 Things are about to get rough. The United Kingdom is lost. Now the fight against this alien menace brings itself to the United States. As the last bastion of humanity, the fight to hold territory has turned into a fight for survival. And things aren't going well.
1. Gameplay
Resistance 2 is exactly what I would expect from a sequel to Resistance. I wanted to like Resistance 2 so desperately, yet time after time it spurned my love and left me wondering why I was still suffering through chapter after chapter of frustrating enemies and one-hit kill enemies. I’m even more disappointed because the weapons in this game are some of the most unique I have seen in a futuristic shooter! The Bullseye and Auger are unique weapons that were vastly improved from the previous game. The new health system is, for the most part, an extremely welcome change to the previous system. And the environments in this game went from a horrible mix of sepia and grey to a unique and often beautiful mix of colors.  This was an awesome scene. Yet this game ruins all of that with cloaked one-hit-kill enemies and a frustrating lack of tactical thinking. Here’s an example: In one section of the game I get dropped into an outdoor storage area. I kill off the normal enemies in the area, then look down a large corridor. A massive enemy with a rocket launcher starts walking towards me. My thoughts? First, go toe to toe and try to dodge his missiles. Unfortunately, his missiles do splash damage and has too much health, so I end up dead. Next, I try taking cover behind a box and firing out at him. The splash damage kills me again. My solution? Wait for the guy to round the corner then run in stupid circles around him hoping that I don’t get hit by the rockets or the splash damage as I hit him with everything I have. This is a lot less fun than it sounds, especially when this scenario repeats itself time and time again. The fun in these shooters comes from the flow, a groove the player settles into that ebbs and flows depending on the moment. Death is an important message for the player. It says that their actions resulted in catastrophic failure. It should be used sparingly, and only when the player has performed so horribly that there is almost no recovering from their actions.  Sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming. And that’s the bit that Resistance 2 lacks, there are few opportunities for recovery. The player is often forced to replay the same scenario over and over again to avoid the single enemy that can instantly kill them. It takes the worst elements of a quicktime event (lack of control over a scenario, requirement to press the correct button at the correct time) and molds them with the worst elements of first person shooters (over-reliance on player accuracy, design elements that require the player to be looking in the right place at the right time, etc.). Early in the game I said that I was enjoying Resistance 2 significantly more than the first Resistance, and I still stand behind this. Resistance 2 vastly improves over its predecessor in every aspect. Yet this is not enough to make me recommend this game to anyone but the most hardcore shooter fans. There are plenty of other shooters with better stories and better mechanics.  Games need more x-ray guns. Granted, I probably missed an extremely important element to this game. I was unable to play the multiplayer (the game is just too old now), so if that’s what made this game great then I am left in the dust. However, based purely on the content currently available, I would not play this game again.
The campaign took me around 7 to 8 hours to complete, which is fairly par for the course for this type of game. There are collectibles to go back and get for the serious achievers, but with the multiplayer defunct and a lack of choices and options in the campaign, there is little reason for the average player to play this game more than once.
Most of the sections in this game where the player fights “common” enemies (meaning ones that aren’t gigantic, have special weapons, etc.) are pretty straightforward for a shooter game. However, as I mentioned before, there are far too many enemies that can kill the player in a single hit. This is especially true for the chameleon enemies that will stay invisible until just before they attack the player, requiring a reflex shot that can definitely miss.  Find the enemies. Too late, you're dead. There were a number of times when, even though I was progression, I was asking myself “Why am I still playing this game?” because I knew that, in another few feet, I would just end up attacked by another one-hit kill enemy. Be prepared to retry the same sections over and over again. 2. Parental Notices
Violence is the most obvious factor in this game but is overall relatively standard for a first person shooter. Hits from almost every weapon will result in some blood that quickly dissipates. The amount of blood will vary depending on how rapidly the weapon fires (weapons with lower damage and higher rates of fire will result in greater amounts of blood).  Blood isn't easy to see in the screenshots. Distance to the target and the muzzle flare can also reduce the amount of visible blood. However, sniper rifles can cause significantly more noticeable blood.  This was the bloodiest normal combat I saw. Certain enemies, especially the larger humanoids, will explode into bits on death. These bits will stay around on the battlefield until the player leaves the area. While these enemies do appear numerous times throughout the game, they are not nearly as constant as the smaller enemy types (who do not emit any gore on death).  Ahh, fresh meat.
Sexuality is not a factor in this game.
The only noteworthy substance in the game is the inhibitor substance that the infected humans must use to prevent from succumbing to their infection. This is visible in one scene where the player has to grab a few vials of the substance from a laboratory. However, the player is never seen using these substances.  Seriously, what is this stuff?
Gambling is not a factor in this game. 3. Other Factors
There are no modding tools available for this game.
Religion is not a factor in this game.
Anti-law is not a factor in this game.
As I mentioned before, the multiplayer portions of this game were not operating when I tried them out. As a result, the online community is not a factor in this game.
Extreme sports are not a factor in this game.
Magic is not a factor in this game.
There are no additional factors in this game.
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