War has changed. But just a bit.
Resistance 2 Review
Graphics are great...
No doubt, the graphics are better in many ways. More enemies on the screen, more colorful etc. It still has some of the monochromatic themes per level but the general style is much more vibrant. I know that seems contradictory but its not. Each level still has a color theme its just not as bland as R1.
New Sprint function...
I really like the idea of the new "sprint" mechanic. Much like in COD4, you do not run all the time but you hit a button to activate a sprint. Works very well and gives the game a more strategic feel. Probably even more so in multiplayer but works well in single.
New Weapons system...
This, I am not as big a fan of. You can now only have 2 weapons and grenades. I get the feeling this was added for m-player to make it flow better and make it just a bit more strategic and avoid balance problems for multiplayer. I am sure this helps multiplayer but I wish they would have kept the R+C style weapon system from R1. I know it was not realistic but having all the weapons at your fingertips was more fun in single player. With each new wave of enemies, it was fun to think of all the weapon options you had. This is completely gone from R2 and I think it was a major mistake to change this in single player. Not a game breaker by any means but I think many fans of the original will be a bit disappointed by this. They should have done this only for m-player and kept the old system for single. Oh well.
Gameplay...
Level design and set pieces are very well done. The game pacing is much faster than R1 and there are more frequent mini-boss encounters and boss encounters. Also, there are levels with some tension but not quit as much as R1. Gameplay changes were made to keep you moving and they basically cranked the action all the way to 11. The battles are very frenetic but sometimes so fast that you don't know which way is up before you die. But overall, they action is still a lot of fun and the guns feel great.
Story...
Much like the new weapon system, I was not thrilled with this change either. I guess they felt gamers did not enjoy the narrative style of R1. I am not sure who they are listening to but I think they were wrong. The narration between each level really added to the story feel of the game. I did not need to hear Nathan talk and when he does, its not the voice I had in my head that worked so well. So now, he barks out some "bad ass" standards like "if anyone has a problem with this...." etc and its not acted all that well. The levels tell a decent story but once again, I miss the narration and I don't know why they listened to the wrong group.
Overall...
The game is very good. But somehow, Insomniac seemed to take criticism from all the people who did not like the game but did not keep the things that made Resistance a unique single player shooter in the first place. In the end, the game feels a bit of a compromise between what Resistance was and what hard core multiplayer fans wanted.
So, Resistance 2, may make a better multiplayer game for it, I think the single player suffered a bit due to the same changes. As a huge fan of the original, I am enjoying R2 and its certainly a good shooter. But if you are playing it for only the Single player experience, you may want to just rent it.
Graphics are great...
No doubt, the graphics are better in many ways. More enemies on the screen, more colorful etc. It still has some of the monochromatic themes per level but the general style is much more vibrant. I know that seems contradictory but its not. Each level still has a color theme its just not as bland as R1.
New Sprint function...
I really like the idea of the new "sprint" mechanic. Much like in COD4, you do not run all the time but you hit a button to activate a sprint. Works very well and gives the game a more strategic feel. Probably even more so in multiplayer but works well in single.
New Weapons system...
This, I am not as big a fan of. You can now only have 2 weapons and grenades. I get the feeling this was added for m-player to make it flow better and make it just a bit more strategic and avoid balance problems for multiplayer. I am sure this helps multiplayer but I wish they would have kept the R+C style weapon system from R1. I know it was not realistic but having all the weapons at your fingertips was more fun in single player. With each new wave of enemies, it was fun to think of all the weapon options you had. This is completely gone from R2 and I think it was a major mistake to change this in single player. Not a game breaker by any means but I think many fans of the original will be a bit disappointed by this. They should have done this only for m-player and kept the old system for single. Oh well.
Gameplay...
Level design and set pieces are very well done. The game pacing is much faster than R1 and there are more frequent mini-boss encounters and boss encounters. Also, there are levels with some tension but not quit as much as R1. Gameplay changes were made to keep you moving and they basically cranked the action all the way to 11. The battles are very frenetic but sometimes so fast that you don't know which way is up before you die. But overall, they action is still a lot of fun and the guns feel great.
Story...
Much like the new weapon system, I was not thrilled with this change either. I guess they felt gamers did not enjoy the narrative style of R1. I am not sure who they are listening to but I think they were wrong. The narration between each level really added to the story feel of the game. I did not need to hear Nathan talk and when he does, its not the voice I had in my head that worked so well. So now, he barks out some "bad ass" standards like "if anyone has a problem with this...." etc and its not acted all that well. The levels tell a decent story but once again, I miss the narration and I don't know why they listened to the wrong group.
Overall...
The game is very good. But somehow, Insomniac seemed to take criticism from all the people who did not like the game but did not keep the things that made Resistance a unique single player shooter in the first place. In the end, the game feels a bit of a compromise between what Resistance was and what hard core multiplayer fans wanted.
So, Resistance 2, may make a better multiplayer game for it, I think the single player suffered a bit due to the same changes. As a huge fan of the original, I am enjoying R2 and its certainly a good shooter. But if you are playing it for only the Single player experience, you may want to just rent it.
