Red Faction (RF) was one of those games that leapt out at me because of the in-game footage released during its development. There was just something so right about being able to blow big, satisfying holes in walls, thanks to the game's engine. I knew I had to play it from the moment I saw the first footage. Oddly enough, the demo seemed more of a mixed bag to me. On the one hand, I thought the demo was visually quite stunning, but somehow the gameplay seemed lacking. Still, I bought the game, and I enjoyed it so much I ended up finishing the single-player component no less than four times. Heck, I may end up going back for a fifth at some point. Still, the game is not without flaws, so read onward!
RF is mighty pretty. The mines look... well... mine-ish, the weapon effects are a lot of fun, and some of the scenes include some pretty nifty eye-candy to say the least. I literally swam around in one of the underwater sequences for quite some time, enjoying how the aquatic plants swayed to and fro with the unseen currents. I have only two complaints against the visuals in RF. First, water is not handled very well. When jumping into it, for example, a host of clearly triangular shards are thrown about in a positively goofy looking fashion. Similarly, in the one scene involving a large waterfall, the water does not elicit the kind of jaw-dropping gaze of wonder for which most game developers hope. I think it far more likely to produce laughing and pointing—never a good sign.
Second, some of the characters just look... well... goofy. I'm neither so juvenile nor so jaded that I simply must have anatomically impossible women in video games, but Eos looks like a Rwandan refugee and sounds like... well... no woman for whom I'd ever fight. Seriously, I wanted to plug Eos after all her harsh griping far more than I wanted to shoot any of the bad guys. If I'd had my way, I'd have left her trussed up next to the bomb while I took off with one of the cuties in the medical bay instead. Also, Capek was just too dwarfish to be taken seriously. I know, I know; I'm not being particularly politically correct. But let's face it: evil scientists should be imposing in their madness. Capek just looked silly.
RF's audio is pretty good. The weapon sounds were particularly nice, though as I seem destined to write about games, I would have appreciated more variety from firing to firing. Much of the voice acting struck me as kind of uninspired, though Eos was more annoying, really. What was more irritating than the voice acting, however, was the repetitive nature of the audio snippets. It was stunning to me how every single security guard had precisely the same voice! And what's more, the dolts couldn't think to say more than a couple of lines. Come on, folks. If you're going to use one and only one voice, then give us more lines; otherwise, give us at least a few voices. Even Half-Life had a couple of different kinds of scientists.
Where RF really shined in the audio department, I thought, was in its selection of music. I'm not a big fan of the genre of music RF uses, but I have to admit that some of that pulse-pounding stuff was a perfect match for the game content. The music tended to highlight the fun factor in certain sections—so much so at times that I was literally yelling at the bad guys while tearing through a level. The game wouldn't have been nearly so much fun without the soundtrack, even if it's not a soundtrack to which I would ever listen outside of the game itself.
The interface is not only nicely laid out and functional, it's got a spiffy, futuristic look. I'm a geek, so I look at that kind of stuff, and I have to confess that I actually pulled up the in-game menu on more than one occasion just to look at the pretty pictures (grin). My only complaint with the interface is that certain cut-scenes cannot be interrupted. That can be incredibly irritating when it happens—particularly because it's most likely to happen immediately prior to some terribly dangerous encounter. I wish the multi-player interface had more features, but I guess that's the niche that GameSpy 3D and other such programs are designed to fill.
The game mechanics of RF add to the fun in a non-trivial way. First, there is the relatively low gravity of Mars. This allows some pretty fantastic running and jumping about, which helped give the game a faster pace than some other games without sacrificing realism to the degree that would otherwise be necessary. Second, RF's handling of ladders and other climb-able elements is almost perfect. There were a few points at which I got stuck on a ladder or couldn't quite climb up/down the way I expected, but I consider RF to be quite an advance compared to other games in which I frequently fall off the bloody ladders far too easily. The ability to climb chain-link fencing as well as various towers and such also provides a welcome addition to the consistency of the game. I've always thought it kind of silly, for example, that in most games the same character who can climb a rope or a ladder can't get on top of that one, big box. Sheesh.
My primary complaint with the game mechanics is that while each of the various in-game vehicles does feel different from mere walking/running around, they all feel alike. That is, driving a sub feels far too much like driving the fighter; i.e., slow and awkward. Though the vehicle sequences were really a high point (more on that in a bit), I think more attention to the mechanics of piloting them would have made those sequences better still.
My secondary complaint would have to be with the final sequence, namely, defusing the bomb. All of a sudden the player is confronted with a very confusing display with a very limited amount of time to figure it out. While I agree that might realistically model the process of defusing a bomb, it didn't make for much fun. I had to reload something like half a dozen times before I really figured out how the darned thing worked. In my estimation, the developers should either have provided some kind of training for this last, big challenge, given more time and/or a more obvious interface, or have replaced the bomb defusing with something else altogether.
Of course, it goes without saying that the Geo-Mod technology is simply a must. So many times I dug my own tunnels through the mines, blew holes in walls rather than doubling back, shot the bridge out from underneath the tank/guards, etc. And that doesn't even begin to cover the possibilities in multi-player games. RF has convinced me that largely (though not completely) destructible environments are an important part of the future of gaming.
I know this is going to increase the workload on game developers still more (as if they needed any more challenges), but the benefits to game play, realism and sheer fun are unmistakable. It also bears mentioning that the Geo-Mod technology was used very well. That is, it didn't turn the game into a one-trick pony. Rather, it was useful at many points, mandatory at none and just plain cool all of the time. Nicely done!
The story for RF is a mixed bag. On the one hand, as an avid gamer, I think I've lost count of the number of times I've stopped some evil government/terrorist group/capitalist/etc. from keeping all the "little people" in line with a virulent plague. It's happened so much of late that I'm starting to think evil is losing its creative edge. Why not just steal some nuclear weapons and hold the world hostage? Sheesh.
On the other hand, however, there were some more interesting elements in the RF story line. Shepherding the corporate stooge to his rendezvous with the rebels was a fun sequence, getting to meet the talking heads (e.g., Hendrix, Eos, et al.) that provide advice and new orders was a refreshing change, having the choice of whether to volunteer my weapons in exchange for a stealth-enhancing lab coat was much nicer than the unavoidable-knockout/death of other games (e.g., Half-life, Deus Ex, etc.).
In short, there were some unexpected elements, though in the final analysis I think the story was nothing to write home about. It worked as a device to set the stage for all the mayhem, and that's mostly what counts in an FPS game.
RF's content really shines in my estimation, though there are some annoying items in the negative column. The variety of enemies could really use a little work insofar as they range at some points in the game all the way from guard with a pistol to guard with a shotgun. How impressive. I realize that's a bit unfair insofar as the game does include guards, really tough guards, huge and clearly pissed-off fish, weird and nasty toad-like creatures, a giant and hungry worm, flying robots, a combat bot, special ops chaps and so forth.
The problem with the enemies isn't so much in their number; rather, I think it was with their distribution. Perhaps this complaint is limited only to the earliest portion of the game, and if so, then maybe one or two variations on the basic guard would solve it altogether. I just got tired sometimes of hammering on nothing but those doofus guards.
The weapons were unqualifiedly wonderful. The pistol never ceased to be useful—particularly for shooting cowering scientists, traitors to the rebellion and so forth (grin). The shotgun was fun up close with the primary fire and an utter blast with the secondary fire. There was just something really satisfying about ripping off shell after shell with that thing into a guard's body. The assault rifle, as a bread-and-butter weapon, was very well done, the submachine gun was very useful despite its smaller size (at least in part due to its flexibility with ammunition) and the heavy machine rocked!
Similarly, the sniper rifle and particularly the precision rifle were a joy to use, the rocket launcher was a lot of fun, the flamethrower was too funny and, of course, the rail driver was just the best. RF allowed so much variety in handling situations, I reloaded the game at some points just to fool around with the different weapons. Besides, who doesn't love a game that lets you toss a remotely detonated charge onto a guard's body so that you can watch him run around in stark, raving terror until you gib him completely? (grin). I think the weapons are a large part of my motivation for coming back to RF again and again.
The levels and their diversity is similarly wonderful. As one would expect in a mining revolt, one spends a fair amount of time in the mines. But the variety of locales within the mines is impressive, the time within the corporate headquarters and labs is a nice contrast, the big outdoor areas make for a good break, the space station is a lot of fun, etc. There is enough variety within the relatively small number of different kinds of areas that it really adds to the game. At no time did I walk into an area thinking "Ho, hum, here we go again", and that says something worthwhile.
I must also say that aside from the earlier comment on game mechanics, the addition of vehicles to RF sets it apart from almost all other FPS games. Other games have more or less nicely modeled cars, trucks, jeeps, planes, tanks, submarines and what not in their levels. RF is one of the rare exceptions, however, insofar as they are functional. The vehicle sequences in RF felt to me like little rewards to the player. That is, none of them seemed all that difficult (save for possibly the final sequences in the fighter on the way to the final confrontation with Masako), there was always an abundance of ammunition for very powerful weapons, and there were lots and lots of targets to mow down with impunity. In short, the vehicle sequences were like being handed some candy as a reward for progress made. I only wish the use of vehicles had been even more frequent! I was literally cackling with delight when I discovered that I could drive the driller right over my opponents. What a rush!
Having said all those good things about the game, though, there are some things in the negative column. First, some of the game's enemies are just too unforgiving. Yes, I realize the bad guys have the same rail driver that I do. Yes, that seems entirely fair and appropriate to me in a multi-player game against fellow humans. But I can't tell you how many times toward the end of the game I could be running along, turn a corner and die instantly as one of the bad guys ran me through with the rail driver before I could blink. Worse, they seemed to use its secondary fire just as I did. On one occasion in particular I was crawling through an air duct to surprise the bad guys from behind when I died instantly from a rail driver shot. That got really old after a while.
Second, dealing with Capek was ridiculously difficult. Maybe I was having some kind of problem with the game, but those energy thingies that he fires off went through every form of cover in that room as near as I could tell. In short, he has the high ground, he has multiple, tough bad guys to help shoot you (who also hold the high ground), his weapon kills you dead in two shots at most, and it seems to pass through every solid object so there is no cover available. To make matters worse, if he focuses his attention on Eos, then you lose the game whether you kill him or not, as she's vital to the story. Every time I get to that part of the game, I just grit my teeth and reload, reload, reload, reload, reload, etc. until I get wildly, stupidly lucky and manage to kill the old coot. Do game designers think reloading is fun? Sheesh.
Third, the final challenge was just weird. After fighting all these bad guys, one eventually gets to Eos, who lies tied up next to a bomb. After all her griping, the very best way to end it would be to leave her there. But no, you've got to disarm the bomb. Therefore, the player is thrust suddenly into this bizarre, never-before-seen interface to do something of clearly great importance with zero understanding and even less margin for error. That's a guaranteed recipe for failure. I would much rather have the battle with Masako be the last big boss, then walk down and free Eos. The bomb-defusing bit was just weird for an FPS game.
Fourth, it doesn't meet the standard set by Half-Life (HL), though it's kind of hard to put my finger on why not. HL was such a monumental step up from its FPS ancestors that it set the bar for FPS games. To date, I don't think any other single-player FPS game has met or exceeded that level, though I keep hoping, and RF is no exception. RF comes close in its use of scripted cut-scenes and its "experiential density" (i.e., there's always something interesting happening), but it just doesn't suck me in with quite the same draw. I think it might be a relative lack of drama. That is, HL really engulfs one in its world, whereas RF pulls but doesn't engulf. Still, RF comes as close as any other recent FPS game, so this isn't a huge criticism.
Fifth, there are odd problems with some of the sequences. When fighting the "combot", for example, I figured out pretty early on that it was completely invulnerable to weapons fire, so I started looking for some other way to destroy it. Sure enough, I found the fire pit, and I figured out that I needed to lure it in there. So, I got its attention and headed that way, but no matter what I did the stupid thing would follow me only so far. It was only when I had decided that maybe it wasn't invulnerable and started shooting at it again that Hendrix then told me about the fire pit. After that second message from Hendrix, the combot would again move, though by that point it had gotten stuck on some protrusion in the wall and couldn't move. Nice. I had to reload and re-play that entire area. Unfortunately, the combot wasn't the only such scripting problem, though I think it was the most glaring.
Multi-player RF is as frustrating as it is wonderful. It is wonderful because of the new twist that the Geo-Mod technology brings to deathmatch, capture-the-flag, etc. It is frustrating, however, because all that potential is marred by a very limited number of servers and sub-standard network code. I'm sorry, but I'm a child of the Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament era; i.e., I expect smooth, responsive multi-player performance—even on a 56k modem (though the connection must obviously be a good one).
RF's network code, however, doesn't seem to work all that well on my 768 kbps SDSL connection—even when I'm connected to a server with a sub-100 ms. ping. The dearth of available servers probably doesn't help. I think it's really a shame that the multi-player portion of the game turned out the way that it did. Otherwise, RF's longevity would have been greatly enhanced.
I know a lot of people have had bad things to say about Red Faction, and I know some of the reviews haven't been nearly as positive as my own. Though it didn't redefine the FPS genre, it did break some non-trvial ground, and I think it provided a very entertaining experience. If the multi-player situation were better, I could recommend it without reservation to any FPS fan, but given the limited longevity of the single-player component (even I can play through a game only so many times before it gets old), I have to mention that as a serious caveat.
If you're the kind of gamer who wants to buy only a couple of games and play them until the bits bleed, RF is probably not for you. If, on the other hand, you're the kind of gamer who wants an engaging and entertaining game that may last only a month or so, then pick up a copy of RF. I doubt you'll regret it.
10/04/2001