Resistance 2™

The rise of man

You're the one thing that stands between the monstrous Chimera and the destruction of mankind in Resistance 2.

A first person shooter set in an alternate reality 1953 America, Resistance 2 pitches you deep into a war-torn world of chaos. Humanity is desperately fighting for survival against a brutal and fearsome race of creatures known as the Chimera - and in a war such as this one, there's very little time for pleasantries.

Piece de Resistance

It's only fitting that the Insomniac Games title throws you into the breach from the very beginning, not settling for an opening level where you can safely stroll around. Instead you face a massive battle where your first task is to take a shot at a giant mechanical beast called a Goliath. Better pick up that anti-armour rocket launcher and get to it...

As a sequel to the successful PS3 launch title, Resistance 2 delivers with polished presentation, impressive set pieces and heavy action sequences that will stay long in memory. And it's all presented with a flourish of high quality visuals that are vibrant, varied and fantastically animated.

The title's magnitude and visual prowess are expressed perfectly during an early sequence when you finally get to see the size and effect of the Chimera invasion, with a beautiful and terrifying view of a city under siege and ablaze from mother ships and dozens of smaller craft flying around a bronzed sky. It's a sight that is breathtaking in its enormity and scale. Make no mistake, R2 is a very impressive piece of work.

Fear is not the only enemy

The gameplay pleasantly mixes the familiar with ground-breaking elements to please seasoned campaigners and newcomers alike. Each of the levels are subdivided into checkpoints, where you'll be tasked with objectives such as fighting off Chimera waves, operating machinery or even clearing a landing zone of enemies from an in-flight aircraft's exit bay.

For most of the part, Resistance 2 is all about giving you a filmic experience, leading you with clear aims and throwing lots of different types of beasts at you within an atmosphere that ranges from edgily perilous to that of sheer terror, thanks to some excellent pacing and well built tension. You'll never forget your first encounter with the near invisible Chameleon Chimera, which hunt you through a forest teeming with noise and vegetation.

Even sections where you battle against the more typical drone style of Chimera are entertaining due to their range of tactics and behaviour that sees them shooting nearby grenades you've fired at them, diving out of the way of projectiles, running away if they feel outmatched, taking flanking positions to flush you out or even just running at you full tilt as a shock strategy.

Brothers and sisters in arms

Complimenting its story mode, Resistance 2 also packs a massive range of multiplayer features that will keep you battling for a long time to come. Firstly is the co-operative campaign, for up to eight players online, which pits you in a variety of scenarios with specific missions to carry out. Each participant chooses a class, such as a medic or special ops, which endows you with relevant abilities (called Berserks), inspiring teamwork and cooperation.

If you're more prone to taking on your friends rather than working with them, competitive mode supports a colossal 60 player maximum online, split into squads. Despite its sheer size, online battles are kept focused through their concentration on dynamic objectives to complete while you blast your rivals.

When you consider the statistics tracking (logging your playing style, accomplishments and other elements) that ties in with accompanying site myresistance.net, R2 provides a masterfully compulsive, large scale and utterly addictive online experience.

It's useless to resist

Nathan Hale's returns to PlayStation 3 - and his fight against the Chimera for the second time is just as powerful and enjoyable as the first. Take to arms and join the most potent Resistance yet.