more crappy sequels

Resistance: Fall of Man is definitely one of my top ten favorite video games ever. The game is so zetta awesome that it alone makes me wonder why I'm the only person on this planet with a ps3. It combined innovative weapons with innovative enemies and somewhat innovative gameplay to create a truly epic experience. The only flaws I can think of are in the level design, so if insomniac games just made a new campaign with even more zetta cool weapons, I'd have been happy.

But no one ever listens to me or my friends who liked resistance: fall of man, or the reviewers, and, as such, resistance 2 suffers from unnecessary changes that detract from the fun of the game. Now, I don't mean to say all the changes are bad. The changes to the co-op are good, although I would've preferred that they keep the traditional co-op alongside their new class-based co-op. But the single player campaign falls short of my expectations.

I don't mean to sound like a fanboy who complains whenever the developers change the gameplay, but insomniac games really should've left the gameplay alone. Yeah, I support trying new things, and that's why the gameplay ticks me off. Every gameplay change in resistance 2 is present in basically every first person shooter on the market. I'm not going to complain as much about the level design changes, as they are trying new things there, even if they aren't fun.

The game started off on a strong note by giving me the magnum, a pistol with bullets that act as remote-detonated mines. I knew insomniac games was good at making innovative weapons after I saw the auger, but a pistol that shoots remote-detonated mines? I'm afraid my head will asplode from the sheer zetta awesomeness!

But my head didn't asplode, and it was actually a bad thing. Why? the reason my head didn't asplode was because I soon discovered that the disturbing facts I read on wikipedia are true. I now regenerate my whole health instead of just a fourth of it at a time and I can only carry two weapons. Now, these zetta awful gameplay changes are present in a lot of other fps games, so I should probably explain why I'm against them, especially in the context of resistance 2.

Why is it bad that you can only carry two weapons? Because part of the fun of resistance: fall of man is trying to figure out the best possible way to get past an encounter. This generally means experimenting and strategizing with your various weapons. Now, the best solution is given away because its the only solution since its the only weapon you have. Furthermore, if the weapons are so zetta cool that using them makes the game zetta funner, it's really stupid and obnoxious to take the weapons away from me. Perhaps this is good for multiplayer, but I don't like multiplayer. And besides, if the developers want to be serious about both, then they should compromise and adjust the difficulty for the different modes.

As for fractional health regeneration, that was one of my favorite parts of resistance: fall of man. Previously, all first person shooters would make a survival element where you could only restore health through health packs, which is good for single player, or your health would regenerate, which is good for skill-based multiplayer. Resistance: fall of man left multiplayer alone, but the change to single player helped. Now, their was finally a combination of survival and skill. I don't see why a developer would get rid of such an ingenious feature, especially if they're going to add in more serious bosses that would complement this feature.

Which brings me to the next point: the bosses. The only thing I would actually call a boss in resistance: fall of man is the goliath. Everything else, from angels to titans, appeared more than once, often with help. In resistance 2, bosses are now a more formal thing. You face each boss once, and they are mostly alone, although it makes sense when they are not alone. If you asked me, it was a poor choice to shackle the bosses to a single encounter. Facing the bosses when they're not alone was a high point of resistance: fall of man. However, the bosses were pretty much designed so that they couldn't be fought while with help, which is where they zetta fail. The only fun boss was the marauder, and that would not have been out of place in resistance: fall of man. I've heard some reviewers talk about the spectacle of the boss, and I won't argue with them, I will simply point out that the bosses fail as gameplay elements. What am I saying? I'd buy a resistance 2 actions movie for the bosses, but I wouldn't buy a resistance 2 game for the bosses. Most of them involve doing basic things that make doom like the most sophisticated shooter on the market. For instance, at one point, a boss would pick me up, temporarily taking control from me. When I had control, the boss's head took up about 80% of the screen, and I was now tasked with shooting the boss with the LAARK. To make this even easier, your gun starts pointed at the boss's head. Zetta easy. Too zetta easy.

And then I go to the point of atmosphere. Resistance: fall of man was atmospheric enough that its atmosphere could be made worse by a half-baked sequel. First off, the graphics. I don't think the quality of the graphics is important, but the style is. If you ask me: "Which had better graphics, contra 3 or contra 4?" I will say, "Neither." because they both had the same style. Look, Insomniac games, I know you made spyro, but this is a different game. Hire a different artist. It probably isn't the same artist, but you couldn't tell from the graphics. Even the interior of the evil chimera spaceships look brighter and happier, like I'm supposed to want to live there or something.

Then the storyline. In resistance: fall of man, I didn't know why the chimera wanted to kill the humans. Why did they? They must just be bloodthirsty evil creatures. Here's a neat tip for those of you writing video game storylines: if your backstory is lame and cliche, don't share it. Leave it a mystery so it can add to the atmosphere. Did you know that the chimera are bloodthirsty misanthropes who want to become a super race? I cried. I really did. And that villain daedalus- What the factor? He's an angel with a human's head on top; he looks kinda silly.

However, the co-op was zetta awesome. Their are three different classes with different roles that make for some pretty fun times. My favorite class was a medic, so resistance 2 also gets props for making ME want to be a healer, a role I usually avoid.

Overall? It's zetta good! Okay single player combined with great co-op averages out to zetta good. I suppose if you're obsessed with halo, you'll probably like it more than me, and I hear the multiplayer's pretty good, but how would I know? If you've got some friends and want someone to play with instead of against, I recommend buying resistance 2 just for the co-op, but if not, you won't regret buying it just for the single player campaign. Besides, the co-op's fine online, so you won't be left out.