2001 Volition - THQ - PS2
Red Faction is a first person shooter for the PC and PS2 (I'm reviewing the PS2 version, the only one I played). It boasts a new technology called Geo-Mod; an engine which allows you to use your weapons to reshape the environment around you, or to MODify the GEOgraphy.
The original intent of the designers was to make literally anything destructible; while gameplay balancing issues forced them to restrict what you can annihilate, you can still destroy plenty of things that you don't really need to, which is a lot of fun. For instance, is a sniper in a tower is bugging you, you don't NEED to use your rocket launcher to collapse the entire tower and crush him like a bug beneath your shoe. However, you can, and it's a lot cooler than just shooting him. In one multiplayer map, you don't NEED to collapse a huge walkway, causing it to come crashing down on your opponents, but it's (again) fun to be able to do so.
It should be noted that you will need to learn how the Geo-Mod aspect of the game works, because there will be times when you cannot progress without blowing something up. That being said, this new technology is a huge level of advancement in making FPS games a lot more fun.
Now, onto the game itself (pretty capricious, I know). You are an average Joe, working on Mars as a miner for some big company. The company made it sound like you were going into a great job, and you thought you were getting out on your own, away from your overbearing parents (boy, they're really figuring out inventive ways to throw teenage angst into a story nowadays). What you got was anything but.
The company and guards treat the miners like dirt; you sleep twelve people to a six-bed room; when one group is working, the other is sleeping. The guards are mean and take out their frustrations on the miners; they have the right to beat the miners as they please. The envirohazard suits that you're forced to wear 12 hours of every day are hot, cramped, and cumbersome. The food sucks. In addition to all that, a mysterious plague has been claiming the lives of miners left and right. There are no symptoms; one minute you're chatting with your buddy, the next he's dead from the plague.
So, what do the miners do about all this? Well, one of them decides to stage a rebellion, but forgets to plan ahead for the most part. That's where you come in.
You see, when this original rebel announced over the P.A. system that all the miners should rebel, you were the only one to survive (assuming that you didn't die; you start the game about two minutes before the revolution begins), without running and hiding. So, the original rebel and an operations officer named Hendrix (who doesn't seem to have any reason to help you) guide you in completing various tasks to begin to bring down the company.
The storyline is pretty good. I wish I could spoil it for you, but I don't like to do that in reviews. Anyway, there are a good number of surprise twists which do make sense in relation to the story. In fact, the main character (you) is pretty realistic; he's not some sort of super-moral, super-intelligent, natural-born hero; he's a regular guy who doesn't react well to some of the events in the storyline (which is to be expected).
The graphics and sound, simply put, rock. While the environments aren't incredibly detailed, the characters, explosions, and the other things like that are all well-made. The music, voice acting, and sound effects are all pretty good.
This is an FPS, so the most important part of the game is gameplay, and this game has it in spades. Each of the weapons handle differently, but with some work, you can get the hang of them. Even then, they seem to be made for different styles of play; the shotgun isn't necessarily better or worse than the rifle, unless your playing style is better with one than the other. The control is smooth and simple, but not so simple as to remove the fun from the game. I only wish I was better at this style of game, so I could take better advantage of some of the weapons that require more dexterity.
The multiplayer mode is merely adequate. It is deathmatch and only deathmatch. Sure, there are plenty of maps; sure, there are bots with good A.I.; sure, you can do some cool things in multiplayer that you can't (or shouldn't) in single player; in the end, however, there's no cooperative mode, so the deathmatch ends up being just another ''me-too'' situation.
As good as the game itself is, it's merely an FPS, so the replay value is lacking. The nature of the genre dictates such, unless the developers go for a Deus Ex style game.
Overall
Graphics: 8
Sound: 7
Gameplay: 9
Features: 10
Replay Value: 5
Final Verdict: 7
If you really life FPS games, I strongly recommend this. If you're a casual FPS fan, I'd say get this over any other FPS, but go to your favorite genre for a new game first. If you're not an FPS fan, don't play FPS games anyway.
//James
