Most welcome to those of us who held out on the original Resistance: Fall of Man's downloadable content are free map packs. Yes, both map packs for the PlayStation 3 launch title have been freed from their costly bonds, now available for a suggested retail price of zero dollars and zero cents.

Additionally, you can sex up your Ex-ross Media Bar with three new R2 themes, also gratis. Thanks, Insomniac!

Free Resistance 2 Themes, R:FOM Map Packs, and More [PlayStation.blog]

Online multiplayer with up to sixty people, an extensive eight-player cooperative campaign, bigger polygon counts, more massive enemies and a world-spanning adventure all add up to the epic, but succinctly named Resistance 2. Set just a few years after the events of Resistance: Fall of Man, the sequel continues right where the first left off, dropping what didn't work and largely improving upon what did.

Did we give in to our primal urges for Resistance 2? Or did we put up a fight?

Loved
Massive Scale, Perfectly Paced: Nathan Hale is quite the jet setter in Resistance 2, traveling to and from exotic locales like the Air Force Bases of Iceland to the small logging towns of California. The scope of R2 never fails to impress, with bigger than ever Chimera and retro sci-fi settings rarely explored in other first-person shooters. Awesome early set pieces set the hectic pace appropriately. We wish Insomniac hadn't shown the San Francisco invasion ahead of time, as the sheer size of the invading fleet would have been even more awe-inspiring.

New Weapons, New Enemies: Now limited to just two weapons at a time, Hale's arsenal gets upgraded with some great new gimmicks, including the shield-generating Wraith chain-gun and the ridiculous, saw blade-shooting Splicer. As a whole, weapons lack a sense of weight or punch, but that doesn't detract from the joy of amputating hordes of Grims. That new addition to the Chimeran bestiary is the most enjoyable to dispatch, just one of many that feels shamelessly lifted from recent Hollywood sci-fi flicks.

Cooperative: Eight-player co-op is what will keep you coming back to Resistance 2. The class variety, the leveling, the unlockable goodies, the constant drip-feed of experience points — it all adds up to an addicting experience that we've really just begun to scratch the surface of. Hardcore Resistance fans may be disappointed to see a leaner multiplayer offering, but the cooperative mode, with its interesting unique classes will ease the pain.

Competitive: Standard stuff, with the exception of the constantly changing Skirmish mode, which switches from assassination to capture point to team death match modes on the fly. Getting in and out of multiplayer games and tracking your stats is beautifully user-friendly. Insomniac does right by its fans with a well designed community portal for tracking your, as advertised, 420 hours plus of progression.

Hated
Campaign: My slog through Resistance 2's weakest "C" took but nine hours to complete, but it felt like an eternal sludge of predictable Chimeran assaults with all eight six eyes on me and me alone. The majority of the boss fights weren't just forgettable, they were the sort of thing I couldn't wait to forget. Yes, they're big and often loaded with tension, but they're also incredibly trying and sometimes ambiguous in their objectives. Much of the single-player campaign just felt like swimming through a sea of gunfire, ambush after ambush held together by a vanilla story.

Cheap Deaths: The cloaked Chameleons aren't the worst of Resistance 2's sins of cheap deaths. You'll eventually learn where they spawn after a few die and retry attempts. It's the lame, one-hit kill Fury that live under bulletproof water and the slaps from the Leviathan that made me go berzerk. There are few things more personally loathsome than first-person platforming and gotcha, how-could-I-have-possibly-seen-that-coming kills. After blowing through the first Resistance with relative ease, dying 136 times in the sequel left a pretty bad taste in my mouth.

Wonky Physics, Inconsistent Presentation: There are plenty of things, aesthetically, that Insomniac nails with Resistance 2. Bizarre physics — did that Chimeran soldier really just launch skyward after being sniped in the face? How long will that LAARK bounce around the room? — and the occasionally dull environment aren't quite highlights.

If anything, Resistance 2 could be pitched as the holiday shooter that's "bigger, better and more bad-ass." Everything has been upped for the sequel, with a workable 60-person multiplayer option, a ton of fan service for the Resistance enthusiast and a co-op mode that's not only fun as hell, but fleshes out the core story line. The intel collect-a-thons certainly aren't my thing, nor is trying to piece together all the disparate plot points, but the hardcore Resistance fan has been very well taken care of. It may be that the novelty of a sci-fi shooter set in the mid-twentieth century has worn off a bit and that the game looks a bit underwhelming in light of the competition, but I actually recall enjoying the first a bit more.

Given the depth of Resistance 2's multiplayer and co-op though, those first nine hours spent chugging through the single-player campaign will probably be forgotten in favor of fondly remembering the entire experience.

Resistance 2 was developed by Insomniac Games, published by Sony Computer Entertainment America and released on Nov. 4 for PlayStation 3. Retails for $59.99 USD. Completed single-player campaign, tested 8-player coop, and multiplayer modes.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

Spooky Demonic Narrator Guy issues the ominous warning — to, we're assuming, either Resistance: Fall of Man protagonist Nathan Hale or Resistance 2 players — "You think you can resist, but you haven't seen what we're truly capable of." Explosions, flesh eating and gargantuan space ships follow — the kind of stuff you demand from your first person shooters.

Unfortunately, the whole thing's a low-fi affair. Here's to hoping we see it in more glorious resolutions at E3.

Resistance 2 - 2nd Trailer. [YouTube]

The bad news is that Mr. C says he needs to sell his PlayStation 3 in order to scrounge up the funds to travel home to see his father, who is very ill, for the first time in seven years and possibly for the final time. A plane ticket to Bulgaria, he says, isn't cheap, so the very neat PS3 must go.

Sure, you may have doubts about the validity of the whole thing, especially since we're not sure Bulgaria is even a real country. But being dishonest about something this grave will only secure you the finest lake of fire in Hell, so we're taking off the cynic's hat for once. David's plea is after the link and after the jump.

ONE-OF-A-KIND LASER-ETCHED SONY PLAYSTATION 3! 120GB!! [eBay]

Dear Kotaku Editors,

Last April, I was the winner of your one-of-a-kind Red Laser-Etched PS3. I thank you very much for letting me have it, but unfortunately I have run into a situation where I have need to sell it.

You may not believe the story that you are about to read but it is 100% the truth. I just didn't want some Kotaku reader to find it on ebay and it end in a post about how I am just out for money etc, and didn't appreciate it.

I am a poor college student. My father lives in Bulgaria and is suffering from cancer. I haven't seen him since I was 15, and I am almost 22 now. The cancer has been in remission for many years but has suddenly taken a turn for the worse. I need to fly there to see him as it very well may be the last time that I have the chance. I am so broke I can barely feed myself and go to school much less afford this ticket. I have no credit history and can't get a private loan. Really my only choice is to sell something and the awesome PS3 you guys gave me is the only expendable and valuable thing that I own. I love it, but if there was ever a good reason to sell it this is it.

It occurred to me that this type of thing may go for well more than I need. And if it does I will donate what I can to Child's Play. Unfortunately I don't know the exact amount (at least 1600 total) that I will need to cover this whole trip. I just know that I need to go as soon as possible.

Anyway, this is the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250262768816

thanks again,

I wish I had been able to keep it but I would never forgive myself if I didn't try to see him.

D

Chimera Skull from Playstation 3 game TV ad [eBay - thanks, Benj!]

One of the first games expected to shine in one of Home's series of game portals is Insomniac's Resistance: Fall of Man. Resistance is said to provide Home visitors with an interesting room to explore, one that will let PlayStation 3 owners visit unseen areas of the game and tap into bonus content in the form of "intercepted" radio communications between European and U.S. forces.

These hidden transmissions will help to flesh out the Resistance story, giving players a better understanding of the game's conflict. We hear that Home avatars will have free roam of unpopulated levels, not unlike a virtual Resistance museum.

As interesting as these plans are to Resistance fans like us, they're not as impressive as what we've heard about what Home in store for Warhawk and Uncharted. Stay tuned.

Since the story broke, Manchester Cathedral has seen a significant rise in visitor numbers...Teachers tell us that teenagers in particular are interested to see a building which they thought was fictional.

For instance, did you realize that the single-player campaign is pretty much finished, the game's narration is dead, the 8 person campaign multiplayer will support a class system ala Battlefield 2 and Team Fortress, or that Insomniac is doing their damndest to get 60 players on a map at once? If not, you might want to hit up the link for a full refresher course. Because that and a bottle of Cholula will pretty much set you until fall 2008.

Previews: Resistance 2 [1UP via PS3Blog]

Please, no Wii Date Rape jokes in the comments. It's beneath you.

Ghost Squad: neue Printanzeige [WiiGamer via UK:R]

On December 18, 2007, Sony filed a trademark for "Resistance 2" in relation to a video game. And while it's not uncommon for companies to go on the trademark defensive, ensuring that another company won't steal the title, we already totally knew that Insomniac is developing Resistance 2. You know, even though we don't at all.

Resistance 2 [trademork]

The mag points to Sony's use of an eviscerated, beheaded goat as a centerpiece for a God of War II promotion as 61st dumbest business move of the year. Close by, at number 63, was the decision to use a bombed out Manchester Cathedral as a backdrop for the PlayStation 3 game Resistance: Fall of Man. Hey, they may have lost a few fans in the church, but this one seems a bit harsh, Fortune editors. It's not like they actually bombed the cathedral for reference shots.

101 Dumbest Moments in Business [Fortune - thanks, Kenneth!]

Champagne fountains are overrated.
And to top if off, there was a special "homage to Burning Man." Ouch. But I have a feeling Master Chief's Spartan armor can handle the Resistance flame war and still manage to sell another bajillion copies before the day is through.

RESISTANCE REINVENTED [threespeech]

It's been great to have a network that can facilitate the map-pack downloads, demos and trailers for both Resistance: Fall of Man and Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction. The number of users on PSN has been rising steadily and we absolutely plan to support them with more new content coming soon.

D+Pad Nov 2007 [via maxconsole]

The full list of changes in the latest patch is after the jump, courtesy of Insomniac's James Stevenson, a man who simply cannot be faulted for his gaming blog preference.

New Features
- Player with a USB keyboard attached to their Playstation 3 may now take in-game screenshots by pressing the "printscreen" key (multiplayer only). There will be a slight pause as the screenshot is taken. The screenshots will be viewable from the Photo bar of the XMB menu.
- Players may now create a custom game that requires a password for other players to join. When creating a custom game, select the option named "password" and enter the desired password from the on-screen keyboard. Players who are invited into a password protected game by another player already in the game do not need to enter a password to accept the invite. Password protected games will be indicated by a "lock" icon next to the game name in the "Find Game" screen.
- Bullseye Tags may be turned off as a custom game option without turning off the bullseye.
- Carbine 40mm Grenades may be turned off as a custom game option without turning off the carbine.
- There is a new game option named "Send Voice Chat To All". If this is enabled, then all players in the game may hear voice chat sent from any other player in the game, including players on the opposing team and spectators. Squad voice chat will still only be heard by members of the same squad. This option defaults to off.
- The game option "Round balancing" now has a third option available to custom games - "Aggressive". If round balancing is set to aggressive, it will attempt to rebalance the teams every round based on how well the players scored in the previous round to create the most even teams. "Aggressive" round balancing WILL split parties.
- Both Multiplayer and Singleplayer Resistance: Fall of Man now support the rumble feature of the Playstation Dual Shock 3 controller.

Balance Changes
- Range and damage on the Rossmore 236 has been decreased for both primary and secondary fire modes
- Reload time of the LAARK L209 has been increased.
- Projectile speed of the LAARK L209 has been decreased.
- Splash damage radius of the LAARK L209 has been decreased.
- Hedgehog grenade splash damage has been generally increased, although the radius in which it will kill a player in 1 hit has been decreased.
- Frag grenade splash damage radius has been decreased.
- Arc charger fire rate has been increased.
- Arc charger clip size has been reduced.
- Arc charger damage has been decreased for the primary fire and increased for the secondary fire.
- Rate of fire the bullseye tag (secondary fire) has been decreased.

Bug Fixes
- Fixed several possible collision exploits
- The "Elite Soldier" and "Assassin" medals are now obtainable in all ranked gametypes instead of just Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch
- "Defender" ribbons obtained in ranked CTF games will now correctly add to your total stats
- Fixed several issues that could cause party members to drop out of a party
- Various lobby, disconnect, and miscellaneous fixes.

It is a disgrace that Resistance: Fall of Man has been shortlisted... Sony has admitted that they did not have permission to film or use Manchester Cathedral in their computer game... Bafta should not be seen condoning such behaviour unless they are saying it is acceptable for producers to walk into historic buildings and film interiors - ignoring contracts, rights and liability.

Bafta (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) has stated that the award which Resistance is up for, the PC World Gamers' Award, is public voted. Although they didn't say it outright, I'm assuming this means they are absolving themselves from any responsibility in the matter and basically telling the Church to take a hike. This final bit from the Dean of Manchester Cathedral, however, is priceless:

(The Dean) then called on Sony to abide by new "sacred digital guidelines" as he feared other buildings would be cloned for "virtual desecration".

Sacred digital guidelines? Wow... just, wow. Sounds like something a certain Florida lawyer might come up with...

Church criticises gun game award [BBC News]

[Thanks, HellblazerUSA]

Manchester Cathedral was ransacked during the English Civil War in 1649, half-destroyed by German bombs in 1940, and bombed by the Irish Republican Army in 1996. It survived all these attacks. Its patrons rebuilt it.

And it stands still today. Resistance adds a fictional homage to the church's resolve, this time in an alternate history fraught by an enemy that neither understands nor cares for human practices like religion. And it survives this as well. The Church of England sees their cathedral's presence in Resistance only as a sordid juxtaposition, the sanctity of worship set against the profanity of violence. But when viewed in the context of the game's fiction, the cathedral serves a purpose in the game consonant with its role in the world: that of reprieve for the weary and steadfastness in the face of devastation.

The Manchester bishop obviously didn't agree, but Bogost points out that this flap provided yet another platform for 'concerned citizens' to rail against video games and perceived links between virtual and very real violence. Would the flap been as big if there hadn't been some religious angle to foam at the mouth about?

Persuasive Games: The Reverence Of Resistance [Gamasutra]

My roommate convinced me to play a couple rounds of co-op mode with him and I figured why not, if nothing else, he can do all the work and I'll just duck and cover a lot. Well, I don't know if it was the game, the controller or some miracle, but I found that I was able to do pretty well with it and even became a grenade expert, waiting for the precise moment when a big group of aliens got together and then blowing them all to smithereens. Certainly the engaging storyline helped retain my interest and the sight of those giant War of the Worlds-esque gatherers sent me shuddering which in my mind is always a sign of a good game.

So now Resistance has become not only my first real positive FPS experience, it's also become what I like to call my BioShock Trainer. If all goes as planned I should be all ready to put the hurting on some genetic mutants when the game comes out next week, but I will always remember Resistance fondly. A boy never forgets his first FPS.

Insomniac CEO Ted "I'm So Nice" Price says of the initiative "The 'R&D' page on the Insomniac website is meant to share knowledge with fellow studios about PS3 development while giving our fans a detailed look into how we make our games. This page will also help explain our production philosophies."

Insomniac explains that its goal is to document "our current research and development in hopes of supporting the PS3 development community and enhancing overall development for its core technologies such as the CELL processor and RSX." It's also a kind of behind the scenes look at past, present and future development, built just for computer nerds.

What does it all mean? Better looking PLAYSTATION 3 games, we hope. Maybe, just maybe, some developers will even discover the secret to unlocking a consistent frame rate in their PS3 titles. I'm looking at you, everyone who's not Team Ninja or Insomniac.

Insomniac R&D [Insomniac Games]

I would think it's pretty clear that the combination of high price, the loss of numerous exclusives, various Sony PR missteps and little in the way of standout exclusive software is probably the reason behind some of the cool reception. But, hey, I just work here.

While Price is concerned, justifiably so, of negative press and its impact on his company's PS3 game Resistance: Fall of Man, some of us who own both aren't as upset about the alleged muddy spin. While I feel I'm getting the most out of my investment in this impressive piece of kit, others are having a hard time justifying the buy in. I also can't say I'm too unhappy from an ownership perspective that the press is keeping Sony on its toes to work harder at making the PS3 a success.

Ted Price: PS3 Has Become 'Whipping Boy' for Press [GameDaily Biz]

Based on my single visit to Insomniac Games, I can confirm that it is indeed an awesome place to work, solely judged on the high availability of delicious snacks. That's why I'm awarding them the first annual Kotaku award "Best Company At Which To Snack In America." Congratulations, Insomniac. Michael McWhertor

Insomniac Games among Top 10 for 3rd Straight Year in 50 "Best Companies to Work for in America" rankings.

"Once Again, Ratchet & Clank® and Resistance: Fall of Man Creators Remain First & Only Videogames Company Honored"

BURBANK, Calif. (FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE): Independent console videogames developer Insomniac Games has once again distinguished itself as being among the best studios to work for in the games industry. For the third straight year, Insomniac retained its unique distinction of being the first and only videogames company named to the "50 Best Small & Medium Sized Companies to Work for in America" list.

The rankings were announced before an estimated audience of 15,000 at the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) 59th Annual Conference & Exposition in Las Vegas. Despite a 20-plus percent increase in applicants since last year — and a combined 50 percent increase since 2005 — Insomniac ranked 8th in the small companies category. Insomniac Games is the only company in the history of the small business category to earn a Top 10 ranking for three-straight years, remains the first and only videogames developer included on the list, and is the only company in the "TV, Film and Video" category to be recognized this year. In addition, Insomniac is Southern California's lone representative to the small business list.

"Last year was among the most challenging in Insomniac's history as we prepared to release Resistance: Fall of Man™ worldwide with the launch of PLAYSTATION®3," said Ted Price, Insomniac Games' founder and CEO. "Yet we delivered a top-rated and top-selling game — on time — while retaining our Top 10 ranking as one of the best small companies to work for in America. Therefore, it's especially gratifying to demonstrate again that it's possible in the games industry to achieve excellent results while maintaining a collaborative and stimulating workplace culture."

SHRM, the world's largest human resources management organization, recognizes the top 25 small and top 25 medium companies in America that have used smart people management strategies to develop successful organizations with highly productive and satisfied workforces. The results were primarily based on a randomly distributed employee opinion survey that measures several categories such as workplace environment, management's responsiveness to employee feedback, and adherence to company philosophy. In addition, further assessments of company programs, practices and workplace culture were factored into judging.

Insomniac Games remains the only North American videogames developer to be honored in any ranking compiled by the Great Places to Work Institute ® (GPTW). The organization is perhaps best known for producing Fortune magazine's annual "100 Best Companies to Work for®" list, which ranks companies with more than 1,000 employees. Two videogames publishers have made GPTW's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" list since it was first published in 1984.

Insomniac Games is best known for creating the multi-million unit selling Ratchet & Clank® and Spyro the Dragon® franchises for the PlayStation® game console and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The company is responsible for the top-selling Resistance: Fall of Man, exclusively for PLAYSTATION®3 and is currently developing Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction™ for exclusive release on PLAYSTATION 3 this fall. Insomniac, with 150 employees, continues to seek new employees in a variety of production-related positions.

About Insomniac Games Insomniac Games is a wholly independent console videogames developer that has released award-winning hits for the PlayStation® game console, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and PLAYSTATION®3 for 13 years. The company created the first three Spyro the Dragon® games, the Ratchet & Clank® franchise and Resistance: Fall of Man™, which have combined to sell more than 25 million units worldwide. Insomniac Games is currently developing Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction™, which will release this fall, exclusively for PLAYSTATION 3.

In addition to making blockbuster videogames, Insomniac is known for ranking among the top four "Best Small Companies to Work for in America" in 2005 and 2006 and among the Top 10 for 2007, according to the Great Places to Work Institute and Society for Human Resources Management. More information can be found at http://www.insomniacgames.com/ or by listening to Insomniac's "Full Moon Show" podcast, available on iTunes and the studio's website.