Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 19
  2. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. 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.
  2. In the hands of designers who will use Geo-Mod technology to mine its full effects to combine creative gameplay and a well-told story, it could be awesome.
  3. A lot of great ideas with poor execution. The premise for the story is good - a lone gunman rebelling against an oppressive corporation - but the storytelling and characters are so thin that you're never drawn in.
  4. It has the setup, but its drab, by-the-numbers execution lacks any flair.
  5. Next Generation Magazine
    60
    The only serious knock you can make against it is that (ironically) having been designed primarily with the notoriously problematic joypad control in mind, the gameplay is a lot less challenging when attacked with a mouse and keyboard. [Dec 2001, p.115]
  6. 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]
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 180 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 11 out of 180
  1. 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. Full Review »
  2. Feb 20, 2019
    9
    Remember playing this one back in 2002... what a game it was! The destruction feature was amazing and you could destroy everything and buildRemember playing this one back in 2002... what a game it was! The destruction feature was amazing and you could destroy everything and build corridors with explosives... it was insane! Now, going back to this game and it's still amazing. The graphics are old, but the destruction is still on point. It's just amazing. The storyline in all Red Faction games was never revolutionary and the original RF is not a surprise in this department. Single player and multiplayer are on point. Buy this game and blow stuff up! Lead the faction! Pickens approves Full Review »
  3. Jul 25, 2018
    9
    Remember playing this one back in 2002... what a game it was! The destruction feature was amazing and you could destroy everything and buildRemember playing this one back in 2002... what a game it was! The destruction feature was amazing and you could destroy everything and build corridors with explosives... it was insane! Now, going back to this game and it's still amazing. The graphics are old, but the destruction is still on point. It's just amazing. The storyline in all Red Faction games was never revolutionary and the original RF is not a surprise in this department. Single player and multiplayer are on point. Buy this game and blow stuff up! Lead the faction! Pickens approves! Full Review »