Resistance - Why It FAILED

A Somewhat Misguided Critical Response

Resistance 2 was met with glowing reviews upon release; many a critic proclaimed it was bigger and better than the first game in every way, just like Insomniac had promised. In retrospect, however, this high praise was a product of the time. In 2008, we were one year in the mainstream FPS craze that had been kicked off by Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare the previous year. Every FPS studio was forced to take note and started to rebuild their own gameplay systems around the current juggernaut.

Unfortunately in the case of Resistance 2, this caused a massive step backwards in both gameplay and design. The zany weapons and their alternate fire options were accounted for, but because you could only carry two at a time and their situational placement, there was no room for player expression. This is what made both Fall of Man and Ratchet and Clank memorable to varying degrees. By veering too far into linear levels and taking too much inspiration from the competition, the game ultimately capitulated.

On top of that, Resistance 2 had some very frustrating idiosyncrasies in its gameplay. The level design was narrow and deficient, disallowing the player from switching up their approach. Ditching the health bar for a regenerative system was also a bad idea as Hale was subjected to many a cheap death throughout the campaign missions. There was only so much the scale could do to salvage things when everything else felt so half-hearted.

That's not to say that Resistance 2 is outright awful; it still runs well with no game-breaking glitches to be found. While its story is mostly a disconnect, the underlying theme of impending doom that hangs over the campaign does make somewhat of an impact. There's no doubt that the game took the franchise in the wrong direction and ended up frustrating many a fan. Luckily, Insomniac would take careful notes on feedback and look to incorporate them into the next entry.