Reviewed: January 22, 2003
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
THQ
Developer
Volition, Inc.
Released: October 16, 2002
Genre: FPS
Players: 4
ESRB: Mature
8
9
8
8
8.7
Supported Features:
Without a doubt, Red Faction II stole the show at the THQ booth at the 2002 E3 show, well that and Bruce Campbell signing autographs. After almost two years in development, Volition has had plenty of time to improve upon the original game. The new graphics engine has been retooled and the level design has been expanded upon to create a much more in-depth single player experience. Perhaps the biggest improvement has been the multiplayer modes for both two and four players. With stiff FPS competition from new games like TimeSplitters 2, Red Faction 2 manages to maintain an admirable level of quality and a host of new features.
Red Faction II offers these exciting new features:
- Revamped Geo-Mod engine - the only FPS with real-time, arbitrary geometry modification
- All-new storyline & characters - fight as a member of an elite squad of six
- Enhanced graphics and pre-rendered cutscenes for a completely immersive experience
- Utilize four varied vehicles in combat, including a tank, a hover flyer and a submarine
- Acquire superior firepower from multiple boss battles
- 14 specialized weapons of mass destruction, including dual-handed pistols and machine guns
- All-new inventory of useful items - health kits, night vision goggles, numerous grenades and more
- Stealth, puzzle solving and action-oriented objectives
- Advanced AI behavior - AI works in squads and reacts realistically to events
- High replay value due to multiple endings based on player actions
- 4 player mode - split screen death match and create your own bots
- USB keyboard/mouse support
The first Red Faction had you fighting alongside a rebel mining force, but your interaction with these men was never clearly defined and not that integral to the plot. In RF2 you will fight alongside several soldiers who are controlled with some surprisingly intelligent AI. Along with these unique personalities are plenty of NPC’s to interact with on varying levels.
The mini-sub was undoubtedly one of my favorite parts of Red Faction so I was excited to learn that vehicles were back in RF2. The S-271 mini-sub is back along with a devastating new battle armor that are both fully controllable, but the new tank and AHC-36 Gunship are on rails giving you control only over the turret, much like the jeep level in the original game. These rail shooters are still a blast and offer plenty of destructive fun.
Let’s talk about controls. As you might know if you have read any of my other FPS reviews, I generally do not like playing this particular genre on consoles. Thankfully, Volition has wisely chosen to include support for USB keyboards and mice, so this is a non-issue for this time around. But for those of you who don’t have a keyboard and mouse and are forced to play this game with the Dual Shock you may be surprised. I know I was.
The dual analog sticks offer excellent control over your character and his ability to look around in 3D. The aiming is surprisingly accurate thus eliminating the need for an auto-aim function that so many other games are forced to use to compensate for poor controls. The L1 and R1 handle primary and secondary weapon functions while L2 throws grenades. The ability to toss a “pineapple” without cycling weapons is a great feature – one I haven’t seen since HALO. The R2 jumps, which is not that functional, and all the buttons are used for cycling weapons and reloading. Thankfully, you can fully customize the controls to your liking and I did. And while the game is quite playable with a gamepad, for those of you (like me) who grew up playing FPS titles on a PC, you will be hooking up that mouse and keyboard and never look back.
The single-player game is heavily story-driven with plenty of scripted events that keep you moving from checkpoint to checkpoint and mission to mission. There were only a few areas in the game where I actually got “stuck” for any substantial length of time. I had to do some serious recon to figure out where to go next. I certainly don’t like to be led around by the hand, but getting totally lost is not much better, especially when you are under a constant barrage of enemy fire, which seemed to be the case every time I did find myself pulling over for directions.
The enemy AI varies with the type of enemy you are fighting. The human opponents offer a challenging resistance. They will take cover and try to flank you. Later on you will encounter robotic enemies like spider bots and android soldiers. These aren’t as intelligent, so they are easier to target but take substantially more damage before going down. It’s all a fair and somewhat realistic tradeoff making for some intense battle sequences that will have you bonding with your AI comrades.
Making a much stronger appearance than the original RF is the new and improved multiplayer modes of Red Faction II. Supporting up to four people using a multi-tap and the ability to add bots creates a wealth of opportunity to share the mayhem. Custom multiplayer maps, unique game modes, and a better integration of some of the lesser-used single-player weapons will make this a favorite at your next group gathering. Unfortunately, RF2 pre-dated the PS2 going online, so you are limited to split-screen and linked play.
From the opening movie to the final level you will be amazed at the improvement in graphics that Red Faction II has managed to pull off. This game even looks better than the original running in hi-res on a killer 3D-accelerated PC. I can’t wait to see RF2 when it releases on the Xbox and PC later this year, but for PS2 gamers, you are in for a visual treat.
The levels are huge and much more “alive” than those claustrophobic mining shafts, tunnels, and narrow passages of the original game. Much of the game is played outdoors or in vast cities, but when you do venture indoors the maps are highly detailed and full of enough destructible goodies to empty all your weapons of their precious ammo. The level of texture detail is amazing including animated textures like computer screens and video monitors.
The use of special effects like particle effects, fog, and real-time lighting is stunning. There are plenty of ingenious weapons and their primary and secondary effects all produce satisfying visual results. These weapons also look good in their handheld rendered form as they bob in front of your character and reflect the various lighting conditions.
Character models are all really good and the animation is excellent for the most part, especially for the carbon-based life forms (humans, that is). Your men will run around and act and react to their environment. It’s really easy to get caught up in all the distracting excitement that’s happening in your peripheral vision.
All of this graphical goodness clocks in with some impressively smooth framerates. There were only a very few times when I noticed anything slowing down beyond silky perfection, and these were mainly during outdoor levels and often during bad weather that was generating a realistic and impressive rain effect. There was no unnatural fogging to cheat the system, although the water did get a bit “murky” in some of the mini-sub levels, but not to the point of being unbelievable.
After hearing the TV commercials featuring “White Rabbit” I was anxious to hear what the soundtrack had to offer. What I found was surprisingly subdued, almost like an orchestra film score. Normally, FPS games deliver a thumping rock or techno library of tunes, but the music in RF2 was there more for ambiance than to setup a rhythm for pressing the fire button.
The sound effects are excellent with each weapon offering incredibly powerful sounds, both when fired and the end results of that fire. There are plenty of realistic level and environmental effects that bring the mission maps to life.
The dialog is campy in substance, but the actors did a good job with the material they had. There were some truly hilarious moments throughout the game. I was laughing hysterically when I capped one solider and another cries out, “That was my brother’s cousin! You’ll pay for that!” The main actors are all pretty good and the NPC’s are acted out surprisingly well considering their limited roles. It all comes together quite nicely.
A typical trip through the single-player game can take you anywhere from 10-15 hours depending on your skill level. Using a keyboard and mouse almost gives you an unfair advantage, or at least it seemed that way to me. There are three difficulty levels to choose from and while they don’t dynamically change the game content like they do in TimeSplitters 2, they do offer a substantial increase in difficulty and game length.
Of course the biggest draw to keep you playing this game is the multiplayer modes. You have your standard Deathmatch, CTF, and Bagman modes for up to four players if you have a multi-tap, and you can add in bots to enhance the action. I would have loved a two-player cooperative campaign mode, but you take what you are given and dream about the rest.
Red Faction II is a great game with surprisingly good controls that only get better when you plug in those USB peripherals. The single-player game ended a bit too soon for my liking, but then I realized I had failed to complete many of the secondary goals so a second and maybe a third trip was in order. The designers even allow you to return to sections of the game using the chapter menu. This is a great way to pick up on those missing objectives without starting a fresh game.
I can see the PS2 version of Red Faction II losing a bit of ground when the Xbox and PC versions come out with online support. Of course, if this is the only system you own then purchasing Red Faction 2 is a no-brainer. You won’t find a more engaging or feature-rich first-person shooter for your PS2.