This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Players: 1-4
Red Faction II starts with a bang - several bangs to be precise..
Your team of soldiers drops in to infiltrate a compound and what you want in
particular is just beyond that wall in front of you... but how to get past it?
If you'll remember the "Geo-Mod" technology from the
first game
then you'll remember that if there's an obstacle, blow it out of the way as
violently as possible - just shoot, blast or bomb the fuck out of it for as
long as it takes.
I try to sneak through the wall but the enemy's raining firebombs down on me
with startling accuracy. I shoot one bad guy in the head and take refuge in a
small sheltered area... but not for long because those firebombs don't get on
too well with walls...
The world's gone to rack and ruin, not because Tony Blair's in charge, but
because of Chancellor Victor Sopot - imagine Hitler controlling "1984". You
join the mission to put him out of our misery as "Alias"... No, not an engaging
American TV series brutally hacked apart by Channel 4 "Angel"-style to fit the
teatime slot for kids, but it's your position as a demolitions expert amongst
a team of six, the rest being Molov, Repta, Shrike, Tangier and Quill, each
possessing unique attributes and specialties.
There's plenty of weapons to choose from, such as grenades, dual pistols,
dual machine pistol (ooh, yes!), assault and sniper rifles, a rail gun and
a grenade launcher. You know what to expect from a first-person-shooter (FPS)
but while the game feels a bit more plot-driven, when it comes to battles there
seems to be too much going on - just endless shooting without enough time to
sit and solve puzzles or take baddies out cleverly from different positions,
just too many onslaughts as opposed to spreading them out a bit.
The graphics are a slight improvement on the original game and move fast, but
I do get the feeling that an Xbox release would have the edge. As I type (Sept
2002) I don't see one on the schedules but I can hope.
One gripe I have is that when you throw grenades or rockets, not everyone in the
vicinity gets blown apart. Kill someone in a door, but the guy hiding just to
the left of it won't die because you couldn't see him at the time, even though
in reality he'd be sawdust.
Another is that reloading weapons takes too long, especially as you run out of
ammo and then it cycles through the others you have, checking to see how much
is left in those. Takes ages and you get shot to pieces as a result!
The soundtrack is great, like an electronica theme from a US TV stealth/drama
series. All the typical explosion noises are back and as loud as ever, but
it loses a point here as it's basically the same thing over and over again.
The multiplayer aspect is a bit of fun, but it's far from a Quake 3-beater.
Never mind, I'm always bloody hopeless at those anyway.
Overall, this is fun but it is really just more of the same, with the only
thing letting it down being that it is rather too relentless, making it like
the computer game equivalent of
Black Hawk Down.
I did enjoy the gunship section a bit later on in the game, but when up
against a sort-of Mechwarrior baddie it was no contest and I was no competition,
sadly.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a look at the preview version of the game, for which
some of the elements will be due to change before the final version is released
on November 15th 2002.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
There's plenty of weapons to choose from, such as grenades, dual pistols,
dual machine pistol (ooh, yes!), assault and sniper rifles, a rail gun and
a grenade launcher. You know what to expect from a first-person-shooter (FPS)
but while the game feels a bit more plot-driven, when it comes to battles there
seems to be too much going on - just endless shooting without enough time to
sit and solve puzzles or take baddies out cleverly from different positions,
just too many onslaughts as opposed to spreading them out a bit.
The soundtrack is great, like an electronica theme from a US TV stealth/drama
series. All the typical explosion noises are back and as loud as ever, but
it loses a point here as it's basically the same thing over and over again.