Resistance 2 Review (mainly about it's story)

Some music for your reading:



Wanted to do my first review on a game I've completed for a few reasons. First, like a book or a movie, it's impossible to review something that you have not yet completed. But that issue feeds into a larger point on game reviews with something that I'd like to do with this site and all subsequent reviews. It takes a long ass time to really complete a game and fully experience it's multiplayer if applicable. With that said, a game, unlike a book or a movie, is more about the process - you are actively engaged and competing against the game in a way that is not applicable to other mediums. I'm not using this as a "GAMESRTHEBEST" argument, rather it's a fact that in about an hour section of game you can almost always have a full impression of what the rest of the game is because the rest of the game is built from the same technology and by the same people as those who created that part of the game you have already played. So while a review may not be complete if its done before you actually complete the game, it can provide a relatively accurate forecast of what the final review product would be. SO with that long winding diatribe out of the way, I think the way the site should do reviews going forward is in installments as we complete the games - the initial review will be a solid first impression of the game and the subsequent updates will provide a more in-depth look at a game than you could likely get from just reading a review that was based on a person who had to rush in order to beat the game before a release date. A game is meant to be played over time and not in a few sittings, so this review structure will accurately reflect that, which is a luxury we are afforded because people who want to use a review to tell them what to purchase will likely just use one of the thousand commercial sites already available.

That was far too long and uninteresting, we need a new song:


Resistance might be the most puzzling game I've ever played. I loved the first game's single player and this plays, more or less, identically. The reticule is the same, most of the guns are the same, but there is something absolutely disconcerting about the single player experience, and I think its our old friend exposition. R1 used still frame black and white shots with narration to advance the story - not the best means of doing so by any means, but it is serviceable and it does tell a story. R2 on the other hand replaces those still frame shots with full motion cutscenes (either in-game or out of game) - so far so good. The problem is that these scenes convey no information at all, and just totally left me bewildered as to what had just happened and what I was doing now. Normally I can live with no exposition, I fucking love Doom and Contra, but when you try to tell a story, forget what you're talking about, and then talk to me as if what you had just said was both coherent and enough to convince me to proceed to the next objective, I immediately begin hating you for insulting my intelligence. I don't need a "why" but if you offer one to me it should explain something rather than spilling soup on itself and passing out in a cocaine induced fury.

The biggest problem with the story is that it wants to be half-life. HL games are great for their subtlety by keeping you in the eyes of its protagonist while slowly feeding you information that is withheld from you from the beginning. R2 witholds information from you, never presents it to you, and is as subtle as a shirtless Pat Burrell. Apparently this super intelligent alien race thing that was on earth came back to earth and made more super intelligent aliens that are also stronger, better organized and have far superior technology to humanity; this game takes place in America 2 years after the aliens invaded. Humanity apparently was slaughtered except enough people exist to form a standing army that is apparently strong enough to stop the invasion except they're not? That's the extent of information I gleaned from the story. The story also pulled a half-life 2 and gave you all powers during the ending sequence, but it was more hilarious than anything at that point after watching the story happen.

I'll calm down now. I actually had fun with the game I just want to punch the story in its stupid face. The competitive multiplayer is fun, I didn't get into Co-op because I don't know enough people with PS3s. The ending was good though, check it out: