Story-wise, the game just doesn’t seem to give any real emotional draw. Nathan Hale seems distant and his motivations confusing, and the chapter-cutscene-chapter pace that is set seems to be an Insomniac design decision, as it is something I found to be a big weakness of Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction as well. A lot of plot is implied, and many subplots and undertones are explained via Intel scattered throughout the world, but even the Intel is sparse and virtually non-existent in the latter levels. None of the characters have depth, and while the back story seems to carry a lot of weight, it is only roughly explained, most of what has happened or is happening is merely implied, and the actions that you carry out throughout the game have no impact on the real world. You accomplishments do not make the situation seem any more or less dire, and the fact that the cutscenes seem to have just a bit more polish than the actual gameplay, it almost makes the world you see while playing rougher around the edges.

I am a big fan of the single player experience, which Resistance 2 seems to falter at significantly. It’s relatively fun, but has almost no replay value besides trophy gathering, and many levels seem more like a chore than an interesting puzzle or challenge. The story feels rushed, and the motivations and plot continuity issues between the characters are a bit jarring at points. There are some pretty amazing moments, even in the gameplay, when you will take on giant creatures and you truly feel the scale of the environments. But it is so limited, and hampered by fairly irritating enemies, that the game often just feels like a spray-and-pray experience, scattered with a bit of cover. It is a gorgeous game with a lot of great atmosphere, but it doesn’t draw you into the experience and it just feels very plain.

This says nothing about the multiplayer aspect of the game, however, because it seems to be like night and day in terms of the fun factor. The best parts of the game, such as the environment design, art style and control system remain in tact, but the multiplayer (especially cooperative campaign) combines a much more open level design with the adding dynamic of team-based missions and a true feeling of accomplishment with each mission that is completed. That seems to be the big change that could have benefited the single player modes, that goal-oriented gameplay that is more common in a war-time shooter. The multiplayer game is also enhanced by a leveling system that allows you to utilize your teammates to increase your own stats through every mission. You can choose from three classes; a Soldier (heavy weapons), a Special Ops (long range weapons) and a Medic (healing). All the classes are fun, and like any good MMO instance, it requires a mix of all of them to successfully overwhelm the enemy attacks.

The statistics that the online gathers and the ease of joining servers and parties shows off one of the strongest online games on the PS3, on par if not a bit more robust than LittleBigPlanet. Voice chat works well and is practically necessary for organizing and calling out for medics. The level design is much more engaging, and although the enemies can be a bit overwhelming and the waves a bit tedious, it works very well and encourages you to continue on through various different worlds. You gather experience, you gain weapons, you gain levels, and are given a very obvious progression that is satisfying and a lot of fun. The competitive modes are a bit more standard thoroughfare, with capture the flag, deathmatch and other versus play making the rounds. It still actually is rather satisfying, and having a human opponent and teammates make the panic inducing Chimera rushes a bit more grounded and strategic.

While I was a bit disappointed in the single player campaign, the multiplayer more than makes up for it beating out any expectations I had for the game. Considering that online shooters don’t tend to grab my attention for very long, I spent a lot of time this week leveling up my medic, increasing my weapons and going through more missions with people through the PSN, as well as friends. The campaign isn’t exactly a complete letdown, either, but it doesn’t differ far from the original game besides a step up in the presentation and the change in how you hold and switch weaponry. There’s still a lot to do with this world, and we can hope that Insomniac will continue to stimulate the online play with additional content, and build on what works from that to make the story (which will likely continue) merge better with strong gameplay.

So what you’re really trying to say is…
Resistance 2 isn’t quite as epic or satisfying in the single player campaign as hoped, but it still delivers a strong cinematic experience. Multiplayer is a lot of fun, and one of the strongest online experiences you can have on the PS3 right now. It is absolutely worth getting just for the longevity you’ll get from that.

Resistance 2 is available for the PS3 for $59.99 (CDN/USD). Game rented. Roughly 10-12 hours played in campaign, 10-15 hours played online. The game is developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony.

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