PS3 Update - Resistance 2
Resistance 2
Overall - 7
Art direction/ animation - 9
Story - 6
Controls/ Combat/ Platforming - 8
Replay Value - 7
(Scale 1 - 10)
It's ok
Seriously, I should probably get it out of the way, Resistance represents a genre that I don't care much for - the straight up shooter. In essence you might as well be playing Space Invaders because the only point to this game is mowing down wave after wave of mutual aliens. There is a flimsy wrap around story that is so thinly explored that it's nearly pointless, characters so wooden and interchangeable that the big "shocking" ending barely elicits a shrug and lots and lots and lots and lots of Chimera to shoot. I prefer games that go for a more rounded experience with a strong narrative, characters whose death actually matters to you in some way and a more compelling reason to play than - you get to shoot stuff. So I was never gonna love this game. I didn't love the first one, and I don't love this one.
That said, this is a pretty strong entry in the genre. The original Resistance was widely lauded as the best FPS of the new generation of consoles and frankly the sequel is superior in almost everyway. The graphics stunning (although I did experience some fram rate issues throughout), the boss battles colossal and incredibly fun and the weapons as cool as you could hope for. Controls are rock solid, the difficulty curve perfectly executed, and the levels well designed and paced. It's really solid (if utterly pointless) game play. You just can't fault this game on the basics.
I should mention the online play too, I think I've mentioned before that I don't much care for online play (it's always full of total losers who do nothing but play the game 24 hours a day and delight in wiping out your character the second you poke your newbie head into the play space.) But the cooperative online play that forces you to join a team of up to 8 and work together to accomplish missions is actually alot of fun. I found myself playing for several hours at a time, something which I can not say about any other online play experience I've ever had.
So I guess if you want some mindless gameplay with beautiful graphics, great level design, strong online play, fun weapons and hordes of baddies to use them on, this a good game. But if you are looking for a story that pulls you in and makes you want to find out what happens next.... you will be disappointed.