Resistance, being the latest pack in CO's new content offerings, is also going to be the last adventure pack before the team starts doing the Comic Series. Although it wasn't quite as hyped up as Demonflame was, it was still a highly anticipated content pack. Does it live up to the hype?
Sadly, Resistance was rushed out the door, and while it is extremely fun (or so most everyone else tells me), it has a fair number of bugs that could have been squashed with another week or so of beta testing. For instance, one of the objectives has you cycling images on a series of computer screens in order to get them to match, but unfortunately, the images you cycle don't change, so getting them to match is somewhat random and takes a little bit of luck.
The actual gameplay content is fairly well-polished due to a lot of player feedback on the PTS forums. Some players feel it's a little watered-down from its original iterations, but I personally suspect those players are just whiners. Overall, Resistance is pretty darn fun, and compared to its nigh-unsoloable original version, the current version of Resistance is tough but very soloable. One of my friends soloed it on Elite with a Seraphim build, so while some parts seem hard, there's probably a method you're missing.
The basic premise is that Shadow Destroyer (the boss from the Nemesis Confrontation) has his own corner of an alternate Earth, named Multifaria. Although you stop his plans in NemCon, he's still a problem for the people of his world, and they've formed a resistance group in order to stand a chance against him.
As it's explained in the Resistance trailer, one of the Resistance members stumbles upon a way to Earth and asks for your help. As the portal to Multifaria collapses, it's up to you to take down Shadow Destroyer, help the Resistance, and find your way back home.
Fighting a guerilla war
The first step to victory is to taking on a number of objectives to damage Shadow Destroyer's infrastructure, with the eventual goal of arming the Resistance and weakening the police and military enough that you can get to his prison facility and break out the Old Man, the leader of the Resistance.
These objectives are completed pretty quickly, but there is a pretty big catch -- if you engage the bad guys at all, they will start onlining a Mega-Destroyer Overseer nearby. These ultra-powerful legendary bosses will tear up most players, so if you're detected, you'll have to shut down the Overseer's control console before he starts up. Although it's possible to tank them, they are pretty deadly, especially on Elite.
If you have any stealth powers (including Teleport), things are a lot easier. However, they aren't required -- just get to the Overseer quickly and shut him down before he owns your face.
There is a boss fight near the end, but it's actually not a trouble spot, despite the fact you take on two bosses at once. Compared to the Overseers, the bosses are a cakewalk -- mostly because you scramble a whole bunch of Mega-Destroids (not Overseers) beforehand, and they attack everyone in the area, including the bosses. This can make it challenging to get the boss loot drops, since the Destroids will attack you, so grab them and get out fast.
After you take Shadow Destroyer's infrastructure down a peg, you'll need to escape your pursuers through Multifaria's sewer network. You'll have to perform a fighting retreat as you lay traps for those chasing you.
Some of the objectives are really cool, like avoiding spy drones and fighting baddies while your pals set mines for the incoming Destroids. This sequence is pretty straightforward, and you shouldn't have many problems completing it.
Getting the Old Man out of jail
The prison sequence is one of the more controversial parts of Resistance, since you dress up in various disguises to complete different objectives. Some people think it's a nice change of pace, while others think it's lame that they don't get to use their superpowers all the time. Personally, I think this sequence is awesome.
In order to avoid getting detected, you'll have an EMP gun, which disables security bots. It's got a short cooldown, and it disables bots for more than enough time to run past them. The guards will notice if you go anywhere you're not supposed to and attack, as well. You don't have your superpowers, but your disguises come with a small number of powers to defend yourself with.
Each cellblock has you starting a prison riot in fun and creative ways, from MacGuyvering weapons made from coffee makers and pens to inciting riots between Multifaria's versions of Ferd (from the Desert Crisis) and Black Fang (from Vibora Bay).
After each cellblock, you'll succeed in starting a riot and take on a boss. Because you have an option between Cell Block B and Cell Block C, there's a little bit of replayability to the adventure pack. The bosses are all standard Super Villain fare. If you're pretty adept at taking down SVs in the normal game, they shouldn't be too hard. There's even a perk for taking them down while you're using your disguise.
At the end, you'll fight Arcana, who is every bit as amusing as her Earth counterpart. Unfortunately, she doesn't have voice acting (the other bosses in Resistance do), which is probably a bug. I'm a bit disappointed that her Demon Key doesn't give some snarky comments like "You again?!" but I guess we can't win them all.
Oh, and if you guessed who the Old Man was, don't worry. We all did, too.
You finally get down and busy, and the game gives you one final disguise.
It's also totally awesome.
There's a perk for not using it, but it makes the next section -- weakening Shadow Destroyer's control over the Qliphothic (that evil hell place you go in Demonflame) -- a whole lot easier.
After you've done that, you'll be stripped of your disguise and brought in for the final fight. The Old Man is backing you up for the fight with Shadow Destroyer. It's time to get to work! Because Resistance is intended to be solo content, Shadow Destroyer is much easier than his NemCon counterpart, presumably because you just destroyed his links to the Qliphothic.
The first thing that is very important for you to know: There is a Resistance member dispensing health items nearby. Before you jump into the fight, make sure you know where he is! He will save your life, especially if you have no self-healing powers. The final fight is a little on the long side, so it's easy to get worn down.
Destroying the void crystals that Shadow Destroyer attempts to draw power from will do some damage to him; your main goal is to kill them while he's standing next to them and back up the Old Man with some up-front damage. Eventually he'll transition to the next phase of the fight.
The Endbringer is the final boss of the adventure pack. If the Old Man goes down in the fight, he'll take a knee and patch up his armor, leaving you to fight the Endbringer. If this happens (and it probably will), block! I recommend just keeping your guard up and either healing yourself or taking advantage of those health packs until the Old Man gets back on his feet. Once he does so, continue unloading damage on the Endbringer. The Endbringer deals a ton of damage and is hard to tank even for most tanking heroes (but not impossible). The entire team should probably lay off DPS if your tank cannot build threat against the Endbringer while blocking.
On harder difficulties, Shadow Destroyer will jump in the fight occasionally. Again, make sure you make use of those healing items. If the Old Man isn't holding the Endbringer's attention, block like a madman, because the two of them can take down your life fast. Otherwise, beat down Shadow Destroyer until he retreats.
The Endbringer isn't that tough if you block when the Old Man gets weak and deal with Shadow Destroyer if he pops out. Once you've finished them up, you've finished with Resistance; you can take the portal back home.
The rewards
Most of the drop rewards are adventure pack fare: your standard overpowered blue items everyone has come to love, and your UNTIL tokens, which you can use to buy costume parts and bonus items.
However, all of the new Resistance costume unlocks are drops. I'm sure they'll be all over the auction house in a week or two if you're too lazy to farm them. This does mean that the UNTIL tokens you rack up will have to be spent on Serpent Lantern or Demonflame gear; it also means that if you are a Silver member, you should probably get one of those packs first (probably Demonflame, as its storyline ties into Resistance a little bit) so that you can actually spend your tokens. Also, some of the drops (such as the Endbringer wings) only drop on Elite difficulty.
There are also quite a few new perks, for those achievement-hunters out there. Happy hunting!
Is Resistance worth the 420 Cryptic Points for Silver members? I feel that it is; it's more team content you can do with friends, the costume unlocks are cool, and the story is pretty awesome. If you don't own another adventure pack already, I'd suggest grabbing one of those first, but chances are if you're planning on buying Resistance, you picked both of them up in last week's big adventure pack sale. Either way, good luck, and I'll see you next week!
When he's not touring the streets of Millennium City or rolling mooks in Vibora Bay, Patrick Mackey goes Behind the Mask to bring you the nitty-gritty of the superhero world every Thursday. Whether it's expert analysis of Champions Online's game mechanics or his chronicled hatred of roleplaying vampires, Patrick holds nothing back.
