens to transform him into the very creatures he fights against. Powered by Insomniac Games' third-generation PLAYSTATION 3 technology, Resistance 2 will deliver unprecedented console gaming breakthroughs with a standalone eight-player, class-based online co-op campaign and 60-player online competitive multiplayer. An epic single-player campaign will feature a new weapons arsenal to combat giant boss encounters that increase the scale of the conflict to new heights. And players will enjoy a new level of community support. (Screenshot 10 of 28)
To get us primed for the game's November 4 release (three days before Gears of War 2), Sony invited us to New York City to sample the single player campaign, the co-op mode and those crazy multiplayer battles. Having played some multiplayer this past July, we began our demo with the story campaign. Sony had two levels, Iceland and Orick. The former takes place immediately after the first Resistance. Nathan Hale, the game's protagonist, charges into combat against the Chimera, the aliens invading Earth. He's immediately pelted with gunfire, as swarms of the bipedal creatures flank his position and unload countless rounds of ammunition. He also runs into a goliath, a humongous robotic adversary that's very different from the much shorter enemies populating the original game. It's such an amazing sight that we found ourselves staring at it for several moments, but it's not part of the scenery. This thing is ready to destroy, so we hit back with a well-placed rocket to its back.
After temporarily incapacitating it, we followed a non-player character through some cabins and used various weapons, including a magnum, the Bullseye automatic rifle and the Carbine to kill the smaller Chimera ground forces. Like Call of Duty 4, it's best to stare down the sights (L1) for improved accuracy, and we made sure to blast exploding barrels and cars to take out multiple baddies.
Iceland lasts about 20 minutes and was designed to slowly ease the player into the game. That said, we easily dispatched the goliath with some more rockets and hungered for a bigger challenge. We got just that with the game's next map, which takes place in Orick, California. The Chimera ambush a truck convoy and force Hale and his fellow soldiers into a ground war. As we dodged hundreds of lasers and slaughtered aliens, we admired the game's violence, which allows you to transform Chimera into piles of quivering flesh. We also love the forest environment, which is lush with greenery and plenty of hiding spots for crafty enemies, including these tall and fast moving baddies that use invisibility to get the jump on their foes. A shotgun blast kills them, but they'll make short work of you unless you're ready.
After dying multiple times, we sampled the eight person co-op and came away impressed. While most co-op games allow you to play through the single player mode with friends, Resistance 2's is a whole new campaign with a different story. You also have the option of choosing one of three classes. Soldiers carry the big artillery, medics provide health packs and spec-ops drop ammo. What ensues is a mess of twisted bodies and gunfire, with aliens crowding the screen, bodies hitting the ground and teammates scampering about and performing their jobs, such as medics healing teammates of spec-ops tossing some clips a soldier's way.
From there, we dove into the 60 person multiplayer mode (blue versus red) expecting it to be a mess, but it's anything but. Insomniac divides everyone into squads and gives them specific tasks not unlike Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, so while you can still do your own thing, victory may depend on how fast you complete objectives and work alongside your teammates. One second, a computer controlled general orders you to take the lumberyard. The next, it may instruct you to reinforce another squad. You'll also run into rival squads looking to prevent you from completing objectives, and killing them earns you bonus points and new abilities.
In addition, you can earn perks by collecting Berserker power-ups and fusing them with your weapons. For example, binding invisibility with the Saw Gun enables you to slice through other players unseen, but that barely scratches the surface of the types of new weapons you'll create and advantages you'll receive. Health rings to heal teammates, a damage bonus; you should always mix things together to see what types of cool stuff you can create.
We also toyed with some of the new weapons. The Marksmen is a semi-automatic sniper rifle with a decent scope for distant targets. Then there's the Minigun, a heavy weapon that spits tons of rounds. Like all of Resistance 2's weapons, it features a secondary fire. In this case, pressing R2 lets you set up a tripod. You can't walk around (you can still aim), but you get a shield for protection, so feel free to rain hundreds of bullets on the enemy.
What's especially cool about all of these modes is the ability to earn experience in each of them. Whereas Call of Duty 4 forces you to play multiplayer mode in order to earn new ranks and equipment, it's possible to power up your character while enjoying Resistance 2's single player campaign. That doesn't mean that beating story mode is the key to creating a beefed up war machine (on the contrary), but it's nice to know that what we do in one section of the game has an effect on our character.
Thus far, everything about Resistance 2 is sweet. Insomniac has put a ton of work into making it the big, bad sequel PS3 owners crave, but we still have some unanswered questions. Nathan Hale was infected with a Chimera virus and we're not sure what abilities he gains, but we'll find out when the game ships November 4. Until then, enjoy the screens and count the days until this excellent looking FPS arrives.
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Resistance 2
- GenreFirst Person Shooter
- Release Date11/04/2008
- PublisherSCEA
- DeveloperInsomniac Games
- ESRBM - Mature
