Toothy aliens, giant walking death machines, all in the first ten seconds of gameplay!

Add together the following ingredients: one cup shooter, one cup science fiction, a healthy dollop of multiplayer and a sprinkling of gore. It sounds like a recipe straight out of the Xbox 360 cook book to bake a game like the dozens that seem to litter the Microsoft console. Although anything less than a Halo or a Gears of War seems lacklustre and derivative there’s no denying these titles sell like, forgive the ongoing food analogy, hotcakes. The Playstation 3 however, has been noticeably lacking in the shooter stakes. Titles like Unreal Tournament 3 have failed to make an impact for the black box, naturally Killzone has stormed in and leveled the playing field but before it released a lot of hopes were pinned on Resistance 2, sequel to the PS3 launch title. The title isn’t quite the flagship to lead a brave offence in the console wars, but it’s still a worth while addition to the fleet.

The sequel picks up right were the original left off. US soldier Nathan Hale is grabbed by a group of SRPA troops and taken back to the United States. There he’s put in charge of a squad of Sentinels, soldiers who have also been exposed to the Chimera virus but keep it in check with regular doses of inhibitor drugs. This allows them to remain human while gaining some of the powers of the Chimera such as advanced strength and regenerative abilities. At least that’s the explanation for the familiar mechanic of recovering from damage by ducking and covering for a minute. The US is besieged on both coasts by the Chimera under the direction of a being known as Daedalus. If you were hoping for a bit more information on the Chimera and the Cloven in the sequel don’t hold your breath. Insomniac have taken the Gears of War approach and kept the plot details frustratingly light. You do learn some interesting things about the origins of the Chimera, but it’s barely the tip of the iceberg and the Cloven get only a passing mention. These bread crumbs of back story serve more to annoy than to inform.

Get outta mah lumber shed ya dang alien, I'll whup ya good!

As far as the plot goes for Resistance 2 it seems like Insomniac have taken the minivan down to their local video store and hired out every single scifi action film for the last twenty years for ideas. The game contains numerous blatant nods to Aliens, Predator, I Am Legend, Deep Rising, The Fly, War of the Worlds, Independence Day, Leviathan and others I can’t remember of the top of my head. Insomniac has also pushed the badass stereotype almost as far as it can go with the Sentinels; each of your squad are always just a few one liners shy of self parody. Not that the plot is overall bad, there are certainly some high points that stand out during the game, notably the surprise ending.

The single player story line gets a few things right and a few things wrong. It keeps the action thick and fast and keeps you moving, throwing you into new and interesting situations on a pretty regular basis. Many of the set pieces that are thrown up at times are very impressive, such as the invasion of San Francisco or battling a giant Chimera as it pushes over buildings in Chicago. Resistance 2’s biggest problem story wise is that it isn’t consistent with its universe. Despite the fact you’re supposed to be trooping through 1950’s America the game could easily be set in the future. Your team of Spartan’s, sorry, Sentinels don’t quite have a fifties vibe around them in their dialogue and manner. By comparison Fallout 3 took great pains to constantly remind you of the odd alternate world timeline that you were playing in; a futuristic post apocalyptic world stuck in the kitsch trappings of post World War II America.

Another big black mark against Resistance 2 is the new Chimera breed called the Furies. These are marine Chimera that can be seen patrolling any large body of water you come across. As soon as you’re immersed in the water for more than three seconds you’re treated to a short cinematic of a Furey taking a large bite out of you (notably what looks like your nads as well, I crossed my legs every time it happened). Despite the fact you can see them clearly, no weapon can harm them. This is a rather underhanded method of keeping you on a narrow path and making levels that look quite large become linear. In fairness it’s an attempt by the developers to do something other than the familiar poisoned water or lava scenario; but in execution it’s just annoying. A better plan for Resistance 3 would be to improve level design overall.

Resistance 2 has guns, lots of guns. Some of these are human weapons and others can be snatched up from Chimera and they are definitely one of the reasons you should play this game. All the weapons have an alternate fire option and practically all of them are loads of fun to experiment with. From the basic, such as a grenade launcher attachment, to the interesting, including a sniper rifle that shoots a drone that zaps Chimera, driving them from cover so you can pick them of. One of the most enjoyable weapons is the Auger which not only lets you automatically see and shoot enemies through walls, the secondary fire drops a stationary energy shield in front of you. As far as distribution goes you are always given the right weapon for the job. If a particular enemy is giving you a lot of problems then you should be scouting around for that weapon you should have picked up like a tucked away rocket launcher or plasma cannon.

Multiplayer adds life to the title and after Call of Duty and Killzone 2 it’s probably one of the best multiplayer shooter experiences currently available on the PS3. There’s a coop campaign that runs parallel to the single player story with up to eight players choosing the role of Soldier, Medic or Special Forces. Across several levels you have to complete objectives and survive against ridiculous numbers of Chimera that attack in waves. While the coop campaign lacks the terrific set pieces of the single player it does let you match up with seven friends and the fighting can get pretty thrilling at times. The difficulty adjusts automatically based on the number of players and their overall skill and experienced earned in the coop campaign can be used to kit out your character class.

While Coop certainly adds value the real fun is in competitive mode which allows for up to 60 players at once. Not that you’ll see that many players on screen, when you jump into a campaign you choose your weapon loadout and berserker skill (things like temporary invulnerability) and get dropped into a team of five on either the Chimera or human side. You can play Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Core Control (Capture the Flag) or Skirmish. At times the frame rate can suffer a bit with so many players online but the game usually handles it well. Much like Call of Duty you don’t have to worry about familiarity with the levels or controlling the power weapons, players start with the weapons of their choice and games are easy to jump in and out of.

If you loved Resistance: Fall of Man then there’s a good chance, but no guarantee, that you will love Resistance 2 as well. It’s still not the killer game that will have people lining up to buy PS3’s, but it’s a step closer to realising the beastly consoles full potential and an able shooter to fill that time between now and the release of Killzone 3 if you're all ready tired of Killzone 2's multiplayer. While the single player campaign has its peaks and valleys the coop and competitive multiplayer will keep players coming back for its ranking system and unlockable items. All up Resistance 2 isn't particularly original for a scifi shooter, but almost everything it does, it does very well.

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