Resistance 2 (PlayStation 3)

What if you had to hoist a Gatling gun and unleash every bullet into an enormous 300 foot-tall leviathan stomping through Chicago? All in a day's work in RESISTANCE 2, the follow-up to 2006's Resistance: Fall of Man for the PS3. This sequel still takes place in an alternate history (1953, to be exact) and once again, we're trying to resist an invasion by the nasty, bug-like Chimera alien race, now appearing on U.S. soil (as opposed to fighting in the UK with the first game).

Played from a first-person perspective, the lengthy and challenging single-player campaign takes you, as Nathan Hale, to major cities with familiar landmarks. You'll have access to many sci-fi-like weapons at your disposal; back again are the Bullseye (shoot a tag and then all subsequent bullets follow the tag, even when facing another way) and the Auger (a powerful gun that can see and shoot through walls). New weapons include the Marksman, a rifle that packs a serious punch; the Splicer, a gun that fires ricocheting saw blades; and the Spider Grenade, which ignites everything within a large radius.

Even with the outstanding enemy artificial intelligence, nothing beats playing online against other human players. Resistance 2 ships with many co-op and head-to-head multiplayer modes, supporting up to 60 players online. In the team-based Skirmish mode, for example, four to six gamers join a squad, and each has a specific objective to complete, such as advancing to a control point, regrouping with other squads, attacking enemies, defending a base, and so on. An enemy squad, however, has the exact opposite objective as your team, therefore your mission might be to find and destroy a communications post, while the rival squad's task is to protect them at all costs. One of our favorite maps was "Scotia," based on a heavily forested northern Californian town.

If you liked the first Resistance, you'll love this sequel. The talented developers at Insomniac Games, led by Ted Price, have done a "bang up" job creating this fictitious world with memorable monsters, over-the-top weaponry, and multiple ways to play online. While not for children or young teens because of its violence and gore, Resistance 2 is an exhausting and exciting action experience and one of the best PS3 titles of the year.