Red Faction II

"The Geo Mod Technology is badly implemented when compared to Red Faction"

Do not get me wrong here, if i had to compare this game on its own, it would have gotten a higher score but Red Faction changed the way i see FPS games. It showed me i could blow up holes in walls and dig huge tunnels; that is what made red faction special. In red faction 2 if you shot a wall it just leaves a black mark and does not blow up. The main reason red faction was fun was because of geo mod and now red faction 2 is just like a typical fps and it could have been a lot better if THQ made better use of its geo mod technology.

I have been waiting months in anticipation for this game and was disappointed because red faction 2 is very different from red faction. NO, I do not want red faction 2 to be exactly the same as the original, but I was hoping this game would expand more on the interaction of geo mod and multiplayer maps. I didn't rent this game for single player; I rented it for multiplayer. While single player is fun, I felt multiplayer took a big hit. In this review I will draw on a lot of differences and similarities with the original red faction.

When you boot up the game for the first time you are shown the title screen and there is someone in the background saying stuff like ''you belong to the red faction we must destroy the leader (insert name here of leader. There is a lot emphases on this evil ruler and there are huge posters in the game. I think THQ may have taken this aspect of the game a little too far.

After you visit the title screen you will notice that the menus look different (of course that is perfectly normal) yet it is more confusing then the menus in red faction 1. The part where you can customize your controller is very different and it takes about 10 times longer to do it. There are a few new actions to use that you can customize like throwing granades, but to my surprise THERE IS NO FINE AIM button. In red faction 1 when you customize the right and left analog sticks it was walk/turn pitch/sidestep; at least, that is what I used in red faction 1. In red faction 2 it is something like look/move slide/slide. It took a few minutes to get it to the settings I use in red faction 1.

Graphics: 7/10
From what I have seen so far the graphics are about the same as the original; it is better but it just looks different. I consider geo mod part of the graphics. In red faction 1 you could put a hole in practically anything but you cant do that in this game. You can only destroy the environment in specific places and its hardly even existent in multiplayer. My favorite part of red faction 1 is to play multiplayer for hours and hours.

Weapons: 8/10
THQ improved a lot on the weapons and made a lot of new ones. I was disappointed in the animation of some of the weapons when you reload. I like to see the guy take the clip out and put in a new one and it seemed some of the weapons just went off screen when the guy reloaded. Then he puts the weapon back on the screen when he reloads. This is a MINOR complaint because most of the weapons let you see the clip. Its cool how you can have 2 weapons out at the same time and fire them independently of each other. In multiplayer the weapons on the ground look like 2d cartoon drawings that float in the air, I feel this takes away the seriousness of the game. When I am killing people I do not want to pick up cartoon weapons. THESE ARE VERY MINOR COMPLAINTS.

Gameplay: (single player) 9/10
The single player is very well done but I did not rent this game for single player and I would probably rate this game much higher if I did not like the multiplayer in red faction 1. The fact is that nothing beats going against your friend in a deathmatch. The graphics look better then the original but you can only blow up stuff in specific pre-determined scenarios. You cant just go blasting holes wherever you want; you can only blast a hole where the game lets you. Although this is a complaint I had about the game, there are many places where it lets you blast. It still does not give the same feel that you can destroy whatever you want. Single player is not really where geo mod shines in the red faction games so I see it as a minor flaw. Instead of just running through the levels you have objectives to do; similar to the James Bond games on Nintendo 64 and Ps2 and I think that is cool. This is one of the best single player first person shooters I have ever played.

Gameplay (Multiplayer): 5/10
This is where I feel this game takes a big hit and since the main mode I play in red faction 1 is multiplayer I felt that this mode did not live up to my expectations. Remember playing the original red faction and when you finish a level its in ruins. I loved taking out the rocket launcher (or fusion rocket launcher) and blasting lots of holes in the walls and finding secret rooms within the walls where there were hidden weapons like rail guns, rocket launchers, flame throwers etc. From what I have seen so far into the game, you cant blow up most walls. I shot a rocket at a wall in red faction 2 and it showed a black smudge; it didn't even dent the wall. How can you find secret weapons and explore new areas if you cant really blow up most walls. Yes you can blow up some walls but not most. If I wanted to play a typical fps I would not have rented this game. I like the original red faction because of the originality to it (geo mod) yet this game seems to be lacking in this area. You cant even tunnel! You cant do a lot of things you could do in the first game.

There are a lot of multiplayer maps; however I didn't feel that the maps in part 2 were improved at all. The maps are worse then in red faction 1. I felt they are too big and you can walk around for 2 minutes without seeing an enemy. This is a case of quantity over quality. I would rather have a few really sweet maps then a bunch of maps I do not like.

In the original red faction when you killed an enemy they made a weird screams and I thought that was cool, now they just say AHHHHHHHH or grunt.

Lasting appeal: 7/10
I will give credit to the 1 player mode but after playing multiplayer for about an hour the game got really boring. I was hoping the game would get better in multiplayer mode, but it did not. After you beat single player I doubt you will want to beat it more then once *that is the case with most games*

Rent or buy:
Rent first and see if you like it. This game has a lot of similarities to the original red faction but also has a lot of differences. I was hoping that the geo mod would be improved. This may sound a little shallow but what made red faction 1 great was that you could blow up your environment. There are many people who like this game so my advise it to rent first then if you like it then buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/20/02, Updated 10/20/02