Red Faction: Battlegrounds

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.