User Review : Resistance 2

Resistance 2 brings the Chimeran war to your living room once again - or does it?

Following up one of the premiere titles of the PS3, Resistance: Fall of Man became a best seller and a Greatest Hit; Resistance 2 brings nothing less to the plate. The game has been improved in every aspect. Although there are a few drawbacks, you will notice the improvements as soon as you step into the game without noticing the minor technical imperfections. Resistance 2 also brings back the story of Hale and the Chimeran forces, but this time they leave us with more questions than before. Even though they answer some of our questions from the previous title, the ending is quite a head-scratcher. Regardless of the the minor problems, Resistance 2 proves to be a step-up to an already great game. Resistance 2 is definitely a must-have exclusive title to Sony's console - possibly a system seller.

Resistance 2 picks up right when Resistance: Fall of Man ended. Hale survived the collapse of the London Chimeran tower as he was then picked up by the Sentinels - a special force of humans enhanced with strains of the Chimeran virus (think Alice from Resident Evil movies). For the sake of not revealing any crucial plot points or giving any spoilers, we will go straight to how the story telling improves or worsens: It worsens. Don't get me wrong, the story follows the first one, and adds more of untapped potential of the Resistance franchise, but the way it's delivered can be a bit convoluted. As you progress through the game, you'll find yourself uncovering a lot of answers to questions left by R:FoM's story. The problem is that as you get more questions answered from the previous game, you are then presented with more questions - possibly more questions than before - that go unanswered. (That of which will make you hungry for a R3 release.)

The story is more wrapped-up around Hale. This time is what Hale is, what he wants to do, what he has become, what his actions towards the war cause. Although you don't become "emotionally attached" with Hale, you live the story through Hale's eyes. His motivations of his actions are what will perhaps confuse the player leaving more questions along the way. This time there is no narration that will connect the plot points for you (which was a bad choice.) The narration on the previous game gave another perspective to the game story telling, tying up all loose ends that might of been left loose.

Thought the story leaves some unclear statements, this issue is a minor subject problem that is overshadowed by basically the rest of the game. The atmosphere of the game maintains the Resistance look and feel. The surreal environments mixed with popular landmarks can be admired in larger scales. Even-though you start out in Iceland, you move around and across the US fighting the war against the Chimeran forces; this gives you a better aspect of the war itself as you move around the invaded sites of the US. Every level in R2 will have you amazed by devastation caused by the Chimeran invasion. This can also be said of the various Chimeran creatures. As you progress through the game you will find yourself against over sized "monsters." Most of the time this monsters take up the full size of the screen; the sense of dimension if definitely nothing less than epic.

In the last game, Hale, along British troops, had intense fights against numerous Hybrids; this time around, the battlefield feels even more intense. At times there will be three times the number of enemies that was on the previous game. The AI is brutal and has been critically enhanced. Chimera will not wait for you in the safety of their cover, they will come towards you and annihilate you in one swing if you are not careful. NPC soldiers will also push through unlike the previous game. This will give you a rush, and with the many difficulty settings you have a great deal of hostile forces to tackle. It is also great to note that the frame rate is solid; you will notice no flaw despite the numerous enemies and foes on the screen.

The controller scheme has been highly improved. Thanks to the standard set on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the controller schemes are much like CoD4. The cool thing on this game is that you can map the button layout just about any way you prefer. You can also split the sprint and crouch settings. This gives you the freedom to do what you please with your control mapping.

Graphics - Although there are some technical and visual glitches, the scope of the game is big enough to overshadow these imperfections. Not often will you spot this little glitches, so there isn't much to complain about. The previous game had the best glass shatters of any game on its time, but this time I feel it fails on delivering good glass graphics. If you have seen the trailer of the "unfinished built" you noticed that Hale was thrown through some glasses, they immediately said that the game was not finished yet and there was more tweaking to do. When I played this level, I noticed no difference when the glass was shattered. That is one of the things that disappointed me a little. Perhaps its because I don't have an HD set. The fire texture is low-res, and some other issues that go unnoticed because of the dimension of the game. Also, when playing online (and most times off) you don't notice the details on the players and enemies. For example, in R:FoM (specially if you T-Bagged the number of Hybrids a achievement told you to,) you would notice the Hybrid's sweat, the eyes and teeth popping out. The texture was phenomenal, but when you do this and get up close to an enemy you will notice no clean texture - specially on the online side of the game. The reason to this is because of the immense scale of the game - at least that's what I believe.

Audio/Sound - The sound within R2 is a big part of the game, much like any other. The outstanding voice acting of Hale and his comrades puts you right in the action. The ambient sounds in the game draw you even closer to the experience of the ongoing war against the Chimeran invading forces. As you make your way through dozens of creatures you'll hear unnatural and unnerving sounds. You will also blow many of them up and you will hear a explosion sound with a slimy shower of blood.

Online/Co-op/Competitive - The online on Resistance 2 is presented in a way that most games are now being presented: the online is seamless on any game screen, right on the main screen you could be in a party or check your status or clan. You can jump on a Co-op match to a Competitive in no time. The eight player Co-op experience is one of the best, and probably the only you will find on the PS3. Its clean, and enjoyable through and through. You have three classes to chose from where you can explore a different point of view behind the story. The point behind that is to broaden the war conflict. It isn't just Hale fighting this war. This leans you towards the fact that you must push your way through as a team. The three classes, Spec-Ops, Soldier, Medic, make you work as a team to survive the many hostile you'll stumble upon. The game will scale depending on the number of people on your party. For example, if you have 2 players you will face a dozen hybrids, but if you have a full party, that dozen will transform into four dozens. So, basically the game is always evolving dynamically.

Obviously Resistance 2 also features a Competitive mode that is incredible. You have your normal deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, capture node modes all with up to 60 players on the game. Its incredible how there is no lag, despite the many things going on the screen. Kudos to Insomniac, but the one that stands out is Skirmish: Skirmish mode is pretty much like co-op, but against other people. Your squad is given a task and adversary squads are given theirs. The end result is little fights going all around the map. This gets you more into the game and is quite fun. Working together will also help.

To tie all ends, Resistance 2 is a must have title for any PS3 owner - specially being a exclusive title. Resistance 2 expands on its predecessor in mostly every single way. The single player follows up a controversial story that ends, well, in a strange ending, the co-op is engaging, and the competitive is fun and, well, competitive. There is lots of replayability with trophies, and other unlouckables. The community support is phenomenal both in-game and on Resistance 2 website. Despite the little issues that go unnoticed because of the game's great scale, Resistance 2 is a excellent title to have have in your collection.