GameSpy Review of Resistance 2

Nathan Hale is back, and he's ready to put some bullets in a few more bugs. Resistance 2 is the sequel to 2006's PS3 Game of the Year, Resistance: Fall of Man. Like its predecessor, Resistance 2 features many of developer Insomniac Games' trademark flourishes, including sophisticated weaponry, an engaging story, and exceptionally robust multiplayer options. In other words, it's one of 2008's best shooters.





I'm Nathan Hale, and I Approve This Message





R2's single player campaign does an effective job taking a darker look at the lore established in the first game. Taking place in an alternate 1953, the insect-like Chimera have suffered setbacks in their attempt to subjugate humanity around the world through viral infection. Nathan Hale, the afflicted protagonist of the first game, has joined up with SRPA, an organization devoted to thwarting the Chimera, and SRPA's Sentinels, an elite squadron of also-infected super soldiers who are embroiled in a fight to protect the remainder of America from any further Chimeran advancements.





It's been two years after Hale defeated the threat in England, and Americans have moved away from the coasts toward the center of the country to huddle in the wake of invasion. The sequel does a great job of explaining many of the mysteries of the first game while ending (quite shockingly) with several questions of its own. In other regards, there are crucial plot points that are baffling and will undoubtedly cause some polarizing opinions about its outcome.








Insomniac's trademark is its weaponry, and Hale is armed to the teeth with plenty of new weapons designed to eradicate anything in his path. Alongside some great improvements to the Bullseye and Auger from R:FoM, R2 introduces the Splicer, a gun that fires ricocheting sawblades, and the Marksman, a rifle that resembles Halo's Battle Rifle and packs a devastating wallop, as well as an electrical pulse that drains enemy health over time. R2 also introduces a vicious new explosive, the Spider Grenade, which spreads out over a large radius and sets everything within range ablaze. It'd be easy to rattle off each of these weapons as simply something cool-sounding, but they're all very effective tools alongside invaluable guns from the first game.





You'll need that weaponry, and then some. Although it's not a particularly long single-player experience, R2 is a hell of a lot tougher than FoM. Part of that is thanks to the game's AI; the Chimera are whip-smart and focus a lot on Hale, and the Sentinel AI, while fairly sentient, lacks the wallop of your guns. Whether it's the nasty new Chameleons, who can take you out in a single swipe, or mobs of Grims, zombie-like Chimera that rush in mass numbers, there's lots of new enemies with razor-sharp AI looking to kick you back to the checkpoint. It can prove frustrating at times, but the XP system ensures that even when you die, and even when you have to replay something, you're being rewarded for your efforts.



There's a palpable and real tension to the proceedings that felt absent from the first game, except for the initial sections in which Hale depended on health packs. At any given point, if you're not careful, you will die quickly. If your tactics aren't sound, you will die repeatedly. You might hit the credits in less than ten hours, but you'll have to work to get to that final performance screen. Fortunately, for each time that R2 spits in your face and laughs at you, it also rewards you with a visually dazzling moment. Even if that moment wants to disembowel you.





Since its introduction, Insomniac has touted R2's attention to scale. In that sense, it's a game that really accomplishes a sense of grandiosity. Graphics fanatics will probably gripe about its textures, which aren't always refined, but there's little argument that for every muddy-looking burned-out car, there's an incredible vista on each stage of the game, from the Icelandic military base where the action starts to the jaw-dropping view at the finale of the Twin Falls, Idaho section.








In this US gone topsy-turvy, America's expansive terrain is exploited to the fullest. Most importantly, since everything in America is bigger, so are R2's bosses, from the oft-touted Leviathan, a creature rivaling King Kong in size, to the vicious Kraken that menaces San Francisco Bay. The only element of these epic boss battles that feels like a letdown is that once you've figured out how to topple these grandiose monstrosities, the fights are easier than the myriad foot soldiers you've had to endure to reach these end battles.





Experience is Everything





The glue that binds R2 together is its experience system. No matter what you're doing, as long as you're successfully connecting bullets with Chimera, you're gaining XP. Once you've cracked the campaign, you'll walk away with a nice chunk of experience to your character, and you'll have probably leveled up a few ranks by then. Whether you want to continue down the road of gaining rank by replaying campaign or jumping into multiplayer is your choice, but based on our play time, the single-player game is really the beginning of a much broader experience.





Multiplayer is really at the root of Resistance 2, and it's the core reason to keep coming back. Much like the first game wore the influences of Half-Life 2 on its sleeve, it's not hard to see the DNA of Call of Duty 4 and Team Fortress 2 here, but it's not a bad thing. Whether it's split into competitive or into campaign, both online games feel rooted in certain core mechanics: the berserk system, and the continuous accrual of XP. Unlike campaign, multiplayer gives real-time feedback on just how much experience you're gaining. With each successful hit, there's an XP counter that pops up above the head of the enemy. The berserk system resembles COD4's Perk system. You'll get a special power activated as you gain kills and XP. Some of them help your teammates, and some are designed to enhance your abilities.



Chimera Raid, Anyone?





Cooperative multiplayer is what really sets R2 apart from many other shooters out there. Like the Chimera foot soldier, it's a hybrid of many elements put together to create a well-oiled machine. It's got all of the class-based frenzy of a WoW raid combined with the rock-paper-scissors dynamic of TF2. It's also one of the most insanely fun times you'll have playing an online shooter on a console this year.





The class balance is imperative to co-op, as it's futile to tote a team of soldiers around, and it's too time-consuming to drag a group of fragile medics through the mean streets of Chicago. Instead, it's important to find the right balance between each class. Soldiers can give and take the most damage, but run out of ammo quickly. Spec Ops are more vulnerable than soldiers, but can convert their XP into ammunition for the other classes. Medic steals health from Chimera and redistributes it to teammates. Thankfully, individual berserks such as damage absorption and a zone for healing all contribute to the communal fight. Co-op is tough, just like campaign, but it works because it takes a fresh approach to its implementation. Because Insomniac has taken proven conventions from other genres, such as MMOs and applied them to an FPS, R2's co-op is one of the year's best multiplayer surprises.





It's Still OK to Drop Earl Grey





That's not to say that competitive multiplayer is chopped liver. Competitive play expands upon the massive 40-player maps from R:FoM to allow up to 60 players to shoot it out. Although it took a few updates for Insomniac to balance the weapons and implement stopgaps for cheaters, it seems that R2's weapons feel right at launch time. Diehards have been complaining a bit online that the Carbine is weaker than before, but the new weapons really do a great job making up for it.








Like co-op, competitive works not only thanks to its massive maps, but also because of its constant feedback. No matter who you're shooting, you're getting XP. The berserks range from being able to see enemy presence to absorbing more damage when activated. Competitive's still about teamwork, so even if it's team deathmatch or Core Control, the game's version of CTF, it's designed to foster camaraderie. Skirmish, which is designed to contain 60 person big team battles, is hinged upon breaking up huge maps into manageable groups with different objectives. All in all, competitive is bigger and better than its predecessor.





Once again, Insomniac promises and it delivers with Resistance 2. Although its campaign has some plot twists that are mind-boggling, and there's no pretense that the ending is a bonafide cliffhanger, it's engaging, even if the narrative fails to explain some of the big story hooks. Competitive multiplayer is bigger and more brutal than its predecessor. Most importantly, co-op multiplayer is an absolute joy to play. Ultimately, however, it's the role-playing elements, such as experience points, that really enrich it. It's an FPS that accomplishes the rare feat of being both rock-hard and rewarding. There's still room for a few surprises, but right now, there aren't many shooters this year that can stand up to Resistance 2.





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