Gaminez: Resistance 2

Resistance 2

Monday, 5 September 2011 08:50 Posted by desmondykw

A greater plot with better in-game features than the previous, presenting Resistance 2! It is a sequel from the ending of Resistance: Fall of man. A followed-up story after Nathan Hale destroyed the Central Chimera Tower back in 'Fall of man'. It was not over, the Chimera's were still carrying on their operations, war was still going on, basically nothing major has changed. In Resistance 2 opening, Hale was seen mindlessly wandering in the snow until SRPA soldiers spotted him, and thus brought him in. Resistance 2, released in 2008, 2 years after the release of 'Fall of man'. Expect more alien action, new weapons etc. to be revealed as you advanced through the game. Several new features were added in (weapons etc.), old features were taken out (disappearance of health bars etc.), providing a newer experience for players to play and adapt in. Nonetheless, gameplay was still as great or i would say even better than its predecessor. The 2nd Chimera apocalypse was just about to begin......

Gamefaqs rating : 8.4/10
My rating : 8.5/10
Estimated playtime : 12-16 hours

Goods : More towards reality (limit on number of weapons acquired etc.), Clearer explanation of story (more cut-scenes, lesser talking etc.), better graphics, new weapons, challenging AIs, new online modes (Skirmish etc.)

Bads : Disappearance of health bars, Pretty long loading times, Online play allows 60 players in 1 match (Can be real hectic).

-As usual, lets begin with gameplay. Resistance 2 gameplay, i would say is as great as its predecessor. Tense shooting action as you exchange gunfire with incoming aliens, constanly prompting you to look out for the surroundings, keeping your mind in the game. Its definitely not a walk in the park, as AI aliens are as dilligent as they were in the 1st game (hiding behind blocks for cover etc.). Along with the increased number of alien types, the difficulty is raised. Different types of aliens would approach/attack you in different ways, which kinds of forces you to explore different ways to deal with the various incomings attacks. Thats a good thing in my opinion, which increases the intensity and excitement in the Single-player Campaign rather than just mindlessly mass firing of bullets.

-Resistance also moves from a previously empowered version to more of a balanced kind of game. This could be noticed from the limit they put on the number of weapons Hale is allowed to carried.

>Previously in 'Fall of man', Hale could carry as many guns/nades as possible.

>In Resistance 2, its limited, seems to me thats Insomniac's moving to being more realistic. Hale could now, only be able to carry at most 2 guns. Number of nades carriable is also limited.

People might dislike this change they made, however i am fine with it. In 'Fall of man', Hale is always seen moving around with just a primary weapon. Yeah, its fine that he may pull out another primary weapon from his coat. But it just seems weird, when he is able to pull out a Rocket Launcher, followed by a Carbine, and then a Sniping Rifle, along with a large number of grenades picked up along the way. Hes able to fit all these weapons in his coat/pockets, without even affecting his action and movement!?!? Unbelievable. Anyway, its fine if you might disagree with what i say, since it was just purely my opinion.

-Story-wise, its great! Solid plot, easy to understand, anyone should be able to grasp onto the storyline pretty fast once you adapts to the situation. Explanation of story is clear i would say, several cutscenes instead of words, are shown to visualise the situation to you. Yeah, i find this to be more effective in conveying the story to the players. Others might find words to be more effective. Well....self-opinions again.

-An improvement in graphics, higher definition which appeals more to players.

>In 'Fall of man', everything is mostly grey, feel with dust, destroyed and abandoned.

>In Resistance 2, i find the atmosphere slightly 'brighter'. I would mean air being less dusty and it feels like early in the morning.

But dont worry guys, the creepy feeling, the fear of Chimera's hunting you down is still there. Keep your heads up, never let your guard down!

-A major factor of shooting games, the weapons! Weapons that Resistance 2 have to offer are pretty unique and awesome. Examples would be a Magnum that shoots explosive shots. 'Marksman' that is similar to a sniper rifle that shoots multiple shots at a time. Grenades with special effects like releasing a flame web to eliminate hordes of aliens etc. All-time favourites like the Carbine and Bulleyes are still available to be used.

-Boss fights are epic! Let me do a comparison between dealing with bosses from both 'Fall of man' and Resistance 2.

>In 'Fall of man', most bosses are to be killed by just pure spraying of guns/launchers.

>In Resistance 2, its a more balanced fight between various bosses. Some bosses required to be killed by guns spraying. Others could be killed only by following specific instructions and do as you are being instructed.

-Moving on to multiplayer online, there are new modes like the Cooperative and Skirmish etc. Cooperative mode allows up to 8 players in a map. Objectives are to be met while facing hordes of aliens in the process. Skirmish mode allows up to 60 players in a map. Players are split up into groups of 5 to complete assigned objectives (Defending bases, hunting down targets etc.). Players can choose to be either on the human side or the Chimera side.

Basic online modes like Team deathmatch and Capturing bases are still available. Overall i would say Insomniac provides one hell of a great online feature. No lag, creative modes along with the ranking system!

-Now i will talk about the certain features that i am not really happy about it. The disappearance of health bars.

>In 'Fall of man', there are 4 yellow bars at the bottom left of the screen, indicating your health. Health capsules can be found all over the areas in order to recover lost health.

>In Resistance 2, health bars for Single-player Campaign are gone. This in turn, makes this game feels like COD, where hp will be recovered a while later when your out of enemies range.

Nonetheless, i still prefer the presence of health bars, which makes the game more challenging as full health can only be recovered once you find the capsules.

*There will be health bars for Online play, but they would not recover once depleted.

-Long loading times. I would not complain about long loading time for online since that depends on the number of players in the room. However, for offline play, loading times were still long. Yeah, i understand its because the scale is large thats why its takes time. But still i hope they could make loading faster.

Concluding everything i have said, this game does not have any obvious flaws. They are just minor factors that affect me. Overall, this game is great, definitely a good choice for any gamers looking for a good shooter. I would say Resistance 2 is slightly better than 'Fall of man', given the improved features.

Anyways, Resistance 3 is coming out..........like TOMORROW!!!! You can bet i am gonna get it as long as the price is resonable. So Yeah, thats all for Resistance 2!

Have a nice day!