On the brink of annihilation, mankind resumes the fight against the unstoppable Chimera on the shores of the United States. And thus the stage is set for Resistance 2, the highly anticipated follow-up to Insomniac Games’ best-selling PS3 launch title, developed exclusively for the PS3. Players will once again step into the war-torn boots of Nathan Hale, who not only faces near impossible odds on the battlefield, but also constantly struggles with the Chimeran virus raging inside his own body. In addition to an epic single-player campaign, Resistance 2 will offer a truly unprecedented eight-player, class-based online co-op campaign with a separate, parallel storyline and 60-player online competitive multiplayer built upon a ‘massive battles, greater intimacy’ mantra. Players can also expect a re-designed MyResistance.net featuring social networking tools designed to enhance a user’s gameplay experience whether they’re engaged in single, co-op or competitive combat

Picking up immediately where Resistance: Fall of Man concluded, Resistance 2 follows. Nathan Hale as he finds himself once more in a world transformed by war and invasion. Undaunted by their defeat in London, the Chimera have continued to advance, now poised to attack the United States. Entire cities have been leveled and communities annihilated. In this war where the odds are so heavily stacked against the human race, few are left who are willing and able to fight.

Fortunately, Hale is not alone. A group of super soldiers simply known as the Sentinels will fight alongside Hale as they collectively attempt to thwart the inevitable.

Today, October 16th, the public beta for Resistance 2 will begin in North America. The beta will offer gamers a glimpse at Resistance 2’s online competitive and co-op modes ahead of the game’s launch on November 4th. SCEA will be admitting players in two waves: a Premiere wave which includes those that pre-ordered at GameStop, individuals who subscribed to QORE for one year and/or bought the episode featuring Resistance 2 and a recent contest from GamePro.com. People chosen for the Premiere wave should be receiving an email with a registration code between now and tomorrow afternoon. A second wave is starting in the middle of next week, and you apply to be a part of it by going to the MyResistance site. For those of you across the pond in Europe, the public beta will also begin next week.

The Beta will include competitive maps from three locations in the game. These maps include 60-, 40-, and 20-player maps from Orick, 40- and 20-player maps from Chicago, and the 10-Player map Sub Docks (Bay Area). New modes Skirmish and Core control will be supported, along with Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. The co-op portion of the beta will focused on Orick, and will support randomization of your play-path. Both co-op and competitive will support matchmaking and class/character progression up to level 10. This will allow unlocking of new equipment, upgrades and berserks for character customization.

The game’s multiplayer modes are also set to make a huge impact in the gaming world. Co-operative play, where players team up to tackle a campaign, can often feel constrained in levels designed for single players. Not so with Resistance 2, where squads can undertake a fully independent online campaign built specifically for co-operative play – a feature that demonstrates developer Insomniac Games’ commitment to online gaming. The large scale battles are combined with levels that are designed to be slightly different each time you play. Up to eight players can join forces to face the Chimera together while choosing from three distinct class types. Players can also look forward to vast 60-person online battles in which players join squads with distinct battlefield objectives and fight it out on PlayStation Network, the home of multiplayer online play. The combination of squad objectives and large player-count will give Resistance 2 the perfect blend of epic battlefield chaos and intimate close-quarters combat.

Features :

• Take on the role of Nathan Hale as he battles the Chimeran virus raging within. Fight for humanity’s survival against new swarms of vicious Chimera equipped with new weapons along with re-designed favorites from Resistance: Fall of Man such as the Bullseye and Auger.
• Set in an alternate reality 1953 America, explore highly-detailed and interactive environments where the familiar meshes with the alien, resulting in an American landscape both beautiful and haunting.
• Experience online co-op in a completely new way. Choose between three distinctive character classes and join seven other players to battle through a unique story that parallels the main campaign. Players will also enhance their characters’ attributes as they unlock new armor sets and equipment along the way.
• Online competitive multiplayer – a cornerstone to Resistance: Fall of Man’s global appeal – just got better. Engage in massive 60-player competitive combat with an entirely new squad-based focus designed to balance progression, firefights and rivalries.
• Join MyResistance.net, an unrivaled FPS community complete with skill-based match-ups, dedicated gaming/community/stats servers, social networking tools and an open invite system.

Resistance 2 is scheduled to launch Nov. 4, 2008