Red Faction: Battlegrounds

Red Faction Battlegrounds offers something for everyone, but if you wish to cash in the best way possible, then pre-order Red Faction Armageddon and pick up your free copy of this intense and amazing vehicular combat game.

If you're a fan of the Red Faction series, there isn't anything in Battlegrounds that will satisfy your craving for more Red Faction. If you're looking for a simple multiplayer game that you can play with your friends locally or online to kill a few hours, Battlegrounds may very well be worth the price of admission.

Even though it doesn't provide a bridge between the Guerilla and Armageddon storylines, Battlegrounds is still an enjoyable, chaotic romp. Gamers looking for gratuitous explosions or some items for the next Red Faction game (you get them at Rank 10 and 20) will have fun with this title.

Red Faction: Battlegrounds is enjoyable, but ended up being just like the rest of the titles in this genre. Fans will probably enjoy it and there is the nice perk of bonus content for the future Red Faction title. In the end Red Faction: Battlegrounds suffers from being an average game.

Battlegrounds works as a distraction and a fun party game for hardcore gamers. However, Red Faction: battlegrounds falls well short of being a fully featured XLA game that demands the attention of gamers.

The camera is unfocused and frustrating; the gameplay too chaotic for its own good; and the lack of a strong storyline make it feel like everything's barely holding together with cheap adhesive.

This one's already ground to a halt. [July 2011, p.103]

Granted, Battleground is intended to be played online, but more often than not the online lobbies are empty. This lack of popularity all-but signs the death warrant for an online-heavy game like Battlegrounds - as a significant portion of the game's longevity is thrown out the window when there is nobody to play it with. In closing, while Red Faction: Battlegrounds is certainly a serviceable spiritual successor to the classic Atari game Combat, it really has little to offer for veteran gamers looking for more than an arena-based blast fest.

Battlegrounds offers fast entertainment, but it could have been much better for solo play with some more levels.

Battlegrounds is a competent enough shooter, though it could use more depth and originality. The single-player portion can be completed within an hour, and the multiplayer games lack the depth to sustain long-term play.

If you can snag a copy as a free pre-order bonus for Red Faction: Armageddon, then go ahead and give it a spin, but if you're thinking of spending money on it, give this one a pass. At 800 MSP ($10) for the download, Red Faction: Battlegrounds simply isn't worth the cash.

The main problem is the fact that there's just not much to it. A complete lack of depth means after just an hour or two of play, you'll be done with it. [Issue#72, p.101]

A title technically well made​​, but with obvious limitations, especially concerning multiplayer.

With only sixteen training missions that take only an hour to complete and an Xbox Live multiplayer mode that I can't find anyone online to play with, this game leaves a lot to be desired, even for a $10 game.

Every twin stick shooter game lover could try this new game by THQ. But be warned: single player is merely a tutorial and the multiplayer part is heavily faulted.

It's not a terribly-made game, there just not anything... exceptional to it. For the money you'd spend picking this title up you'd be better off picking up any of a number of other Arcade games which provide a unique and engaging experience.

Ultimately, this game will only please series' hardcore fans who are eager to play the next Red Faction game and want some freshness within the series universe. Battlegrounds seems to have been quickly conceived and executed and that is noticeable from the first minutes of play.

Repetitive gameplay and such limited-appeal makes of Red Faction: Battlegrounds an easy pass, especially at 800 Microsoft Points.

The vehicles aren't the only thing with a mind of their own. The camera is worse.

I was left wondering what the point of playing Red Faction: Battlegrounds was. Honestly, the game struck me as a vehicular combat game that was halfway done when someone walked in and said, "Hey, we should make this a Red Faction game!"

Some committed souls might eke a few hours of mild entertainment out of Red Faction: Battlegrounds, but only if they try really hard. It might not be irredeemably terrible, but there are so many better games in the download scene. Don't waste your time on this forgettable spin-off.

Red Faction: Battlegrounds is only recommendable to those who already got it for free as a pre-order bonus, and it's not even that good of a deal for them.

Red Faction: Battlegrounds sports good graphics and interesting ideas: unfortunately, the absence of a true single player mode and the too chaotic multiplayer matches due to the overly small maps, rapidly blow out any interest in the game.

An hour-long single-player mission and only a handful of multiplayer modes leaves this game severely lacking in replayability.

Plays like a cross between those classic racing titles and a dual-stick shooter. On paper, the blend of these two designs should breed an enjoyable multiplayer experience. Unfortunately, due to a frustrating camera, bland colors, and touchy targeting, Battlegrounds ends up disappointing.

Even though it contains vehicles that look like they belong in the world of Red Faction, nothing else about the game seems to have anything to do with that universe. It could have been called 'Monster Crash Super Derby' and have felt absolutely no different.

As a starter in the running towards Red Faction: Armageddon, Red Faction: Battlegrounds doesn't exactly work enticingly. And when viewing the game as a separate project, not much remains. What holds the game down the most is the meagre singleplayer campaign, which has little variation and too small maps. The items you'll unlock for Armageddon just don't suffice.

Battlegrounds has become a simple arcade game. The racing and shooting are very basic and the total package is just too repetitive, causing you to delete the game after a few hours. The game isn't all bad, but it's not worth 800 Microsoft Points or 7,99 euro.

Red Faction: Battlegrounds isn't terrible, but it's hard to understand why this is a Red Faction game at all. What you're left with is a mediocre dual-stick shooter that is severely lacking in content and becomes repetitive quickly.

Red Faction: Battlegrounds is so bad that it actually will make you less hyped for the upcoming Red Faction: Armageddon. That is, in every way, a big failure.

The never-ending explosions shake the screen and before long chaos and confusion take over. Battlegrounds is hectic given the small maps and spawning becomes silly as you come back from death straight into another death. It's annoying, yet not as annoying as waiting for an online match to start thanks to a nonexistent community.

Red Factions: Battlegrounds is a waste of 800 Marketplace points and will disappoint every Red Faction fan right out of the gate.

Micro Machines meets Geometry Wars, but so phenomenally less interesting than that sounds it's almost painful.

A tepid pursuit of the bare minimum, resistant to the creative nudge that could have made it feel like something worthwhile. Everything works, it does what it says on the tin, but there's not a spark of personality in there.

It's disappointing that Battlegrounds has more in common with a 30-year old Atari 2600 title in a number of ways than it does with the generally likable Red Faction franchise. Really, it doesn't have anything to do with it other than as a source for the vehicles and a couple of logos.