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Cajun Chicken

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CRank: 6Score: 174360

User Review : Resistance 2

Ups
  • The most innovative weapons from a FPS except from Halo are back and improved.{Nathan's narrative. Chimera fleshed out more...then some.{.Best cliffhanger in a game series for a while.
Downs
  • Less battlefields, no mines, no vehicle sections{No co-op campaign, but would make sense to have one.{Graphics haven't advanced enough since R1, not enough innovation for an IG title

I finally got around to completing Resistance 2's campaign. Will undoubtedly contain SPOILERS.

Wow. Resistance 2's credits are running at the background as I type this.
I know that Resistance 2 has been getting average scores left right and centre, but I feel all these low scores are undeserved. I think Resistance 2 is under fire for the fact it does nothing DIFFERENT, which is really the only reason Insomniac are under fire, because Insomniac usually create some great innovation and gameplay mechanics and in not doing so, (or at least not significently) they have let down the usually pleased critics.

Resistance 2 is certainly one word; Epic.
After the cinematic right from the get go, you are shot, shot and shot over and over again. This makes it difficult to procede, seeing you get shot everywhere. It was like this in the first game, but being almost trod on or shot by a giant tripodean robot is a not what you'd expect when about 10 minutes through the game, but I personally loved the sudden difficulty change.

From then, I found the game slowed down once inside the base where you meet up with the games main NPCs, set a good time later. Until I got back outside and saw a great vista of Chicago being attacked by diamond shaped Chimera ships, (which will go next to Uncharted's waterfall for the most visually attractive scene reveal in a PS3 game, imo)
Running back into the base crumbling apart felt like Insomniac were somewhat influenced by COD4s first level on the ship, which I could only see as flattery from Insomniac.
The first boss was easy and all relied on timing due to the cannon and I have never had so much tension waiting to see a little red blip light up before.

By a few levels later, I had decided on one thing; Insomniac find it hard to illustrate reality. As purely brilliant and top of the game Insomniac are with cartoon based worlds; Insomniac struggle to create a convincing real world, I personally don't think its because of the engine, its because Insomniac haven't had the time to polish up the game as much as over developers have had.
Any level in Chimerian territory was brilliant, full of odd angled shapes and blue, yellowish hue glows and I would of preferred the majority of the games to be set on Chimera ships. I can only think this is because of Insomniac having Ratchet and Clank's designs for practice.

The weapons are equally entertaining, but I think that like Halo1, Resistance 1 defined the weapons you would play the series for, I'm talking about the amazing Bullseye and the Auger, as good as the other weapons introduced are, I don't think that the new additions will be a staple of the Resistance franchise from this point.
However, the Bullseye is improved by actually highlighting the target when the secondary shot is fired, the Auger is also improved due to the pretty snazzy X-Ray system, instead of the cursor just going red. I loved seeing the green hued animations of Chimera falling down due to being riddled with projectiles both these allowed much more strategical ways of shooting the enemies.

Most of the levels see Nathan's team slowly reclaiming areas of america or destroying Chimeran technology and have very COD-like gameplay and a base set in what reminded me of the location of Halflife's 'Black Mesa'.
However Resistance 2 has significently less huge battlegrounds unlike the first game, but a few can be found, especially in the Chicago chapter. The mines from the previous game are also absent, but are replaced with very irritating to destroy drones with blue hexagonal shields, the most welcome new addition to the Chimerean onslaught is the Grims, which essentially slap you to death and later...explode, like the headless bombers from the Serious Sam games. Insomniac has basically plonked a weapon in Resistance 2 which no doubt is Ratchet and Clank 2's Chopper weapon.
The boss'es are not as epic as I expected, but use the firing of weapons at the right time, much like QTEs in God of War.

The character of Nathan isn't explored much more, except in a intel document found in the game, which generally makes him sound like the average marine stereotype.
If Resistance 1 was about Nathan surving the virus, Resistance 2 is about Nathan losing battle to the virus and attempting keeping his humanity and not converting. Winning one battle in place of another.
Also, the Chimera are a bit more fleshed out than just being a 'virus'.

The final level of the game is a massive level set on a mothership with a bomb (Mmhmhmh...the RESoNatOR) to be self destructed to take down, which by far is the best level in the game, which reminded me of MDK, but I personally see no reason why most of Resistance 3 couldn't be set in this fantastic alien environment.

All I will say is; Once again, Insomniac have come up with a brilliant cliffhanger, much like in Ratchet and Clank: Future and Quest For Booty, Insomniac have just become the masters of cliffhangers and you will have to indeed wait to see what the next big installment in the franchise brings. It also explains the title menu screen.

And yes, the multiplayer modes are also greatly entertaining.
So Resistance 2 was a controversial blend between Halo, Halflife2, CoD4 and of course, Resistance. But I think it worked, just could of had better level design, perhaps outback America wasn't the right choice for everyone.

Score
7.5
Graphics
70% of the core gameplay of Resistance 2 is here. Vehicle sections have been removed and large battlefields are rare to come by. Most of the arsenal brings no keepers to the future of Resistance. The new recharging health mechanic works and its absence is actually explained in the game.
8.8
Sound
Insomniac need more practice at refining realistic visuals. I personally think Insomniac's finest is the visuals of the Ratchet and Clank series. Levels on board Chimeran ships are excellent, the last level pulls out all the stops and out-does Halo's Forerunner technology design.
9.5
Gameplay
Perfect all the favourite sounds from Resistance 1 and more, gunfire everywhere and a symphony symbolising the downfall of America and Man. On the penultimate level, watch out for a radio on a bridge where the host bids farewell to his life and humanity, its very poetic.
9.0
Fun Factor
Nothing more is satifying than taking down a chimera through a wall and seeing a green hued figure die. If you like trigger-happy FPS games that want you dead from start to end, you'll like this. Put mark down to an 8 if you get irritated by dying regulary.
9.5
Online
A solid, entertaning deathmatch with the likes of UTIII and a great spin on the normal online Co-Op mode in games.
Overall
8.8
baum5614d ago

However I don't agree that the arsenal brings no keepers. I think the arsenal is actually better than the last game's, dropping the gimmicky watermellon launcher and adding some more realistic weapons while still maintaining the feel that they have some sort of chimeran technology integrated into them.

I did miss vehicle sections, they could have added chimeran ship transportation as another section in the game instead of just a lame ass short cinematic. I also hated how there were too few cinematic moments, nothing on the life of Nathan Hale and his memories and his family and the rest of the sentinels' too, and the direction the game took. Seriously, looking for Intel to know what the F*** is happening? F*** you, Insomniac.

Insomniac either needed more time, or should have focused on single player only and afterwards released Co-op and/or competitive. Hell, they should be sold separately. That way the single player story, campaign and cinematics (or lack thereof) wouldn't have been so disappointing.

This is NOT 2008's "Orange Box", because the Orange Box contains mostly quality games, and that happened because they were all made separately. Insomniac tried to cram as much content as they could in a single disc in just two years and failed by delivering a jack of all trades. I would rather buy Bioshock(SP), Warhawk(competitive MP) and an MMO(Co op) separately than a half assed game all in once.

The game was a lot of fun anyway and a great improvement in tech, gameplay and content over the first game. It just happens that the story is not as good, cinematic or long as the first game's was. I'd give it an 8.7.

mll095612d ago

How can you say that you would rather spend like £100 on buying separate games, and then give it 8.7?

8.7 is classed as "impressive".

baum5612d ago (Edited 5612d ago )

First of all, the Orange Box is a whole lot cheaper than a hundred pounds and it's a lot of games in one. Second, 8.7 is "very good" in my opinion, and in the end it is subjective. Third, R2 is a very good game, but not as good as everyone thought it would be considering all it offered.

Great gameplay, very good graphics, impressive environments, varied enemies, awesome boss fights, innovative co-op mode, pretty short campaign and disappointing story elements... Yeah, 8.7 seems about right.

TheColbertinator5611d ago

8.8 sounds generous to me.I would go with a 7.8

170°

Ranking the Resistance Games From Worst To Best

While it's been on ice for as long as it was around, the Resistance franchise has no shortage of quality.

Read Full Story >>
culturedvultures.com
Knushwood Butt742d ago

My take:

Single player
3, 2, 1

Multiplayer
3, 1, 2

Overall
3, 2, 1

I beat the lengthy single player in 1 multiple times and spent hours in the online too. Plus 1 featured my home town! Special mention to the audio design in 1: playing that with surround headphones blew me away.

Note: I have the platinum for Resistance 2.

Eidolon740d ago

Resistance 1 MP will always be my favorite. Call it nostalgia or whatever, but that was my jam, felt more balance, natural.

Miraak82 740d ago

i have the platinium too , 10k kills in online ranked matches was no joke . Took me 3-4 months straight grinding but it was fun . To put it in perspective you only got like 25 kills per match if you were 1st place every match that's at Least 400 matches in 1st

Sciurus_vulgaris742d ago

I only played the 3 main Resistance titles. My ranking would be;
1. Resistance 3
2. Resistance: Fall of Man
3. Resistance 2

GoodGuy09742d ago

Man I loved 3's campaign. Another gem stuck on the ps3 and who knows if insomniac will go back to the franchise.

fr0sty741d ago

Resistance, Warhawk, MAG, Motorstorm, there's so many first party gems on PS3 that Sony has just left to die...

P_Bomb741d ago

Never played Burning Skies but I still have Retribution.

monkey602741d ago

Burning Skies was about 3 hours long and rather inconsequential. You haven't missed anything

porkChop741d ago

Honestly, Burning Skies was shit. There's no two ways about it. At first I thought it looked terrible, then I second guessed myself. Big mistake.

darthv72740d ago

Retribution has this really cool feature where you could use a PS3 to link a controller to it and play. So if you had a 2000 or 3000 hooked to a tv, you can use a real controller. All of this predates the PSP Go's ability to sync a sixaxis to it via bluetooth.

Yui_Suzumiya741d ago

Resistance 3 was shocking and brilliant. Loved it.

Show all comments (40)
200°

Why Resistance Was So Incredible

While the studio is best known for Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet, and Clank, and Spider-Man back on the PS3 the studio broke from creating platformers and made one of the highest regarded science-fiction first-person shooters of all time. This was Resistance and it remains one of Sony's most acclaimed and dormant franchises.

Read Full Story >>
noobfeed.com
Jin_Sakai1097d ago

Really wish Insomniac would bring back Resistance!

darthv721097d ago

Agreed. Until they do a new entry, I'd love to get the two portable games remade into console versions. Maybe in a nice compilation with the mainline titles.

monkey6021096d ago

Burning Skies wasn't a great game.
It was only a couple of hours long and there was nothing memorable about it.

I'd love a new entry

darthv721096d ago

^monkey, hence why it should be remade into a better version.

SullysCigar1097d ago

Resistance 3's campaign was gorgeous for the time - and an awesome game to boot.

monkey6021096d ago

I remember being put off by it because McHale wasn't the MC but it turned out to be my favourite campaign

CBaoth1096d ago

by and large though the Resistance IP featured many protagonists (4 altogether I think if you include the portables). One of the reasons I enjoyed it was not being shackled to individual story arcs. Very rare for a major franchise.

Army_of_Darkness1096d ago

My favorite resistance game as well! It seriously had creepy, scary a$$ moments bro! It made me want an action horror game from insomniac!

Mr_cheese1096d ago

Remember playing this through online co op with the move controller and gun attachment! What a game!

BlackIceJoe1097d ago

I've said in the past I'd like to see this series return and have it take place years later, like in the present.

I'll give you an example if I'm not mistaken the last game ended in the 50s, so if it was to take place some time in the 2020s you'd have an opportunity to see how the world changed after the fall of Chimera and all the new technology that came out of that war.

Just like in our universe we all know WW2 happened, but we never experienced it, so if the next Resistance game takes place years later so too would people in that universe know a war look place against the Chimera, they just wouldn't know what it really was like.

So getting to see how that universe would respond to the Chimera reemerging would be interesting.

Imagine a little kid talking with his grandfather about the war and the kid just thinks it was just a made up bed time horror story and what was said was worse than what really took place, but now that the Chimera come back the kid will find out why years later the old timer adults were still waiting for the Chimera to return.

I think there is great potential for this series still and I really believe the best way forward for Resistance is make it have a time jump too.

So hopefully this series will return.

Dragonopolis1096d ago

Great Idea. I'd play that version.

Resistance was a great game and of all the remasters.... I would play a great remastered version of resistance series as well

waverider1096d ago

I was blown away when i played for the first time Resistance on the PS3. Great Game. Also liked very much an played for hundred of hours the Co-op of R2. The SP campaign of R3 is also excelent. I really hope that Sony and Insomniac annouced the Remaster of the Series and a new chapter. They got story to do that.

Jambola121096d ago

Resistance 2 was one of the first few games i played on ps3 and I loved it, would definitely finish that again :D

Chevalier1096d ago

I loved all the Resistance games. But part 2 online was amazing. The Marksmen for the Spec Ops type class when it was fully upgraded was such an amazing weapon. Oh man I wish they release all the games again and let us play part 2 online again.

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340°

Insomniac should bring back Resistance now that it's part of Sony Worldwide Studios

With Insomniac Games now under the Sony Worldwide Studios umbrella, the studio could bring a new Resistance game to life.

Read Full Story >>
gamerevolution.com
PhoenixUp1726d ago

Insomniac didn’t feel all enthusiastic at continuing the series after the third installment

I don’t see how them getting bought out would encourage them to make a fourth game when they could work on another new IP or a sequel to Ratchet & Clank or Spider-Man.

Plus the third game ended on a deserved bittersweet note with a sense of finality against the Chimera. It’d be soul crushing even for this series to make all those sacrifices go to waste

purple1011726d ago

Nah. Just a new killzone from guerilla games please.

Let insomniac do a platform game..

Gaming1011726d ago

Thing is, there can be multiple teams doing multiple projects. One Insomniac team can do Spiderman, another can do Ratchet and Clank, another can do Resistance. It just depends on whether Sony is willing to grow the team enough and pay for more offices to do more work.

Fluttershy771726d ago

@Gaming101 multiple teams like Bioware doing multiple projects

NiteX1726d ago

The last Killzone game was lame. And there's no doubt Horizon 2 is there next game.

Gaming1011726d ago

Fluttershy, Insomniac isn't Bioware, dummy.
There are plenty of publishers with multiple teams running multiple projects. Sony has several studios with numerous ongoing projects and teams. I don't know why this is such a difficult concept for plebs to grasp but the disagrees keep coming in lol

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1726d ago
PhoenixUp1726d ago

I prefer another Killzone over another Resistance

Brave_Losers_Unite1726d ago

I dont. I love killing Chimera

UltraNova1726d ago

I want a semi-open world(think GoW) greedy, violent and super heavy atmosphere Killzone with KZ2's controls/feel with the best weapon audio possible and full on stealth elements for additional choice of approach.

As for Resistance (boy do I love this IP) I think Insomniac could do this game justice if they rebooted or continued the story with a different character. I just crave for Insomniac's weapon design ingenuity! As for multiplayer, they can go all out on a BR mode with some asymmetric PvPvE elements thrown in there like huge Chimera beasts dropping into the map at some random point and the team who kills it gets legendary loot.
Man just thinking about a modern Resistance game with a proper AAA BR made by Insomniac makes me salivate.

PhoenixUp1726d ago

I love doing so too, but there has to be context behind it.

Killing the Helghast for example is entertaining gameplay wise as much as it is narrative wise because of all the lore behind it all.

The Chimera were said to have been defeated for good after killing of converting 90% of humanity’s population as well dramatically changing earth’s climate. If after all that the Chimera came back even stronger than ever, then would be far too bleak for there to ever be any reasonable chance of defeating them for good.

Movefasta19931726d ago

Killzone has one game that's very good(2), resistance has three.

PhoenixUp1726d ago

Dafuq? Killzone 3 was received just as well as Resistance 3 was.

And Killzone: Shadow Fall sold more than the last mainline Resistance game, showing that there’s more interest in the former series than the latter

CanadianTurtle1725d ago

KillZone Shadowfall was a borefest. GG has wrote themselves into a hole with the story for that game. I don't know how they're going to fix that.

Resistance has much better gameplay, world building, story, enemy designs, weapon variety, campaigns, etc. In terms of campaigns, Resistance is leagues better. But in terms of online multiplayer, I'd give that trophy to KZ.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 1725d ago
-Foxtrot1726d ago

I'd like to see them reboot it and go back to what Fall of Man was like

They could always do a reboot retelling like they've already done with Ratchet and Clank then do something completely new with a sequel

I'd love if they could restructure Nathan Hale and make him a better all rounded, developed character spanning the entire trilogy. At the end of the second one he could be transported to their world or something

Resistance 3 had a nice ending that closed the book on everything so I wouldn't want them to spoilt that, too many games come back and do the whole "Oh that great evil you got rid of? Yeah it's back"

Yobo51726d ago (Edited 1726d ago )

I'm still amazed at how little recognition is given to the first resistance from "fans" esp the narration of RFOM during custscenes. Cornelia Hayes did an excellent job as Rachel Parker she gave the world an authentic sense of atmospheric urgency and dread that I haven't seen matched since Halo, It was even more engrossing at times then gears. The multiplater on Resitance 2 though just looked like saints row 3 version of gears...
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Knushwood Butt1726d ago

The sound design in RFOM blew me away. Playing that with surround sound headphones was and probably still is awesome.

1726d ago
janus2251726d ago

Ah RFOM! The multiplayer was SO smooth at the time. Even with a 350 mo- 500 mo connection. That was my first online experience back then!

Knushwood Butt1726d ago

Agree. I think the series has run its course. I'd rather see a great new IP.

badz1491726d ago (Edited 1726d ago )

they can start with an easy one. Resistance Trilogy Remaster for PS4 and includes trophy patch for RFoM. there is so much win in THAT. BUT...ONLY if they let us have back Resistance 2 MP...THE WHOLE THING!

that would be one hell of a housewarming gift for the fans!

Inzo1725d ago

"It’d be soul crushing even for this series to make all those sacrifices go to waste"

I have always felt that there is room for more. For instance the Chimera could have sent out a distress signal just before the tower/ship blew up to the real threat to humanity or what if thanks to the virus Nathan Hale somehow survived?

darthv721725d ago

There are five games in the Resistance series. I think they could at least take the two portable ones and give them a proper big screen remake, like the GoW portables on the PS3 got.

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 1725d ago
ABizzel11726d ago

No. let them work on what they want. I loved Resistance, but Insomniac proved they can work on New Ip and are hitting their Prime with the release of Spiderman, so let them work on what they want, and have a smaller 3rd party remake or remaster Resistance, and see if there's an audience for it.

Fist4achin1725d ago

Agreed. A new IP would be welcome. They've proven they can make a solid FPS, so let's make a new one!

xX-oldboy-Xx1726d ago (Edited 1726d ago )

Insomniac should do whatever they want, they deserve every freedom to deliver the game they want.

SyntheticForm1726d ago

This.

When developers do what they want their products turn out better and we all benefit. When they're ready to do Resistance they'll do Resistance.

TheUndertaker851726d ago

That's why they were independent and claimed to want that independence. If they wanted that freedom they should've stuck to their guns. Not took a payoff.

SyntheticForm1726d ago (Edited 1726d ago )

You're making it sound nefarious when this is hardly the case. There's a mutual trust here.

They know they'll be free to do what they want under Sony. Total autonomy - of course not, but Sony will likely approve and back anything they do.

This isn't to say Sony won't have any say - they'll likely encourage the immediate continuation of Spider-Man, but I doubt they'll mind and the fans sure won't.

Overall Insomniac is happy and trust Sony, or they wouldn't have taken the deal.

xX-oldboy-Xx1726d ago

TheUndertaker85 - Haha, c'mon mate - Sony will let them do what they want. This acquisition makes sense on every level.

There needs to be mutual respect between publisher and developer.

They'll find that respect at WWS, this is good for Insomniac. WWS has a huge talent pool and they share knowledge and resources amongst each other.

Very excited to see what Insomniac can achieve under WWS.

TheUndertaker851726d ago

https://www.polygon.com/201...

“ "It's hard for people in any industry to accept change, especially when you've been focused on doing things one way for so long," said Ted Price, Insomniac's president and CEO, in a recent interview with Polygon. "But as an industry, we're being forced to become comfortable [with], or at least accept, that change will be a constant for us."”

“ According to Price, Insomniac's independence is crucial to its ability to continually adapt to changing circumstances and try new things in all areas of game development. "We've always loved the opportunity to experiment with ... early on, game design models; now, delivery mechanisms and new platforms," he explained. And Insomniac's corporate culture ensures its employees are always challenged to "think creatively about not just game design, but how [they're] delivering [their] games and what audiences [they're] addressing with [their] games."”

“ Insomniac attempted to combine its history of creating hardcore games with a new platform, Facebook, when it began developing Outernauts in 2010. Price explained that the studio wanted to try a new business model but still deliver an experience that core gamers would appreciate. The company turned to Electronic Arts for help with the first half of that equation, and it didn't work out because, as Price put it, "the monetization and viral features that we had put in turned off a lot of the audience that we were hoping to attract."”

“ "I'm very proud of what we did with both those games because we took creative risks," he said. "And I think as a developer, taking creative risks is something you have to continue to do, even if people are telling you that all they want is the same recycled stuff over and over again."”

Movefasta19931725d ago

I think he means that sony shouldn't be too involved when they are making a game, just trust them to deliver if they want to make a new ip

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1725d ago
Imalwaysright1726d ago

Fingers crossed for a RFoM remaster.

xX-oldboy-Xx1726d ago

Fair chance any remaster would be done by BluePoint. They've done amazing work this gen.

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