Red Faction

 PC
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Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 180 Ratings

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  • Summary: This first-person shooter features Geo-Mod? technology, the ability to completely alter and destroy the environment in real-time. Wage war through 20 diverse levels with 15 weapons of mass destruction. Hijack 5 fully armed land, sea and air vehicles. [THQ]

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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Cinescape
    91
    With a good plot to keep you involved in the one player action and huge networking capabilities, this is one that will keep you entertained for quite some time. Just blow stuff up. Oh, and blow stuff up. And don’t forget to blow stuff up.
  2. Game Informer
    88
    An engine dubbed Geo-Mod...puts this game in a class by itself. [Nov 2001, p.129]
    All this publication's reviews
  3. PC Gamer
    85
    As far as looks go, Red Faction is more like the cute girl next door than a hot fashion model from the Upper West Side: It’s pretty, but it won’t make a man drop to his knees and thank God for giving him sight.
  4. Adrenaline Vault
    80
    While its short length and lack of character development leave much to be desired, the multiplayer feature more than makes up for the diminished gameplay, adding to the replay value.
  5. Voodoo Extreme
    79
    The end scene is even more anticlimactic than the one in Half-Life. Without going into spoilers, It's like you're having great sex with a chick, and just about as you get ready to launch "Apollo 5" to the Moon, she suddenly gets up, picks up the cell phone, and calls her husband to ask if he remembered to feed their 2-year-old son.
  6. Electric Playground
    71
    What was supposed to be Red Faction’s raison d’être – French for “cool feature designed to make it seem like more than just a cheap Half-Life clone set on Mars”--[the Geo Mod technology] turns out to be its biggest disappointment.
  7. Thunderbolt
    50
    If you can, I recommend actually skipping past this game and trying instead to find a copy of "Red Faction 2." It’s really a much more refined game and there’s really no connection between the two games at all so you won’t miss a thing. [Sept 2005]

See all 19 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 44
  3. Negative: 1 out of 44
  1. RichardM.
    Jan 29, 2002
    10
    It is a really good and nice looking game. And the Geo-Mod is great!
  2. JoshuaM.
    Nov 20, 2003
    10
    I loved this game, but could not help cheating first. I think that it would be harder and more chalenging if you didn't. Oh, yeah, I I loved this game, but could not help cheating first. I think that it would be harder and more chalenging if you didn't. Oh, yeah, I would also like to know if there are any cheats for the multiplayer games on the internet as I see people flying and using rapid fire. BUY THIS GAME!!!!!… Expand
  4. HumanMarsNet
    Feb 28, 2016
    9
    Despite being 15 years old now, Red Faction is still the best computer game set on Mars. There are only some minor things not letting it getDespite being 15 years old now, Red Faction is still the best computer game set on Mars. There are only some minor things not letting it get the maximum score.

    As in a classic first-person shooter (FPS) game, you will be shooting enemies a lot in Red Faction. Both the enemies and available weapons will get tougher over time. This monotony is split by a few "stealth" sections, several driving/flying/swimming sections (which was quite a new feature in 2001) and a few cutscenes. Speaking about cutscenes - if the game as a whole graphically is quite good by standards of 2001, then the cutscenes are definitely outdated.

    Red Faction technically is not really innovative game (think of Max Payne, which was released the same year), mostly following the well-tried experience of the Half Life (1998) generation FPS games. The exception is its innovative Geo-Mod game engine, which allows to create fully destructible game world. Too bad this potentially revolutionary game engine wasn't used to its full potential by Red Faction's developer team; its most unique features are hardly used designing game's locations. It's interesting the much newer Geo-Mod 2 engine is heavily used in Red Faction: Guerrilla, but lacks the reality feel of the older Geo-Mod engine.

    The game is too easy to beat - if you play carefully and quick-save a lot, even at "impossible" difficulty level there will be only a handful of challenging moments in the game.

    The story in the start lacks some logic. Why Ultor would spend enormous money on shipping miners to Mars and then "treat them like dirt"? Every miner on Mars has cost Ultor hundreds of thousands, if not millions (it's year 2075 - only a few decades after the first colony on Mars). It's economically unreasonable to beat them up or shut down just for fun.

    Read full review @ HumanMars.net    … Expand
  5. RowanF
    Jun 11, 2009
    9
    A lovely game. The geo-mod is really good however, unfortunately, the game makes almost no use of it. At the beggining there are a few A lovely game. The geo-mod is really good however, unfortunately, the game makes almost no use of it. At the beggining there are a few attempts, but these quickly stop as the game progresses. Whilst this may seem a little disappointing, you will soon be so caught up in the story, the objectives, the whole Red Faction universe that you wont even mind. This is a great game, not because it's incredibly fun, realistic or epic, but simply because its an interesting, well played out tale that's good fun to play and has a host of great characters and weapons.… Expand
  6. Paulpolska
    Feb 25, 2016
    8
    Very good game. Amazing graphic details for 2001 year. Very interesting locations and this game is still living. In the past the geomod engineVery good game. Amazing graphic details for 2001 year. Very interesting locations and this game is still living. In the past the geomod engine give the players amazing destroy system… Expand
  7. Jackie_Jackson
    May 26, 2022
    8
    Я так долго пытался сбежать с Марса но в конце к своему ужасу понял что Я и есть Марс лолЯ так долго пытался сбежать с Марса но в конце к своему ужасу понял что Я и есть Марс лол
  8. Kingmannie
    Dec 28, 2014
    1
    Game breaking bugs such as the sub bay and boring task orientated such as get key-card here and there make this a very dull experience.Game breaking bugs such as the sub bay and boring task orientated such as get key-card here and there make this a very dull experience. Frustrating since its rated a lot higher than a lot of other superior shooters. This is not a classic, its a game studio with a limited budget and imagination. 1/10 Did not enjoy.… Expand

See all 44 User Reviews

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Awards & Rankings

59
#59 Best PC Game of 2001
12
#12 Most Discussed PC Game of 2001
13
#13 Most Shared PC Game of 2001

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