The original Resistance title took place in an alternative universe where experiments behind the Iron Curtain (Russia) got out of control. It is a case of genetic experiments gone horribly wrong. The result was a mutated species that goes under the collective name of the Chimera. If there were merely a case of flesh-eating zombie-like creatures roaming aimlessly about, the infection might have been eradicated. But there is alien technology in play here. And the Chimera don’t just conquer, they convert. They have processing plants where prisoners are taken, infected with the virus and join their ranks.

Sound like a viral nightmare? It is. In the first game from Insomniac Studios, the Chimera spread across Europe. The last bastion was England. The U.S. – either in denial, or with ulterior motives – waited until the last minute to send in aid, but it was too little much too late. England fell. But that was not the focal point of the story; the focal point was Army Lt. Nathan Hale, who was on patrol when swarms of the plague bugs overwhelmed his party, entering his body. He was infected, but if he was changing, it was extremely slowly. The infection gave him a few benefits in combat, but not many. He would have to rely on an assortment of weapons, from mankind’s arsenal as well as extremely effective and much more creative alien weapons, as well as his brains. In the end, it really didn’t matter.

As it turned out, Hale was being hunted by his own nation. As the first game ended, Hale – in a snowy forest – was found, and taken into custody. He had two choices, go along peacefully, or by force.

Resistance 2 picks up where the first game left off. Hale is flown to what was thought of as a safe base in Iceland, only to discover it is no longer safe. The Chimera are on the move, and it is a rapid assault at that. The only hope is to get Hale to a SRPA (a medical and safe complex stateside) to study the infection he carries.

After the opening level, the game transitions to the SRPA underwater in the bay off San Francisco. It is two years later. Hale has been probed by a Russian doctor who has determined that the effects are irreversible but they can use a viral inhibitor to slow down whatever it will eventually do to Hale. But the time for introspection is well over. The SRPA has been breached and the station personnel that remains has to get out, and that means moving upward. The first order of business, though, is to close the water seals that are open and allowing water-born Chimera creatures, called Furies (anyone sense a trend here in the names of the creatures? There is also a kraken – well, more than one – encountered early in the game; and the boss Chimera is Daedelus) to inhabit the flooded areas. You can’t shoot Furies from above, and you can’t fight them in the water. These are no-win creatures that are best avoided. Because, though, they have cyclical paths in their patrols, you can time your brief forays through their waters.

When you finally do manage to work through to the surface, you are greeted with amazing visceral imagery. That is San Francisco Bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge, but the sky is full of Chimera ships, and the city appears to be in flames. It is not a city besieged, it is a city conquered.

Americans are on the run, and leading the charge toward the safe zones is Hale. The lieutenant has gone from being treated warily to the focal point of the operations. What is interesting is that the game does not just focus on the big cities.

Just to interject here – there will be no spoilers given in this game, so don’t bother to ask. About the only thing that will be said is that while the game does leave room for another title in the franchise, some conclusions are reached and there are elements that are wrapped up with this release.

If there are grips to be had with the game, in the single-player campaign, they would have to do with the linearity of the game. This is very much a directed experience with little deviation allowed. You have to go from point A to point B and most of the time you will have the path outlined with weapon drops and environmental corridors. Insomniac estimates that on the normal setting the game will take about 9-11 hours to complete, but the replay value comes in uncovering all the trophies, plus the robust multiplayer modes that allow players to level up a character, much like in the CoD experience. Insomniac estimates there is about 200 hours worth of gaming to max out the progression level, and these can be in competitive co-op sessions, or competitive FPS games like deathmatch, team deathmatch, core control (sort of like a capture the flag session) or 60-player online skirmish modes with several objectives.

The locations are nicely varied in the game. You will be walking through redwoods near Orrick, California, or may find yourself onboard one of the giant Chimera ships. The underwater SRPA areas are dank, but the whole game has been washed with rich texturing and a sense of dread so thick it can stay with a player hours after putting down the game.

The game is an incredible bit of eye candy. Insomniac has improved light scattering and volumetric lighting, with improved shader details and proprietary real-time dynamic water. Additionally, there are more than 200 unique animations for the human game character models. What all that adds up to is a visceral experience that is first rate. Sure, there might be a lot of action going on that precludes gamers from just enjoying the view, but in the lull, it is very nice to be able to glance around and see what the developers have created with this game.

The sound is very solid as well. Not only does the music drive, but the sounds of the Chimera are great, and you can locate targets based on sound. Weapon noise is what is expected.

The AI of the game is a little hit and miss. There are times when it seems the dev team replaced tactics with inane rushes in numbers. One particularly hazardous scene is in Twin Falls in a theater where the former residents assault the player and his AI teammates. Forget your teammates, they do little to draw off the spawn simply because they are not the focus of the attack – you are. So you can run around, try to separate the creatures into smaller manageable groupings, but don’t expect your ‘teammates’ to actually do anything to aid you. That is a failing of the game. Perhaps the Chimera are mentally bereft in spite of the technology they wield, but it took brains somewhere along the line to implement the building of the technology, but that mental acuity is missing from the peons and even boss battles. And as the challenge ramps up slightly during the game, you may find yourself standing in the middle of a swarm, while your AI-guided teammates stand about shooting, but not doing much damage.

The game’s controls are easily managed, and players should be able to grow accustomed to them quickly and easily.

As for multiplayer, there are two ways to play the game – you can head into the deathmatch scenarios or participate in the cooperative-competitive campaign scenarios. Each session is judged and experience points awarded, which levels up your character is based on participation. This can be rather frenetic, but the game does support in-game voice chat, and a well-managed team can work through the scenarios efficiently.

Multiplayer is definitely a bonus to the gameplay and will ensure players remain in the game long after finishing the single-player scenario.

While Resistance 2 is a solid game, the way the game is directed feels, at times, a bit forced. What is bonafide, though, is the feeling of growing urgency, of growing terror that is coupled with a bit of persistent despair. This is a well-crafted game, but without a tidbit of hope, it can also leave a bit of a depressing aftertaste. Still, for gamers looking for a thrill ride, R2 is definitely it this winter.

Gameplay: 8.9
The game is rather linear in the single-player campaign mode. Sure you can up the ante by altering the difficulty settings, but that’s about it. Still, if you want to collect all the trophies available, you will spend some time here. For other comments about the gameplay, you need to refer to comments connected to the graphics in the section below.

The control schemes are easy to use, but be prepared for load times. The AI is also not as good as it could have been. If you do die, you can expect the Chimera to pop from the same locations in the next attempt at the area.

Graphics: 9.3
This is a dandy bit of eye candy. The first view of the San Francisco Bay may take your breath away. The environments look amazing. The camera is rarely a problem but the decay in weapon drops can be a bit irritating when you are low on ammo and backtrack to pick up a weapon that is no longer there. That means that there is no persistence to the world. If you die and respawn at the last checkpoint, what has gone on behind you is forgotten (yep, the area remains cleared, but your passage is not marked by drops).

It is very obvious that the game wants you to move forward, not backtrack. That sense of urgency may be fine to spur the game along, but with only about 9-11 hours of gameplay, it can make the single-player campaign feel a bit shorter (because you are always being pushed forward down that path to the game’s conclusion).

Sound: 8.7
Good soundtrack but nothing that is unexpected.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard

Concept: 8.7
The game treads familiar territory in many ways, but it is a bit bigger with some new enemy types (shades of predator, those chameleons make an auspicious entry only to be relegated to less of a threat when their attention turns to the player instead of NPCs). This is still, though, a solid game, and the environments and graphical upgrades are superb.

Multiplayer: 9.0
While the scenarios are not anything truly new to either the franchise or the FPS genre, the sheer numbers you can employ within the game make this an impressive outing.

Overall: 9.0
This is an amazing visceral experience. The forests, the water are all incredibly done. The cut scenes drive the game along nicely, but there are some discrepancies in the story line that need to be explained – like how Hale went from outcast to vital member of the U.S. armed forces in spite of the infection the scientists seem frantic to use viral inhibitors on. The AI is a bit suspect as well, on both sides of the conflict. Sure, you are the focal point in the game, but it would be nice to have solid cover fire from your AI teammates as you are the point in either the assault or in being assaulted. This element flip-flops on occasion.

The game, though, is a tense thriller that will immerse players into that sense of desperation as the remains of the human race fight for survival against increasingly overwhelming odds. The pacing is frenetic, the sense of urgency comes through loud and clear. Resistance 2 is a solid game, that looks stunning, but the game’s length and the linearity of the levels might prove to be a little much for some players.