Red Faction II – PC – Review

Thank goodness for THQ and
the FPS title Red Faction. When it was originally released, it was probably the
only thing that saved my opinion of the PS2 since the launch titles and most of
the games that had been released up until that point were very disappointing.
Red Faction did things that no other FPS had done at the time. You could drive
vehicles, blow holes in walls, and the storyline really veered off of the
standard plots that we had come to expect from the FPS market. Well, when you
set the bar high, expectations of greatness get even higher if a sequel is
planned. Needless to say, I was charged up about getting Red Faction II for PC,
and 72 hours later … I’m wondering what happened to this series that saved the
Playstation 2 for me a year or two ago.

For anyone who hasn’t played
the original Red Faction, you played as a lone individual fighting for your
freedom from a slave-mining colony on Mars. You meet up with the elusive Red
Faction in your struggle against the corporation, and find out that they are a
group of rebels fighting for their freedom as well. Through your efforts and
their assistance you manage to get free. In Red Faction II, THQ takes the battle
from the confines of Mars and back down to earth. You play as Alias, one of five
genetically enhanced super soldiers working for the man who created you … a
tyrannical leader named Sopot. Sopot decides that all of the super beings he
created are too smart and dangerous, and the order is given to exterminate every
one of them including you and your buddies. You and your crew team up with the
Red Faction to assassinate Sopot, and are led into an action packed story with a
couple of surprise plot twists and developments along the way.

To its credit … RFII is just
chock full of action and destruction. There are a lot of intense and extreme
firefights that break out along the way, and the Geo Mod technology makes it
that much more entertaining. If you haven’t played the first one, Geo Mod is the
ability to damage and destroy the environment you are fighting in. Basically, if
you run across a locked door … hit the side of it with a rocket to blast a hole
in that you can climb through. Some of the battles that I got into left things
like a TV station lobby or a city block looking like WWIII had just taken place,
which adds to the overall feel of the game. Once again, not everything in the
game is Geo Mod capable since office chairs, lights, desks, and many walls are
still rocket proof … but there’s enough of it there for some demolishing fun.

Another great thing about
the original title that is found in the sequel is the use of vehicles. In RFII,
you get to hop into tanks, hoverships, submarines, and even a giant mobile armor
suit that makes you look like a mech, each with its own destructive
capabilities. While this was great, and things like that tend to break up the
monotony of constantly running on foot all the time, I found that the vehicle
scenes in this game were a little too A to B which is different from the
original. Basically, a lot of the vehicles (Except the sub and the battle armor)
that you get into have you playing the role of the gunner, so the game runs on
rails while you blow up everything in sight. It’s still fun, but I was wishing I
had one of the rock crushers back from the original, since I operated that one
myself.

There are two major areas in
Red Faction II that really brought this one down for me, the first one being the
overall length of the game including the replayablilty factor. I got Red Faction
II about three days ago, and within three days (weekdays and a Saturday at that)
I had completed my mission and was looking at the end of the game. In addition,
the storyline had a much more “been there done that” feel to it, since it’s the
same thing that we’ve seen and played before in other FPS titles … and I just
didn’t feel the extreme need to play through it again even to try and get a
different ending.

Since one area of Red
Faction that really drew me in when I got the original on PC was the super fun
multiplayer mode, I decided that the longevity for me would probably be there.
Well, Red Faction II didn’t include a multiplayer game. Instead, it gives you an
offline botmatch option to play CTF, Deathmatch, and arena. To its credit, the
AI isn’t bad and will provide a challenge, but it’s just not the same thing. For
you folks out there looking for another great multiplayer RF title … it sadly
didn’t make it in here. After a few times of playing it, I quickly grew tired of
it and switched back to playing the original once again. This may not be bad for
any gamers with a slow dial up itching to play a deathmatch title, but for me it
was just disappointing.

Graphically, RFII looked
really good for the most part and provided a gritty, dirty looking atmosphere.
Like I said before, there is constant action flowing through the few hours that
you are playing, and every explosion, bloodstain, and destroyed environment
piece is represented well. The character models looked good once again, like the
first one, and some really good effects like pouring rain were added in. The
overall presentation is similar to (but better than) the PS2 version, and while
it looks good overall, I have seen some other titles out there that looked a
little better just due to some additional polish.

The sound in RFII also
turned out good, and my 5.1 captured every bit of the explosive and destructive
fun in full surround. The voices and scripting were a little hit and miss here
and there, or sounded a little canned, but Lance Henricksen doing the voice for
the leader of your super group was pretty neat. Overall, it definitely wasn’t up
to par with the original game, and it wasn’t as good as some other FPS titles
that are out right now either. The music in RFII has the same futuristic diving
and bumping sound that was in the original, and additional effects like
increased volume in certain areas were added in for effect.

Well … I’ve come quickly to
the end of my review for RFII, and it seems almost as quickly as it did when I
came to the end of the game. Unfortunately, I’d love to say that it was worth
the purchase price, especially as much as I loved the first one, but I just
can’t do that. If you are a major Red Faction fan who just can’t live without
it, it definitely will be an action packed ride to the end. If you are an FPS
fan looking for a new game though, I would recommend grabbing the original game
instead or picking this one up used for PS2 if you have one, since it will save
you some money and will give you the same experience … with the added bonus of
playing with up to four people. 

Gameplay: 6.8
RFII retains the
same simple controls and playability that the first one had to offer, and things
like shooting with one weapon while reloading another (like an uzi in each hand)
were not only cool, but easy to pull off in mid battle. Unfortunately, the game
is way too short to be worth the full purchase price, and even the neat
vehicular scenes in the game that made the original so neat ran a little too
confined and felt like you were just along for the ride. Lastly, the Geo Mod
technology was present and there again, but the same gripe that I had with the
original can be found here as well, since not everything can be destroyed.

Graphics: 7.4
There is a lot of
action here, and it’s represented well. The explosions throw fire and dirt into
the air in many places, and sometimes the entire screen is filled with
destruction, vehicles crashing, rockets going off, etc to the point where it’s
really exciting. It’s not as polished or as up to date as some other titles, but
it does a good job overall and adds in some neat effects like the rain, light
glare, etc.

Sound: 7.7
The developers
did a good job on the music score once again, and provided some neat little
drops or pick ups to the sounds when certain things were going on. Lance
Henricksen loaned his cool raspy voice to RFII, but the voiceovers overall were
just a little bit scripted in a lot of areas, or sounded corny (Repta – the
Heavy Weapons guy for example … if you play it, you’ll see what I mean). The
action sounds and scenes sounded great though.

Difficulty: Medium
There are
different difficulty settings to make it a little easier or more difficult, but
most FPS veterans won’t have too much of a problem going through it even at it’s
most challenging. Puzzles usually only consist of “blow up this wall” or “find
the elevator”, so there’s not a whole lot to get you stuck.

Concept: 6.9
Still a pretty
neat story, but it falls in line with the umpteen number of “you and your
friends have to battle the oppressive leader” thing that we’ve all seen and
played before, which was a shame due to the totally different nature of the
original.

Multiplayer: 6.4
To its credit,
the AI isn’t too bad and will provide a challenge. For those of you who are
online multiplayer fans though, an offline botmatch may just be seen as
unacceptable … and that’s what you get with RFII. That’s a shame since the first
one was fantastic. If you are itching to play multiplayer but only have a dial
up access, add an additional point or so onto the score, since it may be a good
thing and you can play without getting online to do so.

Overall: 6.5
Everything here
in the PC version of RFII can be found in the PS2 version that came out almost a
year ago. If you absolutely have to get this game and have a PS2, I would highly
recommend getting it used for the console system. Why? Two reasons … first of
all, it will cost you a lot less than buying it brand new on PC. The second
reason is for the multiplayer aspect, since you can play with up to four people
on it instead of just the AI. Overall, I would have really liked to give RFII a
better score since I was a big fan of the original, and RF even saved my PS2 for
me. Unfortunately, this sequel just didn’t live up to the hype nor the
expectations that I had of it, and I’m sure that you RF fans would agree.