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This months game selection was exceptionally difficult to pick. After
receiving a bad omen from a fortune cookie (my fortune was: A wrong decision
could lead to pain and misfortune will follow you throughout the remainder
of your short and pointless life.) I knew that my future well-being and fate
were in the balance. After spending countless hours researching Astrology
tables and consulting the psychic hotline, several more gruesome hours were
spent questioning an Ouijii Board in a seance with my cat. None of these
methods could give me a clear answer, so I utilized the less traditional
method of throwing darts at pictures of games on the wall. After 78 hours
without sleep, my aim was, uh, less than I might have preferred and let's
just say that the dog nearly ended up with a few body piercings (It wasnt
my fault, really!) Finally in an act of desperation, I went to Blockbuster
Video and chose three games, held them behind my back and had my friend
Frank pick one, thereby relieving me of responsibility for the bad decision.
We took the Chosen Game to the counter only to discover that PS2 games cost
$5.99 to rent, while ALL the other games only cost $3.99 or $4.99 (I forgot,
and they didnt have it posted anymore). Any way, Frank and I both agreed
that the price was a FUBAR of the highest degree. But as it turns out, luck
was on my side, and due to some errors by the clerk, and some account status
details, we walked out with a free rental and I knew then that my fate was
safe (this time anyway).
Well, if you are still here after getting through the above mess, you must
either be one of my devoted fans (yeah right), or someone who *really* wants
to read a review on the game and havent thought about going to a legitimate
site to get a real review. Or a masochist. Well, either way, heres my
review.
Red Faction. Have you ever seen the movie Total Recall? If not, go watch it.
The planet Mars from the movie (and the plot to a fairly large degree) is
eerily similar to this game. The game is set on Mars, which is not
terraformed, but is a giant mining colony. In a theme familiar in the
1920s, working conditions are deplorable and the miners are little better
than slaves with hazard pay. The is one rebel group called EOS that is
opposed to the Mega-Corporation that runs and owns the colony. Anyway, one
day at work, some miners get fed up and start a fight with the guards and it
turns into a full fledged revolt and it seems you are the only one that can
shoot worth a flip. Shortly after the revolt starts, you get caught up doing
things for EOS, because you apparently have nothing better to do.
Plot. The plot is pretty much what I described above. You get caught up
helping a rebel faction on the colony, presumably to help free the planet by
the end of the game. One different but realistic aspect of the game is that
there are no obvious chapters or sections or anything. The game is just one
long session where you fight your way across the colony doing the various
tasks EOS tells you to do. (Again, because you seem to have nothing better
to do
you never wanted to be part of the fight, you just wanted to get away
from it and go to bed.)
Graphics. The game is PS2, so it has nice in-game graphics. The cutscenes
are few and far between, and are of the same detail, so no really nice eye
candy. The guns are nicely detailed, and so are the NPCs. There are also
some nice visual effects. Overall though, nothing really jumped out at me.
Sound. The sound effects were amusing. Guards would run away screaming cute
little pleas for mercy, etc. The prompts from EOS are all messages from some
miscellaneous guy, and you also have a message log for the important stuff.
I dont remember if the game has a score, or what it was, so it must not be
important.
Gameplay. The game uses the full range of buttons for the PS2 controller.
The two analogue sticks control movement, the D-Pad buttons do stuff, The R
and L buttons do stuff, as do the remaining Circle, Square, etc. buttons. On
the other hand though, once you get the controller configured as you like,
it's a lot more manageable (I used preset E, I think.) Saving is different.
I played my first hour looking for a save spot or the end of the chapter or
something, before I was finally crushed by an elevator. It turns out all you
have to do is hit select and save at any time (bah!). Little tasks you do
include blowing up facilities, killing people, sneaking around and
controlling tanks, submarines, and fighters.
Difficulty. I started the game on easy, and was flying through, but I have a
lot of experience with 1st person shoot-em ups. I played multiplayer against
some AI bots on impossible, and was thoroughly challenged. I was trying to
beat the game, so doing another difficulty setting slipped my mind actually.
My bad. The replay value should be decent, especially since multiplayer vs.
another person and bots is a lot of fun.
Nifty Stuff. (not "Spiffy Stuff" this time, as it has been brought to my
attention that I use that word too often in my verbal speech and now that
someone has told me, I happen to agree) The big gimmick that this game
pushes, is the ability to blow up most near anything, including blasting 50
ft. holes into the walls. It is possible to wreak all new levels of
destruction in this game. Heres a tip: You CAN hurt yourself by blowing
holes in the ceiling directly above you, causing lots of rock to fall on
you. :) Some of the visual effects also earn Nifty Points®.
Overall. Overall this is a decent game. The plot reeks of Total Recall. It
is really amusing to blow stuff up in this game. Multiplayer is fun. This
game is definitely worth renting if you like shoot-em ups, and worth buying
if you like to do it multiplayer.
Final Ratings:
Plot: 7.3
Graphics: 7.5
Sound: 7.0
Gameplay: 8.5
Difficulty: 7.3
Niftyness 8.1
Overall: 7.616
Well, so long until next month. Any comments, suggestions, or games to
review requests email. Da cvidaniya!
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