Red Faction II

"A great FPS that will keep you busy for a long time"

Well I got this game three days ago (the launch date) and I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. The main reason was because of the geo-mod. Now read on to see why I gave this a 9/10.

Graphics-10/10
The graphics are really nice. they are very smooth and they seem to have really evolved from the ones in RF1. The character animations are very realistic and the guns look amazing. I'm really not a graphics buff, so I'm not going to go into more detail on this subject.

Gameplay-9.8/10
CON-
-Well, to be honest, I became really depressed (yes depressed) when I discovered that the beloved geo-mod in RF1 that me and my friends have come to love, was gone. At first, I thought it was because I only played like five levels in multiplayer, but when I played all of them, there was hardly any Geo-mod. NO MORE TUNNELING. When I realised how fun the multiplayer was, even without the Geo-mod, I let it go. It still doesn't mean that i don't like Geo-mod.
PROS-
-Faster gameplay lets you kill more people and piss your friends off even more.
-Better weapons. Now one fifth of the weapons don't compose of a control baton, shield or a grenade you can find in a few levels. The weapons are very balanced, just like the ones in RF1. The powerups really make the gameplay more fun.
-Different multiplayer modes. Now, there is not only deathmatch, but there is Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Arena, Bagman, Team Bagman, and a hidden game that you have to unlock.
-Four player modes. 'nuff said.
-40 multiplayer maps. Yes 40. Many people are saying that they are not impressed with them, but I think they are brilliant. Each level has some kind of fun to it. The average size of the levels is collasal.

Sound-8/10
Even though sound doesn't really effect anything, it is something i would like to have in a game. Honestly, the sounds of the guns are very weak when compared to the ones in RF1. The raildriver in Red Faction 1 used to be really loud and would send a chill down your spine if it came within a mile of you. Now, it makes a very faint sound, which for some reason really annoys me. The music doesn't fit the atmosphere of the game, either.

Replayability-9.5/10
Look at the gameplay section. That should provide you with all the reasons why replayability got such a high score.

Overall-9/10
Overall, the only thing that really made me throw a point off the score was because of the lack of Geo-Mod technology. Hopefully, Volition will not make the same mistake in Red Faction 3. If they have to sacrifice the framerate to the original 30 FPS, then let them give us the Geo-Mod we loved.

Buy or rent?
Buy. Too many levels and multiplayer games to get bored of in a week.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/20/02, Updated 10/20/02