Customer Reviews

Red Faction 2

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

"Red Faction 2" is a very enjoyable, action-packed, and somewhat mindless shooter full of big weapons and lots of explosions. Were it not for the mediocre graphics and short length, it would be a five-star shooter.

Like the first "Red Faction", this game uses the Geo Mod engine, which allows you to destroy stuff and blow holes in walls. The Geo Mod feature is used extensively in this game, unlike the first "Red Faction", and it adds a lot to the game. It does a good job of feeding that primal desire that you have to blow stuff up. A lot of the game's environments are destructible. You can take a look around the room sometimes after a big battle and see all of the carnage that has been done. In some areas, you may attempt to find cover, but if an enemy has grenades or rockets, then he can blow your cover away. You can get into a few extra rooms and areas by blowing holes in the walls.

The action for the game rarely bogs down or gets boring. After a few shooter levels, you usually get a vehicle ride, during which you get to ride in the gunner's seat and mow down bad guys with a heavy turret or a rocket launcher. In one scene, you get to ride around in a tank blasting away with the cannon while your wisecracking driver rampages through the streets smashing up buildings. The game has the console checkpoint save system that we all love to hate, but the save points are spaced so close together that you will hardly even notice.

The plot for the game is simple, but it is enjoyable, and it actually has a decent twist or two in it. There is no attempt to be something that it isn't. The entire game is like a B-movie action film, complete with macho taunts and death lines. The script is charmingly cheesy, and the voice acting is decent. Lance Henriksen, in fact, voices one of the important characters in the game, and he does a very good job. The different squad members in the game actually have enough variety in their personalities and traits to give the game some character.

The game is so short though, that it is hard to justify paying full price for it. The first time through, I finished it in about 8 hours, and the second time through, I finished it in about 6. The game has different ending cut scenes, depending upon how you play through the game, but I still probably won't play it again. Another problem that this game has is outdated graphics. They are about 2 years or so behind the curve, and even with low object detail, the frame rate sometimes bogs down. Some of the cut scenes in the game are AWFUL. Lip-synching is nonexistent. Characters move their mouths worse than talking mechanical dummies at an amusement park.

If you played "Red Faction" and were kind of disappointed by the lack of use of the Geo Mod engine, then you might want to pick up "Red Faction 2". Or, if you just need something to satisfy your urge for a good shooter, then it will be a good purchase for you.

I'd really enjoyed Red Faction ("RF"). Not as much as other FPS games, perhaps: the storyline had felt a bit fragmented in trying to hold together both the basic idea of a miners' revolt and your archetypical evil-scientist must be stopped plot. The game engine, including the highly touted GeoMod, was particularly slick work. The music score for the game really made my day on many an occasion, just to add to the goodness. All-together, I'd say the original RF got a 4 out of 5. (Reluctantly -- I could almost give it a 5 out of 5, and really wanted to praise Volition that far -- but not quite. I'm a stickler for storytelling being an essential element of any such game.) The sequel ("RF2"), once I'd seen the promo trailer, gave me hope for a much less fragmented storyline. And I'd expected that in a few years Volition would have enhanced the graphics engine of the game with a few new tricks I'd surely like to see.

Well, okay, the story _is_ less fragmented. It fact, it's even a _better_ story. But it's a _shorter_ story, by far. Which, of course, means that the game's life for a solo player is much shorter. RF could have filled a novella, maybe, with its story. RF2, by comparison, was barely a short-story.

The graphics _are_ a bit richer than the original -- although on my "aging" 1.5GHz P4 / 64MB MX440 nVidia the video got choppy. I can forgive any game that needs more recent hardware to run, but I'd bought my machine not more than a year beforehand, which means it probably hit the market all of two years before the game's release. I can forgive it, but it seemed a bit of a needless narrowing of the target audience. That, and ... well, I'll get to that point at the end.

The music score was a great disappointment, however. I'm all for more remixes of my favorite tunes, but I like good original music more than I like more of the same. There was, _maybe_ one or two original pieces for the game beyond the background score for the attract-mode of the game.

And something seemed to have happened to GeoMod between its implementation in the original and the sequel. GeoMod was a great feature in RF. Ever play around in the Glass House that comes with RF? Ever used the RPG launcher to dig a tunnel up above the ceiling and then rain down explosives on the house? Great cathartic fun for a wannabe pyromaniac like me after a long frustrating day at work. The Glass House also makes a great demonstration of how dynamic GeoMod was in the game engine. However, in RF2, I noticed that if I repeatedly went through sections of the same sequence, regardless of where I landed a grenade or detonation pack, the same section of wall or rock would open up in the exact same way. (I'm not _that_ consistent a shot to land a grenade in the same position every time.) It didn't feel like GeoMod any more, it felt like there were removable sections of wall that disappeared if their damage count rose above a threshold. I'll give the developers the benefit of the doubt if they insist that GeoMod really did go into the game, but it did really make me wonder. Regardless of the source of the problem, it did detract from gameplay, more for the disappointment and loss of previous fun than anything inherent, but did none-the-less.

Now, back to that point I was going to make. Above all else, one thing stands out more than anything about this game. I can't blame them for trying to be efficient about managing production costs and time by trying to create a product that's cross-platform from the get-go. It _is_ a gaining trend in game development. If you ever look at the cheat codes you're given (and the game _does_ reveal them over time), they're all encoded in ... game-pad button letters? Oh, my, yes: an alphabet of A, B, C, D, W, X, Y, , and Z. The save-points are restricted to transition points between "levels". And, well ... there's just a bunch of other dead give-aways that if the console version is that different from what you're seeing in the PC version then there was some truly weird goings-on in the development process.

OTOH, the original release price was merely $30, compared to games which have been PC-first releases averaging about $50. I'd say that, proportionately, I got about 60% of the game I normally expect from a large commercial release. That sounds abysmal, really, but it at least had _some_ fun to it.

"Red Faction II" is a good first-person shooter, period. It rivals the likes of "Unreal II," and for all its similarities it is infinitely superior to "Devastation." The icing on the cake, of course, is the fact that this is a budget title, and costs considerably less than what you would usually pay for a game of this type. It's a sweet deal, indeed.

The plot is typical for a game of this sort, but still a decent backdrop for the action, and it even supplies a few twists. What is more noteworthy than the storyline and its characters, though, is the cast that was assembled to voice the game. Jason Statham ("The Transporter," "Snatch") and Lance Henriksen ("Aliens," "The Terminator") are the real highlights. Celebrity voice talent doesn't make a good game, of course, but it certainly seems to imply that this is not a budget title at all, since you generally expect the production quality to suffer if you dish out less dough.

So how about the action? It's furious, and pretty relentless. There are few lulls - which is good, since the campaign runs a little short. The scripting is nicely done, and your arsenal of weapons is in a constant state of expansion. What's more, the weapons, while not particularly original (it's the usual variety of railguns, shotguns, and rocket launchers), pack a satisfying kick, and violently dispose of your foes. When going guns akimbo, it's worth noting that each weapon fires individually - fire your left-hand gun by clicking the right mouse button, and vice versa. Why more shooters fail to use this device is beyond me. It helps as well that your enemies don't rush you and throw themselves in front of your bullets. They behave with a little more sophistication, and will often take cover behind pillars, leap out of range, or attempt to flank your position.

If you are familiar with the original "Red Faction," then you know that one of that game's most hyped features was its deformable terrain. Your rockets can shatter walls, topple pillars, and wreak havoc on the landscape. This is a carry-over feature of the sequel, needless to say, and goes so far as to improve the technology. Granted, you are still limited to what you can destroy by the game's developers, but the wanton mayhem is good fun, and gives "Red Faction II" a style of its own.

Unfortunately, the game's graphics are certainly behind the times. They aren't bad per se, but textures suffer from minimal detail and everything has a brownish "Quake" look about it. Fortunately, enemy and friendly models are decently animated and don't look quite as dull as the scenery that surrounds them. Other detriments to the overall experience: limited save system that speaks volumes about the game's multiplatform release, and, if you're a multiplayer addict, don't bother applying here. And yes, the single player campaign is somewhat brief, but it's very good while it lasts.

In the end, "Red Faction II" is a budget title that doesn't feel like a budget title. The graphics may be dated and the game may be a little short, but given the price tag it's all very, very worthwhile.

Red Faction II is an okay FPS, but not up to ht equality of the first. The game does not have online multiplayer, which really shortens the game's replay value. But if it was anything like the first, multiplayer wouldn't matter.

The actual game is way behind RF1's simgle player mode. The levels are divided into short checkpoints, and there is only one way through the level. The original was one consistant world, in which there were mulitple ways of doing everything. There is no longer the option to use stealth. You can't hide bodies, go undercover, or even silence your pistol. The vechile levels are now rail-shooters, instead of giving you full contol, which makes them kinda boring. To make up for the lack of variety, the game is harder, even on easy. Swarms of enemies bombard you, and its not a fair fight.

The Geo-Mod technology is still there, but it seems kind of useless here. In the first, you truly could make your own paths, blown around locked doors, or create new hiding places. Here, you can only destroy some walls, but tiny things will get in your way. I have a rocket launcher, why can't I destroy a tiny piece of rotting wood?

Graphics are okay, but the framerate has problems. In the end, its just not as good as the first. At least the console verions had split-screen play. But with frustrating levels and lack of online play, there isn't much reason to play this.

News Flash! The Original Is Better Than The Sequel!

I won't bother to go through a diatribe. Simply search for "red faction ii review" in google.com to get as many as you like. Let's just hit the high (or as it may be, LOW) points of this game:

1) No thought required - just shoot. No puzzles, no intrigue, no story to speak of. Just kill, kill, kill. Yawn.

2) Short - very short. I paid money for this?

3) No saving your game. The game only saves at the "transistion" point between levels. If you're in a tough spot and die, you're going to have to go through the entire level again to get to that spot - at which point if you die again, you have go through the entire level again...repeat ad nauseum. Who thought this was a good idea? Having to repeat long stretches of "easy" parts to get back to where you died...but I said no diatribe, didn't I?

4) No real thought required...but I said that already didn't I? It bears repeating.

5) No saving your game - yes, I know I just said that too, but it REALLY IS ANNOYING. I think this just sucks all the joy (what there was, anyway) right out of the game.

6) THQ, the publishers of this disappointing sequel have no support section for this game on their site! Their website simply says "We have not yet posted any Knowledge Base articles for this product." What, they thought no one would have questions? Or maybe they figured there was no point, since no one was going to buy the game after the reviews came out. You can contact their support section through email, though. Presumeably they will answer.

7) Volition, the developers of this game, have no support and no way to contact them that I could find. That's your first clue to the quality of the product, folks. Their website just loops you back into the redfaction2.com site, which has no useful information on it - just a sales pitch. BTW - Volition is a wholly owned subsidiary of THQ, Inc. Hmmm - like father, like son.

One gets the impression that this was a rush job to take advantage of the fond memory that we all had of the original Red Faction.

In conclusion, pass on this one. Maybe if enough people DON'T buy this, the next game will be better. I'm pretty sure that enough people have already complained about it. I really wish I'd read the reviews before I bought this turkey - it would have saved me some bucks, and a lot of dissapointment.

One of the first things you do in this game is blow up a statue of the main bad guy that looks a lot like a cross between Saddam Hussein and Stalin. While I thought that was rather prescient of the developers, what really baked my noodle happens later when you attack a TV studio. A reporter hiding in a back room keeps publicly broadcasting what cowards you are and how badly you're losing the war--all while you're blasting the hell out of the place! I was actually surprised to see he looked nothing like the Iraqi information minister.

With my dinosaur 550 mhz machine I nearly didn't bother loading up this game thinking the geomod stuff would bring my computer to its knees. I'm glad I did because this game absolutely screams for some reason (probably that low polygon count others are complaining about). And it's a ton of fun. Sure it's an EXTREMELY linear, kill everything kind of game, but it does this very well. There's a lot of good variation in gameplay as the game places you in some different vehicles along the way. While these segments are a little too easy, they had me grinning from ear to ear at the mahyem possible when heavy weapons meets geomod.

And about that geomod...don't expect anything revolutionary. The developers made a big mistake overselling this feature as some kind of breakthrough. They should of just billed it for what it is-- more parts of the environment blasting apart than usual. This is a really cool feature if you don't expect the game to revolve around it. Does it change the way you play this game? Nope. Is it pretty cool when you miss a baddie but the wall behind him shatters? Yep.

Better than Unreal? Maybe. As good as a current FPS title? No way. The game is too short, and blowing holes in walls gets real boring after a while. This game looks good however and the parts where you get to pilot tanks and hovercraft is pretty cool but the first game had a better, longer story.

Red Faction II was obviously released in a hurry and relied on the 'success' of Red Faction, which itself was not a great game. I have a number of issues with the it.

Firstly, the graphics are crude. The ... models in the cut scenes consist of about 10 polygons. The characters put their hands right through consoles as they operate them. There are numerous other errors that would have been easy to fix if only someone had spent the time. Clearly the developers took no pride in this product - they just wanted to make a quick buck off the back of Red Faction.

You can't save this game! At least, there's a save option, but no load option! What the heck is this all about? As you complete each section the next section opens up, but there's no continuity. You have to remember where you got to last time you stopped playing and select that section when you start again. As you start each section, the name of the section is not displayed in any way, so you have no way to know which section to resume at. ...

The game is very short, probably the shortest 'full length' FPS game I've played. It's also fairly unstable with crashes and blue screens occuring more frequently than average.

It does have a few strong points, though. Firstly, the ability to 'geo-mod' - Blow holes in walls and stuff - is still there from Red Faction although it's not used to such good effect. There's also a good selection of weapons and the ability to use two identical weapons at the same time. It's all about fire-power, though, there's very little stealth required. It's more like Serious Sam than Deus Ex. The enemy AI is pretty weak too, unlike, say, MOHAA.

The other strong point is the ability to operate vehicles. There are sections where you're a gunner on some kind of flying thing and anothers where you operate mechanized armour and a submarine. I like the variety and I must say they were well done.

...

I'll be short. I bought the first Red Faction for the PS2 and it was a great game. Action packed, decent story and great weapons. I'm not sure what happened to the sequel though.

1. The graphics were terrible (blocky, repeated textures, looked like it was running the Quake 2 engine). The weapons look like they are made of 20 polygons and 1 texture.
2. the enemy AI didn't even exist. They just stood there and kept shooting at you even though you're shooting back.
3. Terrible computer interface. It's not hard to use, it's just really basic, and designed like it was a PS2 or Xbox game.
4. Even though you can save your game at any point, when you die, you restart at the beginning of the level! What in the world? And you only have 1 save game slot! Excuse me, my 60 gig hard drive can fit more on one game at a time. This isn't a 8mb memory card.
5. The geo-mod engine which allows you to destroy the environment only works on about 20% of the time. Only certain walls or floors can be destroyed. Most of the time, you just leave a black burnt mark on the object you're trying to blow up with your giant rocket launcher!
6. No multiplayer - instead you get to play with a bunch of bots. Great...

Overall this is weak game in a very crowded market of first person shooters. There are literally dozens of alternatives that play, look, run, and feel better than this pitiful excuse for a game. Try unreal 2, castle wolfenstein, battlefield 1942, tribes 2, unreal tournament 2003, ravenshield, etc. instead of wasting $... on this game.

The only redeeming feature is that you get to kill alot of people with a variety of guns. But after a day or two this game gets boring really fast.

I like action games, but this one is really from the older generation. Most likely it should be filed in a shelf and played when really bored!