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.