Red Faction Review

The hero of THQ’s modern-day classic FPS, Red Faction, signed up voluntarily to work on a corporate owned mine on the planet Mars. After enduring poor work conditions, unknown illnesses, the lack of food, and brutal guards, the mine workers revolted. Ultor, the corporation that brought you to Mars is now your enemy; you join an underground resistance, known as Red Faction.

The launch of the PS2 featured no spectacular games at all, in fact, it was lackluster. THQ achieved a Golden Eye inspired FPS for the PS2, which was comparable to the N64 classic. The controls are simple to accustom yourself with, which is why the game is so attractable. The analog stick, a key part of control, is sensitive and responsive. Overall, the controls are equivalent to that of nearly all other FPS.

Red Faction’s heart and soul is the “geo-mod� technology. “Can’t find a key? Create your own door,� is what the back of the cover says and is fairly accurate. If you have explosives, it is simple to blast through a wall and make your own path, but it is only recommended in areas where it is needed, since when you do need it, you have plenty of ammo.

Red Faction doesn’t have a new concept; it is based largely off of movies like Total Recall. The characters are not very interesting, but the game isn’t boring; you don’t play Red Faction for character biographies. Again, the action, destructible environments, and to an extent, the story are all interesting at the least, superb at the best.

Red Faction’s multi-player is solid. It only supports two players, but with the large number of weapons and the addition of relatively intelligent bots, this is one of the better PS2 multi-player shooters, aside from XII. Being early 2004, Red Faction is now a “Greatest Hits� title, thus you can purchase it for $20 or less at most stores or you could pick it up used for less than $10. If you have the time, Red Faction’s action-packed Mars themed gameplay is a delightful adventure to the Red Planet that you can’t pass up.