Red Faction PC - Total Recall meets Half Life
09-30-01, 02:36 AM
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Red Faction PC - Total Recall meets Half Life
Just got this for PC. It almost seems like a Total Recall mod for Quake3 or something. The story involving a revolt on Mars, Corporate conspiracy, and miners just screams Total Recall. They even have that digging machine with the crazy Verhoeven drills. And the miner's suit is an EXACT replica of the spacesuits in TR.
Anyway, I know the game initially appears rather unsexy (another dreary underground tunnel game I thought), but it's really quite good. There's a lot of variety and the art direction is sweet. It looks a lot like all those moody 80s/early90s sci-fi films such as Outland. Gameplay-wise, it's a lot like Half-Life - Lone guy sneaking around, running into NPCs who battle the bad guys, story going on around you - but with a nod to all the innovations that have been made since HL. You can pilot jeeps, subs and flying vehicles. There are stealthy sneaking scenes. And some of the weapons are quite obviously modelled after the ferocious feel of Counterstrike's machine guns. Lastly, the game has "flow". It has just the right of amount of action and never slows down enough to bore you (unlike the erratic Soldier of Fortune).
Another aspect I liked: It has amazing lighting effects, highly destructible terrain (a first), and huge environments yet runs very well on my so-so machine (P3-733, Voodoo3 16MB, 128 RAM). Deus Ex doesn't run this well and it's based on older technology.
Only problem: You can finish it in under 10 hours.
Multiplayer - Great! Easy interface. The destructible terrain adds another element to the game. You can create a hole in front of the enemy's entrance, trapping the enemy in the pit. Or you can level the natural barricades in the area to give your snipers a clear shot. I've only played CTF so far and all the maps are great except one.
Overall, if it weren't for the fact that most high-profile 3D shooters these days are pretty good, then Red Faction would be one of the best. As it stands, it's a solid game. If you can get it for under $30, then go for it.
Anyway, I know the game initially appears rather unsexy (another dreary underground tunnel game I thought), but it's really quite good. There's a lot of variety and the art direction is sweet. It looks a lot like all those moody 80s/early90s sci-fi films such as Outland. Gameplay-wise, it's a lot like Half-Life - Lone guy sneaking around, running into NPCs who battle the bad guys, story going on around you - but with a nod to all the innovations that have been made since HL. You can pilot jeeps, subs and flying vehicles. There are stealthy sneaking scenes. And some of the weapons are quite obviously modelled after the ferocious feel of Counterstrike's machine guns. Lastly, the game has "flow". It has just the right of amount of action and never slows down enough to bore you (unlike the erratic Soldier of Fortune).
Another aspect I liked: It has amazing lighting effects, highly destructible terrain (a first), and huge environments yet runs very well on my so-so machine (P3-733, Voodoo3 16MB, 128 RAM). Deus Ex doesn't run this well and it's based on older technology.
Only problem: You can finish it in under 10 hours.
Multiplayer - Great! Easy interface. The destructible terrain adds another element to the game. You can create a hole in front of the enemy's entrance, trapping the enemy in the pit. Or you can level the natural barricades in the area to give your snipers a clear shot. I've only played CTF so far and all the maps are great except one.
Overall, if it weren't for the fact that most high-profile 3D shooters these days are pretty good, then Red Faction would be one of the best. As it stands, it's a solid game. If you can get it for under $30, then go for it.
09-30-01, 11:38 AM
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Yeah, great game. I picked this up last week at BestBuy for $27.99 and don't regret it one bit....just glad I waited for the PC version.
BTW...I believe it's on sale this week at CompUSA for $29.99.
Bo.
BTW...I believe it's on sale this week at CompUSA for $29.99.
Bo.
09-30-01, 11:45 AM
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Totally agree with your assessment, so I won't repeat everything you state. Great game, but short. It took me about 9-11 hours to finish it the first time, and some of that was experimenting with the terrain, blowing up walls/caves, looking for 'secret' rooms and stuff. As a test, after I finished the game and knew where everything was, I started through a second time. In about 1 hour, I think I got about 1/4 through it! But all in all, I think it was a pretty good FPS shooter. I also liked the Half-Life-style level loading (quick 5-8 second loading in-game), to keep the atmosphere going.
I do wish there was MORE use of the nice features:
- More use of deformable terrain, instead of just in a few places (or maybe there were more that I didn't notice). I enjoyed using a rocket launcher to blow out both sides of a bridge that 3 or 4 guys were sniping at me from, causing the whole thing to come down.
- More times using the APC (once), Jeep (once), Sub(twice?), and flying gunship (once?).
- More of the WHOLE game! As indicated, way too short.
On the plus side, it ships with a level editor, so it should just be a matter of time before levels are created and all over the net And, as the game demonstrates, large levels can be handled by the engine, which is nice.
I do wish there was MORE use of the nice features:
- More use of deformable terrain, instead of just in a few places (or maybe there were more that I didn't notice). I enjoyed using a rocket launcher to blow out both sides of a bridge that 3 or 4 guys were sniping at me from, causing the whole thing to come down.
- More times using the APC (once), Jeep (once), Sub(twice?), and flying gunship (once?).
- More of the WHOLE game! As indicated, way too short.
On the plus side, it ships with a level editor, so it should just be a matter of time before levels are created and all over the net And, as the game demonstrates, large levels can be handled by the engine, which is nice.
09-30-01, 12:38 PM
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That's a big issue with games, the companies constantly whine about piracy, but then they release games that you can beat in 1 day if you have nothing better to do... I saw the previews for this game and thought it didn't look too bad, but paying 30$ for something I can get through in a day and that doesn't have replay value seems pointless. This game might also have multiplayer, but it won't go anywhere against games coming out soon like Team Fortress 2 and the new Wolfenstein game or against games/mods like Counterstrike, Urban Terror, Tactical Op's and Tribes 2.
My take on Red Faction, wait a year and then pick it up for 10$ in a bargain bin.
My take on Red Faction, wait a year and then pick it up for 10$ in a bargain bin.
