Developer
Volition, Inc.

Released: March 30, 2003
Genre: FPS
Players: 4
ESRB: Mature

8
9
8
9
8.9

Supported 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

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.

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 left and right triggers are cleverly assigned to independently fire any two weapons you might be carrying in each hand. You also have a dedicated button for throwing grenades. The ability to toss a “pineapple” without cycling weapons is a great feature – one I haven’t seen since HALO. Some of the default button assignments are less-than-intuitive, but thankfully, you can fully customize the controls to your liking and I did.

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.

I was desperately hoping the extra development time was being used to add XBOX LIVE support, but alas, there is no online gaming support for a game that would have been so much better as an online compatible title. There are 60 excellent multiplayer maps and more than six challenging game modes plus you have the ability to create and add custom bots to the mix for up to six players (4 human, 2 AI). Many of these maps and new bots are exclusive to the Xbox version.

Creating bots is almost an RPG-like experience. You give them names and pick their "look" (skin) then you start dishing out the attribute points to mold them to the skills and profession of your choosing. You control their health, their weapon proficiency, their aggressiveness; do they charge into battle or hide in safety and wait for the enemy to come to them. Create up to five bots and add as many as you need to flesh out a full six-player gaming session.

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 and the death animations are some of the best in any FPS game to date. It’s really easy to get caught up in all the distracting excitement, explosions, and AI activity that’s happening in your peripheral vision.

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 - Lance Henriksen lends his voice to the project - and the NPC’s are acted out surprisingly well considering their limited roles. It all comes together quite nicely.

Given the additional dev-time for this title to get to the Xbox I was hoping for some standard improvements like Dolby Digital surround and possibly custom soundtrack options. Everything sounds as good as it did on the PS2 and the Xbox will output all sounds and music equally across your surround sound system, but there is no spatial separation or LFE channel to drive the sub-woofer.

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 human players, 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.

While we all sit around waiting for HALO 2, THQ has offered us a fine FPS title to keep us in practice. Red Faction II might not transcend the genre, but it does improve on an existing franchise and proven technology and is an excellent title worthy of a permanent addition to your software library.