Over the years, Insomniac Games has built up a reputation for releasing a new iteration of their [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] franchise yearly on PlayStation 2. One of the first developers to fully immerse themselves in PS3 development, Insomniac looks like it will now be splitting its hard work between Ratchet and [Only registered and activated users can see links. ], with each series continuing the tradition of a sequel every other year. Insomniac's wheel-o-development for 2008 has landed on Resistance, and the recent revelation of [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] in the pages of [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] piqued the curiosity of fans of the original. With a large list of upgrades and new content for the sequel, we set out to round up all the information that's been revealed about Resistance 2 so far, from both Game Informer and Insomniac's [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] podcast. The Story
The four "Cs": Campaign, co-op, competitive, and community. Insomniac CEO Ted Price says that they want to connect these four elements through gameplay and story in a much tighter way than most developers do. The co-op mode, for example, features a plot that runs parallel to Nathan Hale's story in the single-player and serves as a bridge to multiplayer. While single-player will provide a more developed story about a single soldier, all of these game modes taken together will paint a broad picture of the human war for survival against the Chimeran invaders.
It begins where the first game ended: Literally! The final, post-credits epilogue from Resistance 1 serves as the opening cinematic for this game. (SPOILER WARNING) Nathan Hale's mysterious captors fly him to Iceland, but their vehicle is quickly shot down, leading Hale into the first level and eventually to where most of the game takes place. [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Resistance 2 screens.
Bad stuff's going down in America: In the first game, players took on the role of an American soldier trying to fight back an alien invasion in Britain. For the sequel, Nathan Hale heads home. Due to the events of Resistance's alternate history timeline, 1950s America never fully recovered from the Great Depression. Hale begins his American campaign in San Francisco and will then move across the United States, taking on the Chimeran forces wherever he's needed. Expect as diverse a list of environments as can be plucked from the American landscape.
Narrators are so two years ago: Despite actually playing as Nathan Hale, the majority of Resistance's story was delivered in a third-person narrative by one Captain Rachel Parker. Exposition is out this time, with the plot's focus fully on Hale and his squadmates -- for the single-player campaign at least.
Nathan makes some friends: Near the beginning of Resistance 2, Hale will join a special group of soldiers called the Sentinels who, like Hale, are resistant to the Chimeran virus. The main thrust of the game's plot actually picks up two years after Hale has hooked up and trained extensively with this group. Don't get too attached to the new guys though; Insomniac has been stressing the bleak tone they're shooting for with Resistance 2. Overwhelming enemy numbers and plenty of dead allies are practically guaranteed. [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Resistance 2 screens.
Who are the Cloven?: This mysterious third faction was heavily hinted at in the first game and even available as a skin choice in multiplayer, but they never actually entered the game's story. We're hedging our bets that the Cloven will finally make an appearance in Resistance 2, although Insomniac has given reason to believe that we won't receive full information on who they are and what they're doing until future sequels.
The Single-Player Campaign
It's already finished!: Unbelievable as it may seem, Insomniac claims that more or less all of the single-player maps are finished and running in a rough state. This is largely due to a new initiative from the developer that has them focusing on building the gameplay first and then adding art assets and balance tweaks later. Large portions of the co-op campaign are also confirmed to be running, so that fall 2008 release date is looking pretty much like a certainty now.
Bosses are back: Insomniac wants to prove that bosses can work in first-person shooters. Resistance had some pretty huge creatures to take down, but for the sequel they're pulling out all of the stops. The robotic Goliath (pictured [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]), for example, looms a full 150 in-game feet taller than Nathan Hale, and several other similarly large bosses are promised.
Traversing the countryside in style: Vehicles are going to play a part in Resistance 2 in a big way, but so far Insomniac has been tight-lipped about what types of vehicles will be controllable. They have mentioned that airborne enemies and battles will be featured, though, and a couple of screenshots show off some cool-looking (and very prominently-placed) jets. We're also hoping that vehicles will carry over to co-op and multiplayer, but the first game's multiplayer didn't contain any of the vehicles from single-player.
The enemies have evolved: As might be expected, Resistance 2 will contain plenty of new bad guys. Beyond the aforementioned Goliath boss, only one has been revealed: the Chameleon. This enemy brings to mind the Elites from the [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] games. They cloak and attack close-range with melee blades. Even the recycled enemy types from the first game will have more complex AI, new weapons and other tricks. The Hybrid, for example, now comes equipped with a new suit of armor that provides extra problems for players.
The graphics will be upgraded: No big surprise here, I know, but Insomniac took some of the quibbles about the original game's visuals to heart. Resistance looked beautiful, no doubt, but some gamers thought that the concentration on gigantic environments left a bit to be desired in the details. In Resistance 2, the guns, enemies, locales, and anything else you need to view up close will purportedly look a whole lot better -- and they already do if the early screenshots are any evidence.
The Co-Op Campaign
Four is fine, but eight is great: Trumping all genre expectations, Insomniac has decided to include a co-op mode that can contain as few as two players or as many as eight. The random soldiers in this campaign will fight their way through objective-based, plot-lite levels that will coincide with Nathan Hale's single-player story in some ways. Reportedly, this mode will be as long as or longer than the single-player. [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Resistance 2 screens.
It's got class: Each of the partners joining up for a run-through of co-op will have to choose what role they want to play. The traditional heavy solider comes equipped with a chaingun and lots of health for soaking up attacks; the Special Ops class carries a scoped rifle and is all set for long-range combat; and the Medic uses a special gun to drain energy from enemies and then feed it back into allies. Contrary to popular internet rumor, these classes have not been confirmed to be a part of multiplayer, and Insomniac's latest [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] podcast strongly implies that they will not.
It's only as difficult as you deserve: Playing through Halo 3 on Legendary with a few friends is quite a blast, but that experience will be a bit different in Resistance 2. Players will not be able to choose a difficulty level when starting up a new co-op game. Instead, the game will ramp up how hard it is based on the team's skill and rank (which increases as you play).
Random friends and features: If you don't have eight good buddies with PS3s and a hankering for some alien killing, don't fret. Insomniac is working out a system that will hook up random players online who are at the same point in the co-op mode's story. The co-op levels will also feature some random elements. Levels will not be fully randomized (another popular misconception about the game), but the geometry and enemy placement of certain areas will change with each playthrough to keep things fresh. [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Resistance 2 screens.
The Multiplayer
Someone got their story in my multiplayer: Don't expect cut-scenes or anything, but the environments, objectives, and actions in the multiplayer matches will have real context in the Resistance universe. We're guessing that some of the larger single-player and co-op battles and maps will be replayable in some form in multiplayer.
Massive numbers should not mean massive confusion: 60 players (up from Resistance's max number of 40) may sound like an awful lot, but Insomniac is doing everything in their power to make sure competitive battles don't get out of hand. Players will be split into lobbies of six-to-eight-member squads, each with unique objectives. Specific areas on each map will foster frantic large-scale battles, but most of the fighting should come in the former of smaller skirmishes.
Community is key: Insomniac continues pushing community as one of the core pieces of Resistance rather than an afterthought. How serious is the developer? Well, for one the game will feature dedicated servers for player statistics and community tools in addition to actual games. [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] (currently in beta) will feature full profile pages, clan support, and social networking bonuses -- all of which Insomniac says will be up and running by the time the game launches.
So, in short: The game is basically done. It's like buying a turkey: You still have to marinate it, but it is there.
Hybrid Mode
