Insomniac: FANS believe Resistance 2 'was a FAILURE' - Agree/Disagree?!

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The game improved upon its predecessor in numerous ways, but also took a step back in other areas, and made some base changes that were sure to annoy anybody that truly enjoyed what the first game had to offer.

I can't really comment on multiplayer, but as far as the singleplayer is concerned, it had a number of issues:

1. The switch from narration to more traditional cutscenes. Yes, most people didn't like the manner in which the story was told in the first game. It felt impersonal and dry. There was no characterization. However, it did an excellent job of getting the story across. The problem is that Insomniac took the negative feedback over this and ran with it, completely abandoning the old method of storytelling in favor of a new direction that just didn't work. Yeah, it was nice to know that Hale actually had a voice, and it was interesting to see his interactions with other characters, but you were left completely in the dark when it came to the bigger picture. You were never really sure what was going on. All you knew was what Hale just did, or where Hale was going next. Even then, they left big gaps between some events.

With the first, at the very least you knew the situation England was facing, you knew about each battle, events that happened between battles, the works, all while providing you with a sense of mystery around the Cloven. The first also managed to create a much grimmer picture of the world around you via its cutscenes.

To solve the problems of the first, they should've woven together the narration of the first with the story of Hale. Or at least figured out a way to convey the overarching story better via cutscenes.

2. The removal of the weapon wheel. The one thing that made Resistance stand out from the countless other shooters on the market were all the crazy weapons you could find, and the fact that you could use any of those weapons in any situation you felt necessary. In the sequel, they decided to copy the CoD/Halo style of gameplay and limit you to only two weapons at a time. Suddenly you had to decide between only two of the 15+ weapons available to you, and you'd usually stick with only 4-5 weapons that you knew would be useful in most situations.

3. The lack of any scary moments of note. The first Resistance felt almost like a Survival Horror FPS at times. When you first encounter Leapers in the caves, or Rollers near the end. Or the first time those wall leaper thingies showed up underground. Half the time when walking through abandoned human bunkers, I was scared to death. In Resistance 2, the only truly fearful moment I can recall is when you're walking through that house in total darkness. The first time you encounter the skinny dudes that rush you was kinda scary too. However, the fact that they completely removed Rollers and those wall thingies was a big disappointment for me.

To touch on both points 1 and 3, Resistance was just a much grimmer game than the sequel. It truly made you feel like the world was fighting for its very survival.

There were some other quibbles I had with the game as well, like the lack of a normal co-op mode in favor of the 8 player mode. The 8 player mode was cool, but I would've liked to just run through the SP with a friend, ya know?

Overall, the game was a solid effort. It just lacked direction in some areas, and definitely lacked polish in general.