There's many things people join in a mad rush for. Celebrities autographs, book signings, running away from a massacre. Or, in the case of the game industry, beta keys for upcoming, highly anticipated PS3 exclusives. Like, say... Resistance 2 for example.

Resistance 2 is the sequel to the bestselling PS3-launch title Resistance: Fall of Man. The game follows on where FoM left off, with Nathan Hale taking centre stage again as the main character. R2 is set in America during the 1950s, and focuses on the Chimeran invasion of the east and west coasts of the USA.

I downloaded the beta - which weighs in at 2.2GB - after I became one of 7,000 lucky European PS3 owners to grab a beta key from IGN's giveaway. The beta gives you an insight into the network features of the game, without giving away too much of the storyline.

The 'competitive' portion of the beta includes competitive maps from three different locations in the game. 60, 40 and 20-player maps from Orick, 40 and 20-player maps from Chicago, and a standalone 10-player map called Sub Docks. Two new modes, Skirmish and Core Control, are supported, as well as traditional Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch.

The co-operative part of the beta is entirely focused on the Orick level, and gives beta testers a glance at the new 8-player online co-op mode. This portion supports play-path randomisation, so each time you play is slightly different.

Competitive mode works well, and the squad based gameplay is fantastic. Not only does it enable you to play tactically with friends or strangers, but it also allows you to be given hostile targets to 'take out', as it were. I encountered problems attempting to matchmake games - the beta either responded with 'Network Error' or a similar sort of message. However, this is one thing which is sure to be non-existant in the full game.



Insomniac have evidently been working hard on the co-op side of things. Jumping into a game with a group of friends is easy, and with up to 8-player play and class-based weapon sets, it makes it simple to get a well-rounded team together. The beta, however, only includes three classes - soldier, medic and Spec Ops. Hopefully there will be more options available in the full release.

High-definition really is made worthwhile with this beauty. The beta runs at a solid 720p, 60fps on my HDTV, with almost no gittering or pixelation at all. The renders are spot on, too - there's no square edges to be seen, and the lighting effects look fantastic. There's a good colour range, and that makes for a viewing experience that's full of vibrancy, rather than boring. The one thing which did not look quite how I thought it would, however, is water - it seems to have some unseen foce pulling it about, and looks almost comical.

Gameplay is good, and there was hardly any lag when playing in a 60-player deathmatch. Shooting feels satisfying, although enemies seem to take huge amounts of damage before finally kicking the bucket. Whether this is part of the story - stronger Chimera for a new invasion - is yet to be found out.

The menu system is well implemented, and easy-to-use. I really like the way you can still navigate through main menus and friends lists without leaving the party you're in - it makes navigation much more time-efficient. However, the beta was filled with minor glitches; attempts to view a profile always resulted in a network error and the game could occassionaly freeze and entirely crash the PS3, forcing a hard reset. However, that really couldn't put me off in the slightest.

If the beta is anything to go by, Resistance2 is going to be absolutely fantastic, and will live up to the hype. I'm really glad I got an exclusive insight into the beta, although there's one little thing that's niggling at me.

I desperately want the full game.

Linford

Labels: Beta Impressions, Exclusive, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, R:Fom, Resistance 2

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