Resistance 2 may now seem like a small blip in the world of gaming after so many years, especially since Insomniac pretty much killed the Resistance franchise with the third installment. However, for those who played Resistance 2, it was a game to be remembered. It was a follow-up for Resistance: Fall of Man, and everything about it was just right. Published in late 2008 by Sony, it became one of my favorite first person shooters ever. Here is why Resistance 2 was one of the best games ever:
Story Mode
The Resistance franchise is based off of the premise that before Hitler could begin taking over Europe in the 1930s and ’40s, a group of aliens known as the Chimera did instead. So instead of sending American troops to fight Hitler, the United States sent troops to help the Europeans battled the Chimera. An American soldier, Nathan Hale, accidentally is infected by the Chimera virus and becomes a complete bad ass. That’s basically the plot of the original. In R2, the Chimera have pretty much taken Europe, and it is a last-ditch effort to try to keep them from completely stomping all over the United States. Nathan Hale is recruited again to help fight the Chimera in a squad called the The Sentinels, a group of other soldiers infected with the same virus. The story follows Nathan as he tries to push back the Chimera in America.
Now doesn’t that sound like fun?
It really was, too. Despite being a bit linear in game play, the game was enjoyable as a stand-alone. I will admit that, like many first person shooter games, the story mode is not that long. I would complain about that, except for the fact that it has BOTH cooperative and competitive (just read on to see what I’m talking about).
Cooperative
A good cooperative mode on a first person shooter is like the holy grail of game elements to me. Cooperative forces people to have FUN and work as a TEAM instead of being jerks. R2 created a class-based system for the cooperative that had amazing balance. Classes included: Solider, Spec-Op, and Medic. Each one had its own purpose. The tank had the heavy weaponry. The Spec-Op did the long distance and sniping dirty work. The Medic supported and healed the team. That’s perfection right there. The cooperative mode could range from two to eight people and allowed people to work as the Spectre Team, a group trying to flush out the Chimera. There were multiple, large maps that rotated the starting point, which made the maps feel more new and interesting, even if you played them a ton (like I did). Sadly, Insomniac never offered map upgrades (shame on them), but I still enjoyed the cooperative so much that I didn’t care.
To me, cooperative is the best way to do online. Aren’t games supposed to be FUN? Why do I need to get worked up over playing a game? Yes, in R2 you did get a score with how many points you got during the match, and it WAS fun to see if you could beat out your teammates, but at the end of the day, everyone has to work together for a goal. There were parts that even when you were high-level, if the team wasn’t gelling, it was over. Plus, when you aren’t worried about shooting other players (as opposed to killing NPCs), you learn to relax and enjoy the game. The amount of inside jokes and craziness that ensued makes me always think fondly of R2.
Sigh. Those were the days!
Competitive
Just when you think the awesomeness of R2 could go no further–just wait–there is more! R2 also has a competitive mode for people who are, well, competitive. This type of game play has never been my cup of tea, but I did enjoy it on R2. It was basically Chimera versus humans, but the cool thing was that you could select the size of the match. You could have a small deathmatch, or you could have up to sixty players in a match. Let me tell you, that could get crazy quickly. Crazy fun, I mean. Apparently, for the time that it came out, it was the most that the PS3 had every hosted. The whole feel of it was much different from a Call of Duty game. It was much faster paced with the extra people, and although it was my least favorite part of the game, I still played because it was kind of fun.
So that’s Resistance 2. A perfect mix of story mode, cooperative, and competitive. I’m not saying that was a perfect game. It has its flaws, but I just can’t seem to understand why no one else has decided to use this type of gaming structure for their first person shooter. Maybe one day it will happen…
***Caution: Just because I love RI and R2 does NOT mean I recommend Resistance 3. That game was a complete mess, and I like to pretend it never happened.***