Tieno said:
Can you give a couple examples?
Without spoiling anything, the game essentially provides a large number of unique enemies with specific attacks that you come to recognize. As you encounter them, you will also begin to learn how best to deal with them (though there are always different options at your disposal). Like Halo, each enemy has an optimal method of takedown that, while not necessarily difficult to figure out, requires skill to pull off when it matters. You then mix in the variations in level design with the types of weapons you are using and you ammo count, and formulate a strategy.
Early on, you encounter low enemy numbers while using a limited arsenal. At this stage, the game is quite run and gun with a focus on simply moving forward taking out a few enemies here and there. Looking back, this is actually perfectly fine the face of everything else offered, but it wouldn't have worked for an entire game.
Using an approach similar to that of Bungie, the game throws you into various mini-scenarios making up larger levels.
Consider how a few of these enemies work;
You have a basic hybrid which uses a repeater like weapon that will tear you up pretty quickly, but it is easy enough to avoid and you can take cover to avoid it completely (of course, the AI becomes very aggressive and will flank you, use grenades, and generally flush you out).
There is another enemy using the Auger, which can fire through walls (a cool watery effect where the shot is penetrating will appear). Their shots are slower, but can follow you through anything.
Next, you have the enemies which can slowly make their way to you (zombie like) and grab you (shake them off with the sixaxis). These fellas work more like traps than anything else, as they are easy to dispose of, but when mixed with the others, they can become a danger.
You also have flood like creatures, large beasts with very powerful shots, the stalkers, and many more. The variation in their offense and defense allows for many excellent combat situations. The areas in which you encounter them also have a significant impact on how you must deal with them. There is a lot of multitasking present (you have to keep track of the battlefield as a whole and determine which targets need to go down first).
There are plenty of shared mechanics with Halo that allow for all of this to work out well. The melee attack is balanced well and is very strong (just as it was in Halo), but isn't suitable for every situation (also as it was in Halo). Grenades are instant and effective (the air fuel is my favorite, as it sticks to anything, let's out a gas cloud that fills an area, and then ignites). The health system is setup in an interesting fashion, with your recharging function limited to one piece at a time. If one of the four pieces if depleted, it will not recharge by itself (requires a health canister). An interesting mix of ideas that works. You are still able to take risks without ruining your chances later on, but must take greater care overall.
The larger weapon loadout isn't an issue, however, as they are all so very unique. I still prefer the Halo two weapon design overall, but in this case, their descision works very well.
On top of the core design, there is the fact that the areas you work through are just so incredibly cool and varied. The pacing is excellent and you never feel as if they are forcing you into one type of gameplay/area for too long.
I could go into more detail, but that would make for a crazy long post and I haven't actually fully explored everything you can do just yet. Suffice to say, this is a perfect blend of Halo with something like Half-Life 2. It's a perfect bridge between Halo and the PC FPS.
I still prefer Halo's gameplay overall, but this is about as close as anyone has gotten. For those who were bothered by the repetitive nature of Halo's levels, you'll also be pleased to know that nothing of that sort occurs here (of course, that never really bothered me outside of High Charity in Halo 2). The AI is solid in Resistance, but not quite as impressive as Halo's. It's a huge step up from just about any other recent FPS I've played, though.
So I guess the site really is still in Beta. I'll try back later.
