When the Playstation 3 first launched, Resistance: Fall of Man was one of the “must have” games. Now, the Chimera return in Resistance 2. Does this game live up to the pedigree the first game established? Read on and find out

The original game focused on a viral outbreak perpetrated in Europe by a species of unknown origin calling themeselves the Chimera. Resistance 2 brings the battle to the U.S. The Chimera have launched an asssault on both coasts of the United States. You play once again as Nathan Hale, who having survived the events of the first game, is picked up just putside London by some mysterious “Black Ops” forces led by Major Richard Blake. Blake is the Director of Tactical Operations for a US Government Agency known as SRPA (Special Research Projects Administration). The game’s prologue level, which takes place in Iceland, at SRPA Base “Igloo”, introduces you to two more of he game’s key characters: Dr. Fyodor Malikov, who has been working on injectable inhibitors to combat the Chimeran virus, and “Daedalus”, the apparent leader of the Chimeran forces. After this level, the game jumps ahead two years and begins in earnest. Due to your apparent immunity to the Chimera virus, You have been selected to lead Echo Squad, which consists of other soldiers with viral immunity, referred to a “sentinels.” The Chimera launch a full scale assault on both coasts of the United States. The main core of the game consists of missions in different locations as you try to activate towers connected to the Liberty Defense Perimeter in an attempt to stop the Chimeran invasion. All the while you are fighting the virus inside you which is slowly threatening to overwhelm your immunity.

You face overwhelming odds in the game and the outlook for humanity is quite bleak. There are conisitently swarms of enemies on screen and they just seem to keep coming. The frantic pace creates an incredibly anxious playing experience as you never know when it is really “safe.” Thrown into the mix are some truly epic boss battles against some truly horrific creatures. I’m not going to spoil any of them here, as they really should be seen first hand.

To take on these odds, you have a variety of weapons at your disposal. These include all of the traditional types: Assault rifle, pistol, energy weapons..etc. The Bullseye is the alien weapon carried by most Chimeran soldiers. You can pick one up from any Chimera you kill. The Carbine is the automatic weapon of choinsin this game and you can pick one up from any Human soldier that is killed. My favorite is the Auger. This is an alien gun with thermal capability. Chimera shown up in green after you fire it and it can shoot through walls. You also have a variety of greandes at your disposal., including spike, spider and smoke types. Ever weapon also has a secondary fire feature.

The good news is there are a lot of places to take cover in the game, which is great because that’s how you regain life. Your life bar is now replaced with the standard “red damage border” system. Simply put, as you get hurt, the edges of the scrren start to turn red. To recover life, you need to take cover and wait for the red to fade away. I like this system, as it is more visual and easier to pay attention to.

Setting this game in the US allows the developers a chance to use someting that was missing from a lot of the first game: COLOR! Europe is very grey and dark. The US is not. The game takes place in several environs out west which use lots of oranges and reds and is, on the whole, much brighter than the last one. The graphics are top notch, with everything looking more realistic and the creatures looking more gruesome than ever before.

The story is also sensational, with somewhat decent voice acting in the cutscenes and some absolutely incredible plot twists, in addition to a truly shocking ending.

The controls are standard FPS controls, move with the left stick, aim with the right stick. R1 is the fire button, use L1 to sprint and X is the jump button.

Now, I must preface this next part with a disclaimer. I am NOT a multiplayer person. I don’t go online and play Deathmatch normally because I’m not very good. This game features two different flavors of multiplayer fun.

There is a co-operative campaign playable by you and one friend offline and by you and up to seven friends online. This campaign runs parallel to the single player story and features many of the same locations. In the co-op mode, you and your friends each chose to be a specific class of soldier, such as Medic or Soldier or Special Ops, each with it’s own unique characteristics. The classes have to work together to survive. Players level up through the course of the campaign, unlocking new equipment. I found this to be quite fun and if pick the right two classes to work together, it is actually very efficient.

Now, onto the online competitive experience. All of your favorite modes are here: Deathmatch, Capture the Flag…etc. The hook here though, is that this game sets a record in that you can have up to 60 people on one map! For the sake of this review, I tried 60 player Deathmathc once…and I will never try it again! I thought the main game was frenetic. There is no contest. This was the most intimidating playing experience I have ever had. If you like Deathmatch and love it when there are people running and gunning all over the place, this is the game for you.

In the end, Resistance 2 absolutely lives up to its predecessor’s pedigree, and sets a new standard for PS3 shooters. Anyone who plays teh 60 player Deathmatch will expect it to be including in every FPS for the PS3 from now on. Personally, I still can’t believe that the same studio responsible for Ratchett and Clank is behind this series. It is a testament to their versatility. This could be the best Holiday season ever for the Playstation 3 and it all starts here. Don’t miss this one.

Resistance 2 gets 5 Chimeran Inhibitor Injections out of 5.