Red Faction Review

Game:  Red Faction
Year (s):  2001
Company:  dev.  Volition Inc.
            pub.  THQ
Engine: Geo-Mod Engine
Type:  First-Person Shooter
Game Time:  SIX HOURS, first time, on default*


Plot

The Protagonist, looking for a change of scenery, signs up to be a Martian miner.  After getting there, he discovers slave-like working conditions, more armed guards than miners, and a plague that is killing miners left and right.  The miners, led my the Red Faction rebel group, begin revolting against the evil mining corporation for the liberation of Mars.


It's a 2nd-Generation Shooter...

... and includes the things one would expect.  We've got polygonal graphics, pre-animated death sequences, the occasional glitch, and the occasional crash.  In these regards, it lived up to my expectations.


Sneaking Around

This game has a few sequences where you have only a silenced pistol (no melee) and have to sneak around.  I hate sneaking around.  That being said, this game offers an obvious tool in these segments: you can drag a dead body to someplace less visible.  It's so simple, but I haven't played other games that had that feature.

Geo-Mod Engine

This engine is pretty standard for the time, certainly nothing amazing.  Something interesting, though, is the amount to which you can destroy your environment.  If you have enough explosives, you can avoid a door by blowing up the walls around it.  It's not a useful tool (it's never necessary in the course of the game) but it was innovative.


*Bosses and Cheating

Combat was easy for the first half, and moderately difficult in the last half.  However, I cheated against both the mid- and end- game bosses.  The first was preceded by a ton of enemies, then no medkits, then a boss.  The last boss was preceded by even MORE enemies, and no medkits.  If games are going to be stupid like that, I have no qualms about cheating.


Final Thoughts


While Red Faction had a couple of innovative ideas, gameplay was largely mediocre, the plot half-assed, and the single-player campaign horrendously short.  I would not recommend paying money for this one.

This game started a franchise that now has four titles, Red Faction: Armageddon came out in June 2011.  The SyFy cable network released a full-length film, Red Faction: Origins, to coincide with the release of Armageddon.  Events in the film take place between the third and fourth games.