GDC 2009: Resistance 2 DLC Impressions

By now most people have plowed their way through Resistance 2 and dealt with the Chimera invasion in the single-player mode and the eight-player co-op modes. It's also likely that most players have found their groove in the game's competitive multiplayer mode. But just when players have probably found their comfort zones, developer Insomniac Games is about to shake things up in its PlayStation 3-exclusive shooter with a suite of new downloadable content. We had the chance to visit Insomniac's Southern California offices recently to get a peek at the new content that will come in both free and paid flavors and that seems guaranteed to give you a reason to revisit the game's cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes.

Before we dive in to the new paid content, we'll cover the free content, which will come bundled with a new game patch, version 1.50. The patch will contain the expected array of tweaks and refinements, including experience balancing for competitive mode, a 30 percent experience bonus for cooperative mode, and a reduction in the sprint speed of the core carrier in the Core Control multiplayer mode, but there are a host of new bits as well. On the community side, a new announcement screen has been added to fill you in on the happenings for the game, and you'll now have the ability to report players who are being jerks. The patch will also contain some meatier additions, such as seven new ribbons to earn and 13 new medals to be earned in co-op or multiplayer. However, the sexiest bit of new content in the patch comes in the form of some hefty updates. A new mode called Meltdown, which is a revamp of one of the original Resistance multiplayer modes and has you fighting for control of spawn points, is being added to competitive mode, while cooperative mode gets a superhuman mode that features some balance tweaks to co-op and some not-so-subtle means of forcing you to play nice--that is, you can only be revived by a teammate and there's no late joining. Save support is also being enhanced. You will now be sent to staging after competitive and co-op games. Deathmatch spawning is being improved. And, most significantly, the game will now support a second PSN login for split-screen games. All told, it's not too shabby for a free patch.

The paid content, due next week, is the Aftermath map pack. It's a collection of new maps being tossed into the multiplayer mix, and it will run you $5.99. The first map is Aftermath, a city map set in the downtown of Twin Falls, featuring a ton of ambient action that looks like the hallmark of all the new maps in the pack. The city has obviously seen better days and has a host of structures and debris that are great for taking cover. The map supports up to 20 players in deathmatch and team deathmatch and should present strategically minded players with lots to consider as they suss out the best ways to make use of the nooks and crannies.

The second map is called Pit Stop. It's a city map set in Twin Falls that supports 10-player-max deathmatch and team deathmatch games. The claustrophobic locale has been heavily modified to keep things lively, and there aren't any places to go to hang out and catch your breath. The mix of high and low ground ensures that no place is safe. Insomniac describes it as "intimate." We say it's pretty much kill or be killed. If running around and maniacally shooting people in the face is your thing, then you'll have a shotgun-pumping good time. If that's not your thing, then prepare to get shot in the face...a lot. To complicate matters, there's some neat ambient stuff going on, such as VTOL airships zipping around above the battle and a massive gun tower in the distance, which will likely perforate you for taking a moment to appreciate it.

Finally, the Outpost map is another 20-player map. It's set amid the lush and deadly forests of Scotia and supports deathmatch, team deathmatch, and Core Control multiplayer modes. Like in the other maps, a cool-looking Chimeran fleet cruises above and will likely get some of your attention when you first start playing on the map. You probably shouldn't admire it for too long, because any slack-jawed yokeling will get you plugged full of holes. The large map features a good mix of open spaces and spots you can try to park yourself in to get clean shots from.

In addition to the map pack, six new skins for competitive mode will be available for 99 cents each. You'll be able to choose from two Chimera skins: the Ravager from R2 and the Cloven from the first Resistance and the just-released Resistance Retribution. Humans are represented by two skin types: male and, new to R2, female. The male skins will offer variations on the Black Ops and Ranger skins. The female skins will include a female ranger and Rachel Parker, the narrator of the first game, who can be tapped to get their lady business on.

All told, the new downloadable content for Resistance 2 is shaping up to be a winning addition to the already rich multiplayer experience. The free content in the patch adds some smart stuff to the great game. At the same time, the new maps come in at what feels like the right price. We can live with $5.99 for three maps that give us more reasons to clock in many more hours of online play. We also appreciate the variety in map types, especially the 10-player map, which adds some new flavor to the action. The skins are a little sketchy, but since you can just pick up what you want, we're cool with it. Look for all the content to hit the PlayStation Store next week.