Red Faction

 PC
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 180 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 131 out of 180
  2. Mixed: 38 out of 180
  3. Negative: 11 out of 180

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  1. ThatOneDude_H
    Aug 21, 2013
    6
    I score this game a lot lower than I wanted too, especially being a fan of the older fps games like doom, quake, half life, etc. I bought this in a bundle with the other Red Faction games and wanted to play through them in order of story, but this game is making it really hard for me. The geo-mod is cool, though as many others have said, it is extremely under-utilized. You go around aI score this game a lot lower than I wanted too, especially being a fan of the older fps games like doom, quake, half life, etc. I bought this in a bundle with the other Red Faction games and wanted to play through them in order of story, but this game is making it really hard for me. The geo-mod is cool, though as many others have said, it is extremely under-utilized. You go around a locked door once, then that's pretty much it (I tried doing this around other doors to get a good vantage point on enemies but found the rock completely indestructible). The game is extremely hard, and sometimes in a fun way, but a lot of times it just felt cheap. The AI knows where you are at all times and shoots you before you even see them, and getting swarmed by multiple enemies that take 30+ bullets to kill is just frustrating. Speaking of frustrations, a lot of the bosses are BAD and not for GOOD reasons. They either kill you through walls or get stuck on an environment. I had to start over with one boss around 20 times until the boss finally decided to do what it was supposed to do. The game has a lot of cool ideas, but it just wasn't fun to play. Most of the time I just played to try to finish the story, but quit because I wasn't enjoying the game.… Expand
  2. WangSulah
    Jun 13, 2011
    6
    Workers' revolts are always awesome. Where the game lacked in convincing voice acting, it made up for in gameplay and the ability to blow things up. Not the greatest game ever made, but well worth playing.
  3. Matseb2611
    Oct 16, 2012
    6
    One of the older FPS games out there. Perhaps what Red Faction is most known for is the Geo-mod, which makes a lot of the environment destructible with the right weaponry. However, although this is a really great feature, I felt as though the game used nowhere near enough of its potential. You only really had to do it a couple of times in the beginning and then for the rest of the game itOne of the older FPS games out there. Perhaps what Red Faction is most known for is the Geo-mod, which makes a lot of the environment destructible with the right weaponry. However, although this is a really great feature, I felt as though the game used nowhere near enough of its potential. You only really had to do it a couple of times in the beginning and then for the rest of the game it was forgotten and ignored completely. As a simple FPS game, Red Faction is not bad at all. It is fun for short bursts of playtime as you mindlessly shoot the enemies with a nice variety of guns in a cool sci-fi setting. The background music is really cool too and fits the setting really well. In some ways I felt as though the game was inspired by Half Life and Deus Ex. However, having said all that, the game has plenty of drawbacks. I'm completely looking past the silly voice acting since it was kind of funny in some ways. The drawback mainly for me was that Red Faction was very repetitive and just a mindless shooter. It didn't involve you using any clever tactics and such. The whole game is just how quickly you can shoot all the people in the room. You can only play it in short, half-hour bursts before getting bored. Although the game did try to change pace in some parts, I personally found all those parts to be quite ineffective and even annoying, whether it's getting a dumb AI robot to hover over a disposal pit, extremely bland underwater combat, or the stealthy infiltration parts. Although stealthy parts weren't too bad, the game didn't have enough to make them more engaging. Most of the time there was no way of telling what would cause someone to become suspicious of you and what wouldn't. And also, when your cover does get blown, you have to still continue the rest of the area in your disguise with just a stealth pistol, which was pretty annoying because by that stage I would've preferred to take out more powerful weapons to fight off the guards. In the end I just don't see this game lasting me many hours. To conclude, I'd say unless you wish to play every FPS game under the Sun, give this one a miss. If you are into older FPS games, just stick with Half Life.… Expand
  4. hwanin
    Sep 17, 2021
    6
    The Geo-Mod engine made this game absolutely unique.
    I find it hard to believe that nobody could build similar, fully destructible FPS game ever since.
    If they could code it in 2001 anyone could easily do the same effort on new systems like we have these days: 8 core CPUs and gigabytes of RAMs even in graphics card, while you can take a look at the minimum requirements of this title.    The Geo-Mod engine made this game absolutely unique.
    I find it hard to believe that nobody could build similar, fully destructible FPS game ever since.
    If they could code it in 2001 anyone could easily do the same effort on new systems like we have these days: 8 core CPUs and gigabytes of RAMs even in graphics card, while you can take a look at the minimum requirements of this title.

    This wasn't a particularly beautiful game, because it wasn't... But you could make a new door or corridor into the stone by rocket launcher :) It was fun to play it when I was just 18.    … Expand
  5. Ensaabahnur
    Mar 8, 2019
    7
    Good game! A bit old now but it still has it's charm , a solid shooter none the less!
  6. Tomle1202
    Oct 28, 2022
    7
    Red Faction is perfect if you look at it as a side adventure with a fun gimmick that is way too underused.
  7. AbeMC
    Jun 12, 2016
    7
    Red Faction is a classic first-person shooter with some nicely detailed (still decent) environments and twitchy, head-shot-focused mechanics. Probably not as innovative as the original Max Payne, but still a great game that's worth a playthrough if old-school is your preference.

    Guns are great, and destructible terrain is fun. Game-play rewards tactical thinking and choosing the correct    Red Faction is a classic first-person shooter with some nicely detailed (still decent) environments and twitchy, head-shot-focused mechanics. Probably not as innovative as the original Max Payne, but still a great game that's worth a playthrough if old-school is your preference.

    Guns are great, and destructible terrain is fun. Game-play rewards tactical thinking and choosing the correct weapon for the right situation. Game-play and gun-play are smooth, and graphics are pretty good for a game from 2001; I never had my immersion broken b/c of low-res textures. Level design never felt boring, though it was sometimes mildly confusing.

    Some things are just outright frustrating, though. Maybe I've been spoiled by the recent generation of games that have direction finders and maps (though I didn't have a problem in Max Payne or Max Payne 2), but lack of directions and small switches to press to proceed can equal many minutes of running around aimlessly, looking for the way forward. Health is at a premium on any difficulty. Story is meh. Voice acting (except for Hendrix) is sub-par. Music is annoying and repetitive. The final levels felt tacked on, making the game too long - though, at 6 hours for a run-through, the game is actually anything but long.

    And while I didn't have the bugs that other gamers have encountered (like the submarine exploding for no reason - use V-sync, the bug comes from an uncapped frame-rate), I could only play an hour or so before the voices stopped sounding. I had to exit the game, and verify the file cache. There were usually 3 files that had to be re-acquired. Once done, the game proceeded normally - for another hour or so. Annoying, but not really game-breaking (I wasn't playing with any mods).

    Worth a look for for any Red Faction fan, or someone who enjoys old-school shooters. But there will be no hand-holding. Or clues. Or detailed directions.

    EDIT: Played with the Pure Faction mod installed, and the above problem with the voices disappeared. Pure Faction also enables native 16:9 resolutions (so the image isn't stretched) and has numerous other fixes. Recommended.    … Expand
  8. Bottlecaps
    Mar 22, 2019
    7
    Red faction is a game that made me think and thats a good thing . some games are remembered for their style and artistic presence or a well made story , red faction is memorable because of its tech and game play

    story: Red faction is clearly inspired by violent dystopian films with some added 80s cheese and mixed with the outdated graphics made for a delightfully out of date cheesy    Red faction is a game that made me think and thats a good thing . some games are remembered for their style and artistic presence or a well made story , red faction is memorable because of its tech and game play

    story: Red faction is clearly inspired by violent dystopian films with some added 80s cheese and mixed with the outdated graphics made for a delightfully out of date cheesy story. you play as Parker a miner who has had enough of the oppressive company ultor , ultor is the mining company and they treat their workers like prisoners. at first it feels like parker just gets caught up in the violence and has to defend himself but it quickly devolves into a massacre. you can shoot any one onsite and if they aren't essential to the story you wont be penalized. parker may have a goal but do his ends justify the means ? i didn't realize how good the story actually was until after i beat the game and it had me lost in my own thoughts . how ever the story is boged down by poor animations and sound bugs in the cut scenes
    Story; 8/10

    worldbuilding: red faction boasts a good amount of lore for 2001 from the mining suits to the ultor corporation and even the colonization of mars . this is the first game and it has a lot to build off of . having the first game set entirely in on facility and having the setting be mars where the air is not breathable gives this game a good excuse to be linear even if this story and lore is more suited to an open world style game
    world building:8/10

    Graphics: the graphics for the time are not ground breaking in any way and feel really dated now , iv seen alot of games that hold up well graphically from 2001 but red faction dose not , iv definitely seen worst . for a game that otherwise boast impressive tech the graphics are lack luster
    Graphics:5/10

    Gameplay: red faction is a fairly violent fps and the way the game plays reflects that , the guns feel fun to shoot , and most guns have an alternative fire mode varying up game play and that makes the early levels alot of fun , about half way through there is a difficulty spike an i had to do some save scumming to get past some parts where i got caught with low health, given the age of the game i can forgive it for that but it was a little irritating, bosses are hard and not in a good way a lot of the times i died i swore i was behind a wall but my character model must have peaked out just a tiny bit. how ever the destruction for 2001 is really good , they definitely are on the right path with that aspect of the game and it made this game go from mediocre to memorable Gameplay: 7/10

    sound design: the music was really good , even the pause menu music was good and reminded me a little of doom , battle music was also memorable, its sound is designed to where the player is and fits the setting well reminding me a lot of the way 3d platforms music is designed. for 2001 the sound effects are really good bullets sound like bullets and explosives sounds like explosives, the only real bad thing i can say about the sound design is the poor voice acting But given the age of the game that's a fairly minor complaint
    sound design: 8/10

    8+8+5+7+8= 36
    36/5= 7.2

    red faction is a fun game and the Geo-mod tech is a step in the right direction , if it was a little more polished and better acted the game might have become one of the greats    … Expand

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

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. GameZone
    80
    Red Faction is not a classic, but the new Doom ain’t out yet buddy. Red Faction will allow you to practice the frag fest fever for the time being.
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  2. Game Over Online
    80
    A couple of years ago, Red Faction would have been a stellar title but now, it’s simply a very good one.
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  3. Yahoo!
    80
    The single-player experience is great on its own, which explains the success of the PS2 version, but with the addition of a powerful and customisable multiplayer mode, PC owners are in for a treat.
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