Red Faction II

Red Faction was the first FPS (first person shooter) to offer something developer Volition called “Geo-Mod” engine. What this means is that the environment is fully destructible in real time. The problem with the first game is that it was used more as a gimmick, and the game didn’t really incorporate it into the game fully. Some time has passed and Volition has had time to take in all of the criticisms of the first game and produce a better game. Is this game worth your time, or is it another game with a neat gimmick? Read on to find out!

The story goes something like this: Nano-technology is the ultimate creation of Mars scientists. Shortly after it was developed it was stolen and taken to Earth, and it was stolen there as well. One day Alias, a demolitions expert, was contracted to steal the technology for the Republic of the Commonwealth. Once he completed his mission, Chancellor Sopot used this technology on Alias and a couple thousand people, and created a new breed of soldiers, Super Soldiers. These soldiers were faster, smarter, and stronger than any other people. As time went on Sopot feared his soldiers and began to eliminate them.

Only a few survived, six of these people are on a mission to eliminate Sopot for what he did to them. Shrike is a man who is faster than any other person, and is proficient in driving. Tangier is the ultimate spy, who can sneak in unannounced. Quill is a sniper with attitude. Molov is the squad’s leader. Repta is a madman who has a taste for destruction. Players are put in the shoes of Alias, who is the best demolitions expert. Can you help carry out the mission for revenge?

Thanks to the nano-technology, players will not have to constantly worry about their health. Besides the myriads of health packets lying around (it depends on the difficulty level you are on, the amount of health spread about); players will start to heal if they keep away from the action for a short amount of time. The only problem with this is that you are constantly in the firing range of an enemy, but things like this make the game extremely fun and challenging to play.

Being a first person shooter, players will expect that there will be a lot of different weapons to choose from, and Red Faction delivers in this area. During the course of the game players will have used a wide variety of weapons from pistols, rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, grenades, and even a variety of different vehicles. Each of them plays a unique roll and feels different from the other weapons.

Another benefit and expansion upon the previous game, is the amount of vehicles that players can commodore and use for their own pleasure. Here are a few vehicles that players will get to use during the course of the game: Gunship, Tank, Battle Armor, and others. While in the Gunship (airplane), players will get to use its powerful Gatling gun, missiles and grenades. Nothing can stop the power of a tank, and this proves it, while in the tank players can file a Chain gun or the powerful mortar. One of the best vehicles is the Battle Armor, to understand better what it is, think of a Gundam or mobile suit that a person can pilot. Players will get a huge boost in attack and defense power when they use this while fighting. There are other vehicles that players will get to take control of during the game, and the best thing is that they all feel apart of the core game itself. It never feels like the development team decided to put it in there just make the game longer.

Graphics in this game will not knock your socks off in comparison to some of the other games available out there currently. The textures are blurry and very bland looking. All of the characters players will run into while playing the game have a low polygonal count. What you will not see in this game is any jaggies, but there is a sacrifice for this. The game runs at a meager thirty frames per second. Also when the action really gets intense, players will get a little bit of slow down. Still the best thing is destroying all of the terrain and seeing how the engine breaks up all of the hunks of debris flying everywhere.

The sound in Red Faction II will not wow you in comparison to other games. It has all of the standard explosions, gunfire, and other various things you will hear in a FPS. Every so often players will get hear some of the other characters players say some various funny dialog. The music to the game fits the environments with a “technoish” beat. The sound is decent but it does not take advantage of the GameCube’s power.

Red Faction II is a blast to play in multiplayer! There are a variety of different modes to play such as deathmatch, capture the flag, bagman, arena, and regime. Deathmatch is the standard, kill everyone and get the highest score mode. Capture the Flag is where players try to get into each other’s bases and steal their flag and bring it to their own. Bagman is similar to king of the hill; players must capture a bag and see how long they can hold onto it without getting fragged. Arena is where players must win the “best out of X” rounds. To find what Regime is, players will have to unlock it for themselves. One of the best things about this game is that players can add bots to multiplayer games, if they have no one around to play with them. This will give players the chances to learn how all of the multiplayer modes work, and become better at them when they do get to play their friends.

Red Faction II is rated M for Mature for violence, blood, and gore. It will take seven blocks of memory to save.

Gameplay: 8.9
The game is extremely easy to get into, if you played any first person shooter you will pick up on what to do immediately. The geo-mod engine is actually used with the core gameplay with this game, to make it feel like it truly belongs in there. Nothing is more satisfying than taking out a bridge with a grenade and taking a few men with it, instead of trying to get each man one at a time.

Graphics: 8.1
Red Faction II looks decent but it is not anything to get excited about. Don’t get me wrong, the game still looks pretty, but it is not up to the standards of the GameCube.

Sound: 8.2
Nothing out of the ordinary in this category. It is sad because the GameCube is capable of so much more.

Difficulty: Medium
Like any FPS this game can be hard to easy depending on the method that players use and what type of mission they must do. At times this game can be challenging, and other things it is a walk in the park.

Concept: 8.5
When the first game was released on the Playstation 2, I was in awe that a developer finally put in the element that the environments are fully destructible. The sequel is ten times better the previous game, and now GameCube players get to enjoy it on their system.

Multiplayer: 8.5
With several modes to play, geo-mod technology, few friends, and the addition of bots, Sign me up!

Overall: 8.6
Red Faction II is one of the better FPS games available on the Nintendo GameCube. The biggest draw about the game is not the single player, but the awesome multiplayer components. This game will keep you and your friends entertained for hours!