Resistance 2 Preview

Resistance: Fall of Man emerged in November 2006, as one of the few flagship titles for Sony's PlayStation 3. Its arrival corresponded with the launch of the PS3 and was regarded by many as an above-average action game and a worthy contribution to modern-day gaming. Even if it was characterized as a solid shooter, Resistance did not make an impact we expected and hasn't actually used the true potential of the PS3 hardware. Don't misunderstand, the game did look good, but not half as good as initially promised. It definitely falls behind the visual splendor of Xbox 360 smash hits such as Gears of War.

Still, that did not stop the game for getting mostly positive feedback from the public and journalists alike. Naturally, dev. studio Insomniac Games seized the opportunity to make a follow-up to the well-received action game. The team is revising several design approaches they had in the original and are also adding plenty of fresh elements to the gameplay. Innovations were promised for the multiplayer as well, but we'll get back to those.

Resistance 2 is, like its predecessor, a PS3-exclusive projected for a Fall release. SCEA is putting the game in the same boat with top franchises and upcoming releases such as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. They also expect the game "to go toe-to-toe against" CliffyB's recently announced Xbox 360 action game, Gears of War 2.

There are two parallel storylines in the game. The main single-player campaign delves deeper into the story of Sgt. Nathan Hale, who was the central character in Resistance: Fall of Man. In addition, the co-op features an analogous plot to Nathan's tale, acting as sort of a bridge between the multiplayer and single-player.

As for Nathan, he has a new challenge ahead of him. In Resistance 2, the single-player storyline kicks off almost immediately after the conclusion of the original. Incidentally, the setting of the previous game introduces an alternated version of mankind's history, in which World War II never took place. Instead of fighting each other, humans faced a more serious threat. The first time around, Nathan's job was to defend Britain against a formidable alien force, referred to as the Chimera. Now, the Chimera are launching a full-scale invasion on the territory of the United States, attacking both the east and west coast simultaneously. As soon as Nathan returns to American soil, he meets up with a special defense force called the Sentinels. The Sentinels are, similarly to Nathan, immune to the devastating Chimeran virus.

Unlike the previous game, Resistance 2 deepens the story about Nathan. The focus of the plot is maintained on Nathan's character and his squad-mates, contrary to the original game where we witnessed a third-person narrative from a character named Captain Rachel Parker.

The developers aim to keep most of the core elements of the original, but they also mean to incorporate additional weapons, larger environments (to suit the game's new setting) and so on. Better AI is also on the agenda. This time around, enemy movement and behavior patterns are a lot more complex than before. For instance, enemies close by will perform more sophisticated attacks than those that are farther away. Of course, some enemies are more dangerous than others. Like in the first game, Resistance 2 sees the return of boss fights, except this time some of the bosses stand 150 feet tall and as such will definitely pose an even greater threat, as they destroy everything in their path.

The sequel also brings a new and mysterious third faction. For now they're simply calling them the Cloven. The Cloven were, in fact, featured in the first game as a skin choice in multiplayer, although they were never a part of the main story. According to Insomniac Games, that's about to change. Exactly how this new faction ties into the whole narrative remains to be seen.

The online co-op allows players to get into combat using one of the three available classes - which can be customized to suit the players' preference. There's the special-ops soldier who now wields a more accurate Bullseye rifle with an increased zoom option. Next to that, you can play with the heavy unit class, which uses a powerful chaingun to mow down foes. Each kill charges up a deployable shield, which can effectively protected for the entire squad. Last but not least is the medic class. Medics utilize the so-called Medicator gun. When fired accurately at enemies the Medicator gun charges up and uses that same power to fire healing rays on squad-mates.

Apart from the class-based system, the developers are highlighting randomly generated levels, allowing gamers to play matches differently each time. They also promised online battles that support up to 60 players.

Resistance 2 includes larger environments, increased background detail, improved textures, additional polys on characters and enemies, as well as a wide range of visual perk ups. All of this, according to Insomniac, represents an effort to draw on the true powers of PS3's hardware, which wasn't fully exploited in Fall of Man. The original was in development before the PS3 console launched, but with Resistance 2 the developers claim to have gained more expertise needed to create far more appealing in-game atmosphere.

If we consider everything the developers revealed at this point, it doesn't seem like Resistance 2 is going to revolutionize gaming as we know it. It may even get lost in the shuffle and wind up to be nothing more than another mediocre shooter. (I highly doubt that as Insomniac has shown time and again that they can deliver a FUN gaming experience. And that's key. - 2Lions)

Of course, should Insomniac deliver on its promises, hopefully, a slightly different scenario will unfold. Resistance 2 could actually help improve the reputation of Sony's console in the eyes of console gamers, joining other highly anticipated PS3-exlusives such as Metal Gear Solid 4.