Like what Parker (the main character) thought of Mars...this is not what you have bargained for.
Firstly let's work on the story. You start of being Parker who arrives on Mars in the 22nd Century for a quick buck and a life changing experience. Little else known about this hero other than he's cheezed off as the 'promise' of a great future turns out to be his worst nightmare; maybe because of the lack of unions as the miners are seriously mistreated especially by the guards. As a side plot a mysterious plague infects the miners and yet no one knows about the cure...if there is one. However an individual by the name of Uos posting propaganda posters throughout the mines trying to provoke a revolution...
Well obviously the revolution starts (otherwise there is no game) and you are caught in the fire. Now you might think this is a great start to the game. For me, actually no. The amount of times I read about revolution combining with a 'mysterious' plague is wearing very thin. Never less, on with the revolution.
According to the developers of this game, the Geo Mod engine supposes to revolutionise the way you play FPS. That said apparently anything can be destroyed. On the back of the box it states 'Why kill guards one-by-one when you can collapse the whole structure'. I never read such hogwash rubbish in a long time. Granted, you can punch holes in the walls but what good is that? So I can enter it? Hide from the guards? Please don't make me laugh as it only hurts when I'm laughing.
Many-a-times I was trying to be creative and looking for other ways to kill my foes because of this Geo Mod technology and practically everything I tried from blasting floors to creating potholes for enemies to drop into failed. Of course there are levels where you need to blast a hole say, around a door to enter however it's more of when the game designers tell you when to use this technology than you want to use it at your own accord. Linear Geo Mod technology is more like it. Use it when we tell you to and screw creativity.
Here comes another gripe. The game's AI is nothing short of an absolute joke; like governments promising to lower taxes. I'm totally aware that programming AI (and governments) especially in 2001 is no easy task. 'Today' games still cannot get this right however in Red Faction there is no excuse for poor AI. I started this game on medium setting (as there are your typical easy, medium, hard and impossible levels) and seriously the game is a walk-in-the-park. The enemies practically want to be shot. Maybe life on Mars wasn't just miserable for the miners as the whole bunch of motley crews are suicidal, maniac fools. So approximately two hours of game play I swapped it to hard. What a big change. Again the AI loves to run into your line of fire however they are B-R-U-T-A-L. That said, the AI never misses their target. Let me explain further. I snuck behind a guard going for that silent kill (I have a silencer pistol you know) - one clean shot in the head and...instant death for me. That guard had some kind of telepathic, telekinesis ability that he knew I was behind him, shouted 'It's just me and you miner', spun around and of course I died in a matter of a millisecond. It was soo fast that the guard was caught in a never ending spinning loop even after I have kicked the bucket. Maybe it amazed him more than me and needed to twirl in victory. Who knows. Another example is when I need to capture an important figurehead and have to get past his secretary. Of course the secretary ordered me not to go in her boss's office without an appointment and carries on typing. Now I am a man on an assignment and no secretary is going to stop me especially after being brutally punished by the guards...and I mean brutally punished. So I pulled out my...yep that ever-trusting silencer pistol. That did me no good against my previous encounter with the guard but 'danger' is my middle name. Massively paranoid that the secretary is going to pull out her shotgun, smack me down and going on that endless loop of victory I dared this feat. And guess what...she carried on typing! A friggin pistol pointing at her head and she carries on typing? This game amazes me. So I shot her anyway and walked in...and her boss wasn't fazed for a second. I just shook my head. BTW - I shot him too but the game ended because he was a 'major' player in this game as he knows the cure of this plague and seriously who cares? The plague will be a welcoming addition to me than fighting those guards any day.
And this stupidity continues throughout the game...
There's a huge amount of weapons to collect. Ranging from shotguns (the weakest I have ever encountered in any game BUT not for the enemies - I tell you more very soon) to snipers (and that will not do any good at all - remember the bionic vision that each guard has...) to heavy suppression machine gun (one of the very few weapon along with the flame thrower that can actually do some serious damage) to the all-powerful super rail gun. What makes this rail gun super is it can see enemies through walls as it detects heat. Man when I first got my hands on this beauty I was the ant's pants...you can't see me and I can see you...Geo Mod engine here-I-come...then I made a fatal mistake...the mercs have them too...back to my silencer. Screw that Geo Mod engine.
Bored yet?
I tell you my sniper story anyway. I saw a guard which to my total amazement did not noticed me. Considering I'm on a roll I slowly aimed my sniper at full zoom and...I died. How? Well he did spotted me after all that and drew out his shotgun and from that distance (remember I'm on FULL zoom) shot me and of course killed me. All this courtesy on that hard difficulty. Now imagine what 'impossible' be like?
I must admit there has been some really cool elements in this game like flying a ship or submerging under water in your sub or piggy-back on a jeep firing away at your enemies whilst your AI friend (which of course never gets killed) drives like a maniac. But driving a driller? That piece of junk only last ten seconds. Play the game and prove me wrong...and I'm not talking about being stationary either. Of course me and my 'utilise the Geo Mod engine to its maximum potential because I can destroy everything', I used this driller to...drill holes of course. You know, bore holes in walls etc but of course the driller arms broke in a matter of seconds.
Oh come on guys!!! Why are you doing this to me?!?
However there is some hope after all this mess.
The sounds and soundtrack is not at all bad...or good either. Mediocre is the better word but for what I was going through in this game it was welcoming. All the effects sounds 'soft'. No hard-hitting firing, burning, crushing and whatever else. That is, the shotgun explosions are weak, your footsteps weaker and the sounds of crushing rocks among that huge piece of killer machinery, crunching...nah I couldn't be bothered.
Ok...it's weak...but the musical scores presented itself quite well in the right moments...
And the graphics...*sigh*...OK, it's good. Nice water effects, facial expressions (even that raised eyebrow from Uros herself - nice touch), great human movements, lighting (even though I wonder how on Mars did they power all the lights), the underwater effects (that was very nice indeed) etc are all very welcoming indeed. However the general layout of Mars makes absolutely no sense what-so-ever. Now, me being a complete loser actually drawn a map as I progress to understand the layout of this game and it really didn't make any sense. It looks like the developers just lumped in one level at a time to either show off of their new technology or trying to speed up/slow down the game. At least place some logic in the level structure people. I must admit I quite like those 'stealthy' missions as it provided a good change of pace - you know that ugly 'creativity' word. Anyway, try and map it for yourself and you'll see what I mean. There will be questions and that Geo Mod engine ain't gonna save it.
Here you have a game, like Trespasser, tries to revolutionises FPS. I'm going to give some credit for this as it's a bold step to do. If you have ever played any FPS during this time (2001) you will never get to experience these 'destructible' environs like Red Faction. That and the ability to hijack vehicles can produce a killer of a game. However my gripe is they advertise it as 'free-to-do-whatever-you-like' which is not the case. It set my hopes very high as it tried to do something different. It seems that the Geo Mod engine can only be used effectively when the game tells you and not when you want it. Combining this with terrible AI sends this game into a downward spiral. Play it if you will but don't expect too much. Treat it as another run-of-the-mill FPS and you won't be as disappointed.
One last note: My difficulty rating is based on the 'Hard' level as this is the level I actually finished the game otherwise on 'Medium' it's very easy.