Resistance 2 (2008 Video Game) User Reviews

Good times extravaganza.

[DustinRahksi · 9/10 · 25 February 2013]

Ah, Resistance is the only reason I bought the PS3. I picked up both of the games on the same day, I bought the collectors edition of this. It was worth it for the art book and Chimera figure. Now since I played two before one, I ended up liking the feel of two better. This game is tied with God of War 3 for my favourite PS3 exclusive. I can throughly say this is one of the best FPS games I have ever played, here's my thoughts.

The Game: The story picks up directly after the first game ended, and you are quickly thrown into battle against a Goliath war machine. Well you destroy it with a few rockets, was that a boss or just a side objective, it was pretty lame. The game's controls are now identical to lets say Call of Duty world at war, except the sensitivity on your movements is different. Now you can only carry two weapons, I would have at least liked two primary's and a special, but I can accept just two. Hale now talks more, he literally only said a couple words in the first game. The graphics are great, they don't look realistic, but they do go hand in hand with the atmosphere, the music fits this game very well, it couldn't have been better. I would rate the atmosphere a 10/10 stars. There are quite a few boss battles in this game, only one offers some difficulty, that one being The Swarm. The Kraken was short lived. The Maurader required you to head glitch out of a window, good job so far Insomniac. I must say the Leviathin stage is incredible, how on earth could you beat this thing, simple shoot it in the eye. Some of the more basic enemies offered more of a challenge. This game strives for huge memorable moments and it achieves them all. The auger is the most improved weapon in the game, it is really powerful. You get enough enemy variety, and they all look great, they did a good job. This game is definitely bigger and better than Call of Duty, but don't worry Resistance 3 toned it down a lot. I have some truly great memories with this game, you would have had to have played it when it first came out to get the full effect, nothing beat playing some Resistance 2 on the PS3.

Co-op and multi-player: The online mode was fun for about 5 hours, then I got sick of it. But I must say dozens of players going at each other on a single street made for some chaotic fun. I have to say the co-op is superior to the online mode, it has much more re-playability.

The verdict: This game is a fond memory that I will never forget, I highly recommend it. Note that nostalgia had a impact on my score.

This game could be better.

[dgggt · 7/10 · 8 September 2020]

Game became much better than terrible first part. The protagonist now knows more than 2 words, learned how to run.

Developers added normal cut-scenes, added auto health regeneration, normal shooting mechanic, action scenes, better plot presentation. The picture became more pleasant, more interesting locations.

Game on medium difficulty is too difficult, some enemies could oneshot me, too many enemies at once, little disbalanced. Bad checkpoints, pause doesn't work, on pause I can be killed, and you can't skips the cut scenes.

Time heals all wounds.

[manticore-64682 · 9/10 · 10 March 2024]

I fired up my old PS3 after nearly 2 years of no use, and elected to start with the Resistance trilogy. As mentioned in a previous review, despite some clunk, Fall of Man had aged exceptionally well, so I looked forward to what I remembered being the series black sheep.

Resistance 2 is a divisive beast. While the overall quality of the game was never in question (it was and still is exceptionally well produced), elements of the story and changes to the gameplay were not exactly loved by fans of thd original, including my teenage self. So it was something of a pleasant relief to see that the game was better than I remembered.

Taking control of Hale again, we are now a part of a team stopping the chimera from invading the USA, this time led by insane human/chimera hybrid Daedalus. If there is something I can give this game over the 1st, it's scale. This thing is huge! It genuinely feels like the end of the world. The story works as a great excuse to move us from location to location, and it all feels natural. It is very different in tone from the 1st, but that isn't a bad thing.

What is a bad thing is that the characters are very hit and miss, namely misses. Hale suffers the worst, with his refusal to take his life saving medicine being very flimsy and making him come off as kinda dumb. Daedalus is also a very uninteresting villain, speaking poetically and having a very peculiar design (and an even more peculiar boss fight), though he does work well enough as a threat. Only Doctor Malakov and Joe Cappelli really work as engaging characters, but their screen time is minimal until the final chapters.

The gameplay leads to some phenomenal setpieces and spectacular (if simplistic) boss fights. The issue fans have is that it abandoned the 1st games weapon wheel, limiting you to only 2 weapons at a time, and ridding you of health packs so that you heal over time (the fact that Resistance 3 brought both back makes it more perplexing that this was done). It feels odd in this series, and was completely unnecessary. But in the game as is, it works. It adds to the sense of thrill and scale, even if I do find myself missing the tension of low health and the freedom of weapon choice.

Compared to its former and latter brothers, Resistance 2 falls short, but it is by a hair. It is a damn good game and absolutely worthy of the 8 hours it asks for. If you have the means to, play it as soon as you are able. Game 3 is just around the corner, and the ending of this has me begging for more.

AMAZING

[jadonachar · 10/10 · 6 February 2018]

This game is flawless, brings back so many old memories, one of the best games i ever played, the trilogy of resistance will always have a place in my heart, I do hope they release the 4 soon but it is unlikely.

UMA UMA UMA says this game can be boring and clunky but it's fun that's it nothing else

[its-UMA-UMA-UMA · 6/10 · 11 May 2018]

The first one I just turned off because it's crap.so now number two what's really really Glitchy and clunky. But it does redeem hissef how stupid the physics are in this game if you shoot a alien they go flying off somewhere. But I'll say this play this game on casual is no point of PLAYING on hard. because you rearrange it a lot because enemies walk through walls they can headshot you through walls. But it's just fun when you play easy trust me. UMA UMA UMA out

An OK game, but a very disappointing sequel

[PlayerSS · 5/10 · 28 November 2008]

Two years ago Insomniac made Resistance: Fall of Man. Turns out it was a different kind of breed of FPS for me at least. The only FPS I've ever truly liked. It has a special kind of flair about it that other FPS games don't have in my opinion.

Fast forward 2 years and we have it's sequel. A direct continuation of the story from the first. Succeeding in some areas and a let down in most. The story is told through Nathan Hale's perspective this time instead of a Narrator character. It does give Hale more meaning as a character, but ultimately he's just a clichéd tough ass gung ho soldier type that we've seen so much before already. The story feels a bit hollow.

The shooting isn't bad, but the crosshairs on some of the weapons are not good at all. Particularly the carbine. That's a personal preference of mine, so take it for what you will. Gone is the weapon wheel. You are only allowed to carry two weapons at a time in this game. Where as you could carry all of them in the first at one time.

Some might say this adds strategy to the game. No doubt that it does, but it strips the game of it's fun factor and variety in favor of realism and strategy now. In the first one you could dispatch of the Chimera in many different ways in one battle. Now that is gone. With the lack of the weapon wheel I use the two most convenient weapons and skip all the rest. That's just my preference though. Limitations aren't good. I like to use all the weapons at my leisure. Not have the game developer hold my hand on how to play the game.

Insomniac also makes things predictable even with the first time through as always you'll find a weapon best suited for the upcoming battle. Which if you're like me you'll catch onto this pattern soon and be able to predict when you'll be facing mass amounts of enemies or one big enemy with whatever weapon you find laying at your feet as you progress. Axing the weapon wheel is my biggest disappointment with the game.

Next is the weapons themselves. Insomniac created some unique weapons in the first game. Some old weapons make returns. The new weapons are the Splicer a saw blade shooting gun, Bellock grenade launcher, A wraith mini gun, Revolver, Marksman, Pulse Cannon. Marksman being a hybrid between a assault rifle and a sniper rifle. The focus of most of these new weapons are based in realism. Except for the Splicer. There's that "realism" word again. Which is disappointing. Insomniac being a developer known for creating unique weapons dropped the ball here.

Online stuff is a mixed bag. The new addition is online co-op and is the game's saving grace. You have three classes Soldier, Special Ops, and Medic. Each can be leveled up to 30 with different armor to "buy" for each of them and each takes around 18-20 hours to completely max out with levels. It takes a little longer if you want gray tech which is the equivalent of money to buy all the armor. When everyone clicks as a team then co-op is the best thing about the game. It's addicting with 5 maps and plenty of missions. It's up to 8 players online and 2 players offline. There is no single player co-op. Offline co-op is the same as the online co-op. Just only with two people and the second players stats can't be saved. As many faults as I have with this game the co-op redeems a lot if it.

Competitive is different compared to the first game. First off weapon spawns have been taken out. Now you find weapons on the battlefield from dead players. Second there are berserks which are like Call of Duty's perks. Personally I feel that berserks break the online gameplay. Makes it unfair and doesn't belong in a Resistance game. Aside from maybe 1 exclusive berserk each race is pretty much the same now. Their uniqueness has been stripped.

Competitive only has four modes compared to the first game's six. Meltdown, Breach, Coversion, and Capture the Flag has been taken out. Capture the flag has been replaced with a different mode called Core Control. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Skirmish are the other modes with Skirmish being the other new one. The online lobby from the first game has been changed for the worse. There is no more convenient in game messaging. Now it's all done through the XMB. Not good at all.

The graphics are scale of the game are a definite step up.

It might sound like I loathe this game, but I don't. Like I've already said co-op is where it's at with this game. I've already put close to 30 hours into co-op. Being a huge fan of the first I'm just disappointed that they changed so much.

If this weren't a sequel to Resistance: Fall of Man then it would get an easy 9 out of 10 from me. Looking at it as a sequel though makes it a underwhelming let-down. I had a hard time It doesn't hold that same flair that the first one did. Marred by Insomniac's extreme want for realism. Insomniac went out of there way to copy other flavor of the year games on the market and with that they lost a lot of what made the first Resistance so great and it's identity. It plays just like every other shooter out there now. If you weren't a fan of Resistance 1 then you might like this game. If you're looking for a sequel that holds the same spirit as the first then you might be disappointed, but if you can look past the fact that this is a Resistance sequel then you'll have fun with this.