RESISTANCE 2
(Sony, PS3, Mature)
A first-person shooter set in an alternate history in which an alien virus that transforms humans into freakish slaves consumes most of Europe, Resistance was among a very short list of grade-A titles available for the PS3 launch in 2006. It was at the end of that game where we saw Lt. Nathan Hale — the hero who singlehandedly saved London from the alien Chimera — abducted by an unknown military faction.
Resistance 2 picks up some years later, and it turns out Hale isn't the only one to be unaffected by the Chimera's mutating virus. Made up of other similarly immune soldiers, the elite task force known as the Sentinels represents humanity's last hope of repelling the Chimera. With the United States as the battleground, R2's skirmishes start in San Francisco and slowly spread eastward.
One of the complaints about the first Resistance game was that it ramped up too slowly. Indeed, you didn't really feel you were in the middle of a war until the halfway point. R2 quickly addresses that problem: as a taut run-and-gun opener ends with the player pitted against enemy hordes and a mechanical behemoth. From there, R2 straddles the line between evolution and refinement. On one hand, the newer elements of the single-player campaign — enemy types, weapons, allies — don't change the gameplay experience much. It's still a strategic FPS that asks you to read terrain and cannily engage the enemy with hybrid weaponry.
But, on the other hand, what feels most different in the sequel comes from the way the period details are interwoven with tropes from genre movies. Two sequences in particular best illustrate the new experience. In Twin Falls, Idaho, you're cautiously picking through the detritus of darkened homes filled with slimy cocoons. Even as you come across the bodies of a father and son who've presumably killed themselves at the horror of what they've become, the tension of not knowing which pod will burst open with a new enemy delivers a horror vibe more profound than most other games in the category. In Chicago, you'll have to dart around abandoned Studebakers while dodging sniper fire, flying tanks and non-stop explosions. This level does a good job of bringing to life the chaos of urban warfare.
When it comes to online multiplayer, the co-op mode boasts some innovative tweaks to squad-based play that seem to be a nod to the guild structures of MMOs like World of Warcraft or Everquest. Players must choose from a variety of soldier classes, each with its own special ability — including defense, ammo supply, and healing — designed to spur teamwork and maximize effectiveness. Up to eight players can form a team to take on specific challenges — and trust us: Someone will have to play as the medic. A team full of heavy gunners may look cool, but it won’t get very far.
Still, for all its many and fine improvements, the essence of Resistance 2 still feels hard to pin down. Halo has that genocidal/quasi-religious thing going on, and Gears of War exploits the aggro-machismo tough guy vibe. R2 doesn't have an equivalent. Sure, the formerly mute protagonist Nate Hale has now been given a voice, but he — and the franchise — still remain something of a cipher. The subplot about his struggle against succumbing to the Chimeran virus lacks urgency and doesn't really drive gameplay. Here's hoping that the probable sequel nails the characters we'll be steering through life and death. —Evan Narcisse
WHAT WE LIKE:
· The epic scale of the combat
· Tonal shifts keep the experience varied
· More fun, crazy weapons
WHAT WE DON’T LIKE:
· Confusing, cookie-cutter level design in the sci-fi environments
· Plot and characters feel oddly remote
GRADE: B+
