Red Faction II

The reward winner for least improved sequel is a debatable one. There have been a lot of game sequels that have failed to go beyond the original's potential, I'm sure alot of people would like to point their finger to the more recent Bioshock 2 in this regard. Alot of sequels have also practically ridden on whatever success the first game had to begin with, have a look at Ubisoft's Far Cry 2 and you tell me how it is exactly related to the original. Matching thse points up, I'm undecided as to how Red Faction 2 shapes up against the original in a lot of ways. It would be easy to call it a sequel that doesn't live up to the potential of it's predecessor yet it is so different to the original in the same way that Far Cry 1 was to Far Cry 2 that it might not be fair saying so.


Let's look back on the original Red Faction. As a console game, it was revolutionary thanks to its advanced geometry in the form of destructible environments. It isn't in many shooters that you can literally break through a wall if you wanted to when wishing to avoid a firefight or skip a locked door by doing so either. You've got to also bear in mind for that it's time there wasn't many games taking advantage of the better visual clout the Playstation 2, Red Faction filled this void. 


Behind that was a single player experience that you'd want to replay multiple times over with a variety of guns, environments and pace quickening vehicle sequences. It also had a solid computer port with an expanded ability to save where you want and reasonable performance for a mid-range spec. Oh I can even remember forcing to play this game on my 3DFX Voodoo 4, it ran choppy at times but damn was Red Faction worth it in the end. 


Red Faction 2 was more of the same on Playstation 2, only with a more intended approach to style rather than substance. There is an emphasis on akimbo weaponry, full voice acting with constant use of CGI cut-scenes. The narrative is also further developed, with a whole new series of characters and plot points. Yet this is all in relative terms, which is why it falters. Only in relative terms is it decent in featuring these generic features in a shooter and Volition made Red Faction 2 definitely lack that cutting edge advantage that defined it from any other shooter of the time. I suppose it WAS late 2002 and the PS2 hadn't many shooters and I suppose it WAS better than some of the other games released in October of that year but by 2003 it grew familiar with the realms of average.


Red Faction 2 on PC isn't as awesome as perhaps it was on the Playstation 2. I mean sure, so long as you have a better computer, the experience of it will be somewhat more visually appealing. Playing it solidly on medium/high settings is possible even with a Geforce 4 MX. It looked fairly decent for a PC game of its time with the T&L effects, and naturally, the geometry. I will also agree to an extent that playing Red Faction 2 is easier with a keyboard and mouse set-up additionally. It allows for easy weapon swapping and debatably easier aiming. But then you get to the nitty gritty of it and it is clear that the level design is mind-numbingly linear, the weapons are uninspired and, dare I say, underpowered (bar explosives) and the enemies are as mindless as ever. One of the things I found praiseworthy with the original Red Faction was that while it played as a linear shooter, the way you could complete levels were entirely up to you. 


With the original Red Faction, If I wanted to, I could attempt to use explosives to tunnel my way underneath my enemies choosing to avoid them entirely or blow them up to kingdom-come with a surprise attack. With Red Faction 2, the levels are often so closed that this never becomes a possibility. I actually can't think off the top of my head one instance where I could deploy Alias' "demolition expert" skills to full effect by simply dropping my enemies a few floors at random with C4 explosive. Instead, the areas you're SUPPOSED to blow up are entirely scripted. Oh yes, Red Faction 2 applies the age-old formula where you apply explosive based on how decayed and already broken the area is already. I'm sure all of you remember something similar to this with Metal Gear Solid. I don't need to go into anymore detail.


That said, Red Faction 2 can be applauded for being fine-tuned in some of its typical areas of being a shooter. For example, the difficulty curve remains largely solid throughout. There are new enemies around every corner and their numbers obvioulsy would pile up as you'd expect. There is also a lot to like from the variety of vehicle-based sequences in Red Faction 2 like with the original game. 


Red Faction 2 doesn't have many noticeable glitches, thorough play is possible without any minor graphical garbage or silly crashes getting in the way of your game-time. That is pretty good considering even on a modern spec it play without quibbles in this area, proof of the developers using good code. And finally there is a lot to like of Red Faction from those simply awesome moments. You know what I mean: "Oh snap!" OTT moments and all that jazz. Thankfully they aren't very few and far between. Like I said at the beginning of the review. Red Faction 2 is about style rather than substance and lots of it. But sadly that can't save the shooter from being anymore than average even so. 


It is hard to say what the cause of it might have been but compared to the original, what exactly does Red Faction 2 that no other shooter could? Although the original Red Faction can't exactly play innocent to atleast borrowing a few ideas or sticking to first person shooter conventions in it's design it did compensate quite highly in other forms. It was a rather bold feature for Volition to add completely destructible geometry into a game of its type and so early on in the Playstation 2's life. Red Faction arrived completely at the right time. 


Yet Red Faction 2 is too soon. By late 2002, the original game was barely a year old and the story diverts entirely from the Mars setting of the original. I would have loved to of learnt what happened to the cast of the original Red Faction considering that Red Faction 2 is set some number of years after the original. From my experience however, there is barely a mention of anything of the sort. 


To say Red Faction 2 is a missed opportunity is taking it too far but I can't deny that I was expecting a little more out of the sequel besides the cosmetic differences and bettered sound over the original. Considering Volition took so long to return to video game prominence following it although, I don't think it is such a radical idea to propose that I'm right. This is an average game and so if you're after Red Faction 2, don't expect the same sort of gameplay that you got out of the original.