Review: Resistance 2

Resistance 2 is a first-person shooter for the PlayStation 3. It was developed by Insomniac Games.

A shot from Resistance 2's multiplayer mode.

The Chimera, the mysterious monsters that emerged out of Russia have almost taken over the world, thanks in part to their ability to make new members out of mutated humans. Sergeant Nathan Hale, the protagonist of the first Resistance and one of the few humans to resist the Chimera’s conversion process, has returned to the United States. Hale, along with other survivors of the Chimera’s conversion virus, has to fight off the Chimera invasion and their leader, Daedalus.

Resistance 2 is an ordinary shooter, seven levels that are pretty long. Hale has to go from one beginning of the level to the end, fighting Chimera forces with whatever weapons he finds. Hale can carry two weapons, and three grenades. If Hale dies he respawns at a checkpoint, so the player does not have to backtrack much, and he has unlimited lives.

Weapons are one of the most creative parts of the game. Every weapon has a primary fire and an alternate fire which uses a different type of ammo. For example, the Chimera sniper rifle fires three bullets for primary fire, and shoots an orb that fires electricity for secondary fire; or the human revolver that detonates its bullets for secondary fire.

Regular Chimera soldiers travel in packs and know how to hide behind objects for cover. Taking out only two of them can be challenging, but that is what makes them the most fun to fight. You have to actually tihnk a bit any time you get into a fight, but it never feels unfair. Their only real problem is that soliders do not learn to move when their hiding spot is not protecting them.

The multiplayer was okay when I tried it. There are only four modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Sentinel, which is just Deathmatch with sixty people. Deathmatch was fun, but some of the weapons were too overpowered for multiplayer; specifically the mini-gun with shield attachment is too overpowered. The player starts out with a low rank, which can be improved by playing in ranked matches. Killing people in ranked matches gets the player experiences points. Get enough experience points and the player levels up and gets cool stuff with which they can decorate their character with.

Single player is not fun because, instead of filling the levels with soldiers who can use tactics that make firefights interesting, the game keeps leading Hale into tedious fights with "gimmicky" enemies that result in a lot of cheap deaths. For example, in chapter seven Hale has to fight some fast zombies, disable a few turrets while shooting enemies with a sniper rifle, fights more flying robots, another sniper fight, more flying robots, jump across a river, more fast zombies, a firefight with regular soldiers, shielded robots, giant spider tanks that can only be hurt with rocket launchers, exploding fast zombies, another sniper fight, another firefight with soldiers, more robots, and a boss. The only parts of that level that are fun are the firefights, because those actually require creative thinking; the fast zombies just run straight at you, the sniper fights are like a carnival game, and the robots are just frustrating.

The story for the single-player is as bad as the gameplay. It does not explain what happened between the the end of the first game and the beginning of the second game, Hale's backstory, or the Chimera backstory very well. Parts of the story are told in notes found in the game and conversations that only allude to the back-story. The story's only notable quality is how incredibly bleak the situation is; the Chimera have overrun most of the world and it really looks like humanity is doomed no matter what Hale does.

The setting is supposed to be in the 1950s, but barring a few ham radios in the game and one level that goes through a suburb there is no real sign of this. All the bases, outfits, language look like generic science fiction.

All the characters including Hale are uninteresting, unmemorable space marines without the space part. Voice acting is likewise unremarkable.

The music is enjoyable. Got a nice military beat on most tracks, with lots of drums and trumpets.

The graphics are nice. The levels look great, especially shots of the giant Chimera’s spaceships hanging over Los Angeles. Interiors look detailed when they are not going through boring army bases. The Chimera look freaky and detailed, with muscles all twisted and their shiny faces. The only ones that look bad are the humans, who sometimes look like faces painted on dolls.

Resistance 2 is a decent shooter for the ps3. Single player is subpar but the multiplayer is fun enough, if maybe not worth the sixty dollar price tag alone.