Red Faction

[h2]Happy 25th anniversary of release, Red Faction![/h2]

I've been playing this game since 2002 on PS2. Beaten it on console and PC, honestly >100 times. To the point that I can speedrun without any hacks in 1h something. It's perfect blend of action, SF and immersion. Not without its cons but every story-driven FPS lover should play it!. Install Alpine Faction first in 2026! PROS: - OST by Dan Wentz is 2000 SF peak which I still love to listen to on its own - destruction waaay before it was popular - atmosphere is mix of Total Recall and Half-Life - even though it's linear, it does offer different approaches - secrets - never boring; action, stealth, boss, vehicles, level variety is insane - weapons; Rail driver is my fav weapon in any FPS ever - mods and MP are still alive quarter of the century later; you can connect Alpine Faction and FactionFiles to get achievements CONS: - short (but huge replay value) - one stealth section is mandatory and it can be difficult for new gamers that don't know where to go but it's short and has interesting office exploration - old school difficulty won't be for everyone (hard and impossible really are as they suggest) Play it on easy, have fun. Then crank it up.

Обычно в шутерах стены - это просто декорации. Нужен красный ключ, чтобы открыть красную дверь. В Red Faction эта рутина сломана, причём буквально. Игру 2001 года сделала великой технология Geo-Mod. Это физика разрушений в реальном времени: пули оставляют в стенах дыры, от взрыва ракеты осыпается бетон, и главное - в этой дыре можно пройти. Это был не просто визуальный эффект, а элемент стратегии. Враги засели в комнате? Не лезь через дверь, а проделай лаз в стене и устрой им сюрприз. Нужно укрытие? Проломи пол, создав импровизированный окоп. Да, абсолютно всё разрушить было нельзя, но само ощущение этой свободы пьянило. Однако, давайте честно: магия Geo-Mod - это примерно 80% удовольствия. Потому что в остальном... Если смотреть правде в глаза, Red Faction - это крепко сбитый, но довольно стандартный для того времени шутер в духе культовой Half-Life. Сюжет прост: мы, простой работяга Паркер, прилетаем на Марс, который насквозь прогнил от власти мегакорпорации Ultor. Нечеловеческие условия, вспыхнувшая чума и постоянный гнёт приводят к бунту, и вот мы уже не шахтёр, а боец сопротивления "Красные бригады". Сама история простая, предсказуемая, но подана с душой. В игре даже нашлось место стелс-миссиям, где можно переодеться в форму учёного, и поездкам на технике. Правда, эти стелс-эпизоды сегодня могут показаться откровенно нудными. Секрет успеха Red Faction - не в сюжете и не в механике стрельбы, а в неповторимой атмосфере почти детского вандализма.

You can fix the biggest technical problems with the game and give it a solid resolution by using Alpine Faction, and I give massive credit to its developers because of how easy it is to install and set up. With it this game goes from like 2/10 to like 3/10. Unfortunately, Red Faction is a very poor game. It actually has several things going for it like appealing visuals and sound (at least if you're into classic 3d shooters of course) and, of all things, the vehicle sections are awesome and lots of fun. I don't know why but the vehicles just control perfectly and they feel so powerful. I didn't even hate the first stealth section. The second one was insultingly bad because the entire game badgers you into willingly going stealth and then forces you into open combat with no chance to change your mind halfway through. The first stealth section was pretty fun, though, since you could actually stealth it pretty reliably up until the last 20 seconds or so. The main problem with the game is the combat- and this is a combat game with almost no puzzles so that's definitely not a good sign. Red Faction has a simply terrible combat system which is based around 3 factors: 1. Weapons have abysmal accuracy (late game you get accurate weapons but not for the first 2/3) 2. Enemies are extremely evasive 3. Enemies can tank lots of shots, but the headshot multiplier is 5x, so only headshots really matter. Put these together and you have a gameplay experience so bad, so frustrating, and so unfulfilling when you actually do succeed you'll be left wondering if core gameplay mechanics were somehow port-related glitches. You're going to wonder "I must be doing something wrong" as you point guns at enemies 10 feet away from you and still somehow miss. The problem even works in reverse. Enemies on the other end of the room with their bodies mostly obscured can still get potshots on you. You'll also sometimes be able to get away with blatant mistakes yourself due to enemies 10 feet away from you missing with shotguns and smgs. What this means together is that both surviving and killing enemies is largely down to RNG. The final ingredient to make this game fall apart is that that all the enemies, barring bosses and a couple of normal guys with rockets, have hitscan weapons. You can't even dodge enemies projectiles meaning that instead of the game rewarding evasive or defensive play it instead rewards killing the enemies as fast as possible- but in a game where the guns are extremely unreliable. And, like, who the hell wants to play a shooter primarily based around gambling your bullets will hit and the enemies' will miss? Is that an actual demographic? Is there actually a group of people who played the start of an XCOM campaign and said "this is great, I just it was an FPS so I could *personally* miss every shot!" In conclusion: Red Faction isn't bad for its time. It might be abysmal compared to Half-Life but it also came out several months before Combat Evolved, and I feel like that's the real point-of-no-return where shooters had no reason to exist if they weren't good. In that regard, I can appreciate Red Faction as a product of its time and somewhat of a trailblazer. It was experimenting with stuff that would become a staple of shooters down the line like stealth, vehicles, and cutscenes. But it's 2026 now. We have our pick of the litter among true retro shooters, modern AAA shooters, and modern indie shooters, half of which are throwbacks to the time Red Faction came out in. So unless you truly, truly have absolutely no better way to spent $10 and 5 hours, this is an easy skip.

Amazing classic, the game that started the Red Faction and Saints Row legacies

A technical Marvel for its time and of the best shooters ever!

Reminds me of Half-life. Good classic game, though it has some unpatched bugs, I'd recommend getting Apline Faction if you're planning to complete whole game.