At this point, there's no use making sense of Resistance 2's story (or the prequel's). This is a post World War II first person shooter set in the U.S., except it's hard imagining we're in the '50s with aliens (not little green men) running around, and even stranger with the advanced extraterrestrial weapons and futuristic airships. However, Resistance 2 has big ass monsters and a crazy 60-person multiplayer mode. Ridiculous story? Tell that to the 300 foot tall Leviathan.
Resistance 2's developer, Insomniac Games, does an excellent job throwing us into tense situations. Throughout our brief journey, we wandered through dark and alien infested apartment buildings, battled a giant monster in Chicago and narrowly avoided becoming a snack for a vicious Fury, an underwater creature that makes a beeline for hapless swimmers. Bullets and lasers fly in all directions, barrels explode and enormous creatures blot out the sun. This is why we own PlayStation 3s.
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)
Weapons play a huge role in the game. The mini gun spits hundreds of rounds a minute and its secondary fire drops a shield to hide behind. Then there's the Splicer, a gun that shoots razor sharp blades that chops enemies into bloody pieces. We're also huge fans of the Auger, which lets us target and shoot through walls. Of course, there's nothing wrong with the series' trusty Carbine, which features automatic fire and a grenade launcher. At the same time, none of these weapons are as cool as the ones found in Insomniac's Ratchet & Clank franchise. You also get to use them fairly early, which somewhat ruins the chance of surprise later on.
Single player is great, but it has a few annoying problems starting with Nathan Hale, the game's hero. Not only does he look plain, but the guy has almost no personality. He's just a grunt, and that makes it difficult identifying with him or feeling for his cause. Because of that glaring flaw, Resistance 2 is a first person shooter without soul. We love playing, but don't feel any desire to rescue America from alien evil. We just love shooting things.
In addition, some of these battles fail to live up to the hype. For months, we salivated at the thought of fighting the aforementioned Leviathan. This beautifully designed monster slowly lumbers through Chicago punching buildings and swatting helicopters. Visually, it's one of the greatest levels we've seen, but it's far from being an intense and challenging battle.
Enemies also have a nasty habit of zeroing in on us instead of our computer-controlled teammates. Several times, we watched as aliens walked past our comrades and attacked us en masse. That leads to another issue, Resistance 2 is a "learn by dying" video game. We figured out how to defeat enemies not by exploiting their weaknesses but dying multiple times until we made the necessary adjustments. On a lesser extent, Resistance 2's single player campaign lacks a co-op mode. Seeing as how you play alongside non-player characters most of the time, this makes no sense.
There is, however, a separate co-op mode where up to eight players work as a team to blast through Chimera, and the three human classes (Special Ops, Medic and Soldier) have different abilities that benefit each other. We're much more impressed, however, with the 60 person multiplayer mode. As crazy as it sounds, Insomniac achieved order in chaos by splitting each team into mini squads and giving them specific objectives. So, for example, you may have to capture a diner, but the opposing team needs to defend it. You can still run off and kill whomever you want, but it's best to work together.
All of this, including the single player campaign, ties into a perks system that enables you to level up your character by playing all three modes. Not only does it encourage you to play through Resistance 2 (thus getting your monies worth), but it's also fun to slowly transform this average dude into a bloodthirsty killing machine, thanks to Berserkers, special abilities that help you on the battlefield. Considering thousands of other games intend to do the same thing, it's best you level up, lest you get your ass handed to you by stronger players.
Much has been made about Resistance 2's detailed graphics, and for the most part, the game looks amazing. However, the famous shots of the Leviathan and the commercial that proudly displays the gorgeous San Francisco scene do not represent what the entire game looks like. It's pretty overall, but that high level of visual quality doesn't appear in every level, and the fire and explosion effects aren't that impressive.
The same can be said of the audio. All of the weapons sound great, but the uninteresting soundtrack failed to get us pumped. There's also this weird hiccup where some characters sound like they're speaking through a radio, despite being a foot away. Furthermore, turning around often lowers the volume of whomever is speaking. Failing to hear instructions on how to kill an enemy or which path to take may kill you.
Because of the multiplayer modes, as well as the enjoyable single player campaign, Resistance 2 is best described as a great first person shooter and a worthy sequel. Insomniac missed an opportunity to give Nathan Hale a pulse, and for multiplatform gamers, Co-op is nowhere near as cool as Gears of War 2's Horde mode, but don't let this game's shortcomings prevent you from experiencing one of the year's best shooters.
Reader Comments (17)
horrid review gamedaily. You truly fail
There both good. I prefer Gears but resistance 2 is still one of the greatest games Ive ever played and they shouldn't be compared there to different types of games and there both great
This is the first time I've ever seen a review end with a comparison comment on 2 completely different games...
One more thing...I just got a look at a TV trailer for R2, and Hale looks BADASS! Burn in they abyss, GameDaily!
That score's good, but GameDaily is...how do I say this?...a bit retarded. I haven't actually played Resistance 2 yet, but judging by how much they underrated MGS4, it's a good bet they're not being fair to R2. I think I'll check GameSpot or wait for my GameInformer to come in the mail in two weeks. Incidentally, why are they comparing R2 to GoW2? I think a game should be compared to games of that genre on it's own system.
maybe, maybe not but I bet that the ending to GOW2, the sales and score will be better than Resistance which for a PS3 launch title failed
Watch him say the ending to Gears of War 2 is the best ending ever.
*typos before sorry-and before I forget lets take look back at sales for both Gears and Resistance...Gears outsold Resistance by many, not bashing Resistance but compared to Gears it isnt to engaging
and before I forget lets take look back at sales for both Gears and Resistance...Gears outsold Resistance by many, not bashing Resistance but compared to Gears it to engaging
yes pay money for xbox live yeah sucks but its worth 50 bucks a year compared to teh free crappy Sony on-line which may not be so free come in an x amount of time..you get what you pay for...