Resistance 2 is a woeful follow-up to a fantastic game.
Cons: Ludicrous trial and error gameplay, way too many different enemy types, stupid modern FPS mechanics have been implemented, enemy A.I. uses cheap tactics that result in many unfair deaths, co-op is a butchered disaster, the story is horrible.
Resistance: Fall of Man is what I consider to be a modern classic. It wasn't afraid to try something different, to drop what's considered "realistic" and just have fun with itself. Resistance 2, however, is the complete opposite. In what seems like a pathetic effort to cater to the brain dead Call of Duty audience, Insomniac has possibly made one of the most shameful follow-ups to any game in recent years.
Once again you take control of Nathan Hale in humanity's struggle against the Chimera invasion. Unlike Fall of Man in which Hale almost never spoke, he never shuts his freaking trap in this sequel. I wouldn't mind it so much if wasn't for the god-awful voice acting. Hale speaks with the most aggravating "gruff solider"voice I've ever heard. As for the rest of the cast, they're all equally as bad. Except that scientist character, whose fake-sounding Russian accent is hilarious.
The story is hardly there. While the first game's story wasn't remarkable, at least I could follow it to some degree. In Resistance 2, I got lost as soon as it started. I didn't know who was who or what the hell was going on, at which point I just gave up and tried to enjoy the gameplay itself. Oh dear god, the gameplay...
The first thing that caught me off-guard was the fact that you're restricted to only two weapons at a time. This strikes me as odd since Insomniac went out of their way to create all of these awesome guns, yet you can only choose two of them at any given situation, limiting the appeal to having access to such a varied arsenal. This is highly frustrating since you can almost never predict what situation will arise as you progress, and you'll most likely end up bringing the wrong weapons with you to a fight.
But the guns themselves are still fantastic, if not better than Fall of Man's. You have a few returning arms, such as the Carbine, Bullseye, and Auger (my favorite). But a ton of new ones have been added, such as a battle/sniper rifle hybrid, a revolver that shoots remote-detonated bullets, a minigun that fires 1200 rounds a minute, and beyond. It's too bad that these guns never last long as their ammo supply is severely limited, at least on the normal difficulty.
Progressing through the campaign is annoying busywork. There are so many different strains of Chimera that get introduced in each level and you're forced to constantly change battle strategies in order to deal with all of them. And only having two weapons at a time makes this even more aggravating. Another problem that's present is the fact that a lot of the enemies can kill you in one hit, forcing you to replay large portions of a level over again. It seems that the developers forgot that this a first-person shooter, not a cheap survival horror game. Even the basic Chimera foot soldiers can screw you over by Zerg rushing the hell out of you, while of course ignoring your squad mates completely. This inconsistent A.I., combined with cheap deaths, makes Resistance 2 way harder than it needs to be.
Co-op splitscreen is back, but it's anything like the first game's. Instead of playing alongside Hale through the main storyline, you're made to run through a series of unrelated missions fighting hordes of enemies. Before starting, you pick a class and upgrade as you progress. This class-based system is just unnecessary. If I wanted to play Team Fortress 2, I'd play Team Fortress 2. Oh, and the second player can't simply connect a controller and join the game. No, they have to SIGN IN WITH ANOTHER ACCOUNT ON YOUR PS3 AND THEN JOIN IN. Are you serious?! I had to create another PSN account just so a friend of mine could play co-op with me. For the most part, the actual co-op gameplay was okay, but it doesn't compare to Fall of Man's.
There are a couple of positive points about Resistance 2 worth mentioning, however. The graphics are a big improvement from Fall of Man. Everything is rich and colorful, although there seems to be some kind of sheen that covers everything, a kind of vibrant polish, which I find slightly obnoxious. The levels are also more varied this time around. Another good thing about the game are the boss fights, which are epic, but the most spectacular one of them all is little more than an interactive cutscene.
In the end, Resistance 2 is a woeful follow-up to a fantastic game. With such annoying and tedious gameplay, horrendous A.I., unfair difficulty, forgettable co-op, and a ton of other problems, this game marks a low point for Insomniac. One can only hope that Resistance 3 brings back the humble and thoughtful nature that the first game possessed.