REVIEW: Resistance 2

Developer: Insomniac | Publisher: Sony | Format: PS3

REVIEWER: Brendan Tinnelly || Resistance 2 is the sequel to PS3 launch title Resistance: The Fall of Man. The original, exclusive to Sony’s console, was a refreshing, inventive shooter that combined impressive visuals, art-direction, and game design. However, in an environment dominated by Halo and Gears of War, Resistance’s quirky weapon set and sleepy English setting didn’t quite find the audience or critical acclaim it deserved.

Resistance 2 then, in true sequel form, aims to address the short-comings of its predecessor, and to do so in a bigger! louder! more! way. No longer under pressure to meet a launch deadline, Insomniac have had the time and resources to fully realise their vision.

Have they succeeded? Resistance 2 is certainly bigger and louder. The story has metamorphosed into a sprawling B-movie homage complete with Russian mad-scientists, genetic experiments, zombies and crack commando squads. Street battles in quaint British market towns have given way to gloriously realised full-scale invasions of 1950s San Francisco, to the backdrop of a ruined Golden Gate bridge. The campaign whisks you from American suburbia to dense forests and beyond in an offering of impressive variety.

The enemy too has received an upgrade, both in variety and size. Taking obvious cues from Gears of War, the player is confronted with giant, lumbering adversaries that require nerves of steel and a steady hand.
Sadly, bigger doesn’t necessarily translate as better. Indeed, too many of the new enemy types are a pale shadow of those of the first instalment. Some are inexplicably designed – who thought a stampeding, invisible monster who kills with a single hit was a good idea? – while others simply lack any ounce of style or charm.

The story too, falters. While the plot itself is enjoyable enough hokum, its presentation leaves one wanting. In-game, things are heavy-handily scripted, and the cut scenes that book-end each chapter offer little in the way of exposition. The story may bring you to myriad locations, but there has been no real impetus to explain why you’re there.

So, colour me disappointed. When Resistance launched alongside the PS3, it showed a lot of personality and a lot of invention. Sadly, the intervening time has seen the humdrum banality of other prominent shooters invade Insomniac, and a lot of that personality and invention has fell by the wayside.