Red Faction II for the PS2

...i picked this one up today...

I was a fan of the original, so i was kind of excited about this one...

Overall, it's a decent FPS shooter, so far, though i do have some complaints..

The Good: The voice-acting talent.. Top-notch, with the likes of Jason "The Transporter" Statham and Lance "Aliens" Henriksen leading the way.

The difficulty level: You will die. You will die often.

The ability to go double-fisted with handguns and machineguns, and actually be able to control each of the two weapons in your hands INDIVIDUALLY.. (A really cool option.. If you've got two pistols, the R1 button fires the one in your right hand, the L1 button the one in your left.. Very interesting option)



The heavy-weaponry: This is the first game where i've ever actually USED the heavy-weaponry on a regular basis (and i mean REGULAR basis.. The grenade launcher is almost my standard weapon!)

The eventual-auto-heal: A nice feature. If you find a nice quiet spot to rest at for about 10 seconds, your character will refill his health-meter automatically..




Overall neatness of the concept: although we'd better get to MARS, at some point..So far, everything i've done takes place on Earth.




THE BAD: The learning curve.. There IS no learning curve.. Right off the bat, you're thrown into a mission that's pretty insane.. I died within the first 5 seconds of my first time playing the game...

The toughness of the baddies: I don't think it's realistic when you empty an entire MAGAZINE into one guy's HEAD, and he doesn't DIE... (He has some body-armour on, sure, but STILL)

The lack of ability to control the fighter when you fly: One of my favourite points of the original "Red Faction" was how YOU controlled the fighter when you were flying.. You WERE flying it.. In the sequel, you're just the gunner, which to me is a real pain.. Especially since, so far, the flying missions that i've done have been fairly confusing.. I normally find i don't have ANY clue what the actual mission objective is.. I just shoot things until i'm told to stop..

Infinite regeneration of baddies, at certain points in the game: A real pain in the keester... You're stuck in some battle-torn warehouse, trying to figure out how to get out, and you don't even have time to even turn your head to look around because there are the same three flying drones that KEEP ON REGENERATING, OVER AND OVER AND OVER...

The lameness of most of the weaponry: I'm supposed to be a nano-enhanced super-soldier of the future.. Where are the REAL guns?
Most of the weaponry you're given barely even puts a dent in the bad guys...Hence why the grenade launcher is my primary weapon..


Despite the above flaws, though, i AM having fun with this game.. If you liked the first one (or are just an FPS fan), then try checkin' this out...It's not a must-buy, but it's fun...

 

Penny Arcade said this game gives you leprosy. I doubt that is true, but it's still funny.

 

Penny Arcade said this game gives you leprosy. I doubt that is true, but it's still funny.


DAMMIT I WAS JUST ABOUT TO POST THAT!

 

i just got it yesterday. played through the first level. it's no halo but it is a good enough shooter. i'll probably finish it.

the ones i'm looking forward to next month are 007 nightfire and metroid prime. those should be great!


...

*sigh* just wish halo 2 was closer than it is.

 

Really......I'm a HUGE fan of the first one......ever since I first used the rail-driver, with the one-shot kill ability and to be able to fire THROUGH walls.....great game. Are all the original guns from the first one in this game?

 

[image=http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2002/20021022l.gif]

 

If you want an FPS with a low framerate and crappy multiplayer, buy Red Faction II. If you want an FPS that has the highest framerate of any console FPS, multiple multiplayer options (including online play), a built-in mapmaker, and multiplatform, buy Timesplitters 2.

Just my unbiased opinion