Red Faction is a first-person shooter computer game that was released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2 and PC by THQ and Volition. It features online play, but lacks a central server to communicate game traffic, therefore all games must be hosted at the cost of the user (whatever that might be).
The premiere feature of the game was its 'GeoMod' technology which allowed the player to destroy the geometry in the game. For example, instead of opening a door, a player could blast through the rock surrounding the door.
Red Faction came out of the ashes of the cancelled Descent 4 project that Volition had been working on. Many ideas that was originally for Descent 4 can be found in Red Faction, for example, Red Faction's 'GeoMod' graphics engine was supposed to be used in Descent 4, and the main character, Parker, was borrowed from Descent 4 as well. Many Descent fans consider Red Faction as Decent 4 even though the storyline and the game is totally different from the three Descent games.
Storyline
Red Faction takes place on Mars. Earth’s minerals are being depleted and humans need more of them to survive. The Ultor Corporation runs the mining operation on Mars. The living conditions are horrible and a disease called "The Plague" is running rampant throughout the colony. The player takes on the role of a miner named Parker, who witnesses the spark that starts the rebellion. Parker traverses through the Ultor complex, elimintating any resistance Ultor throws at him. Ultor then calls upon mercenaries to help them in their fight against the miners. He then meets Capek, the scientist who created "The Plague", fights and kills him, and takes a shuttle to a space station to deactivate a laser defense system so the force Earth is sending doesn't get shot down. After going through the mercenary base, Parker fights Masako, the mercenary leader. But Masako has activated a bomb that would destroy the entire base. Eos is tied to the bomb, which Parker deactivates. The Earth Defense Force shows up just in time, and eliminates the remaining mercenaries.
Characters
- Parker — The main character, who witnesses the start of the rebellion.
- Eos — The leader of the Red Faction resistance. She helps Parker peridocally throughout the game over radio transmissions.
- Hendrix — A Ultor technician who works on the inside to help you. Hendrix is killed by Masako's mercenaries.
- Masako — The leader of the mercenary unit sent to kill all Red Faction resistance fighters and miners.
- Capek — An Ultor scientist who started "The Plague" and works on nanotechnology.
- Gryphon — An executive at Ultor. Parker kidnaps him and takes him to Eos.
Weapons
- 12mm pistol — A standard pistol. The secondary fire attaches a silencer to it.
- Riot shield — A shield that protects you from gunfire. It will shatter if it takes too much damage.
- Control baton — A weapon that can be swung or used to shock people.
- Remote charge — A explosive charge that can be remotely detonated. Can be used on people, vehicles, and to clear debris.
- Grenade — Can be thrown with a 4 second timer or detonate immediately after hitting an object.
- Automatic shotgun — Primary fire uses a double shot, while secondary fire fires rounds every 0.15 seconds.
- Submachine gun — Can fire either 12mm bullets or 5.56 mm bullets.
- Assault rifle — Primary fire uses a three-round burst, while secondary is full-auto. It holds 42 rounds per clip.
- Sniper rifle — A standard sniper rifle.
- Rocket launcher — Holds 6 rockets. Primary fire fires rockets with no lock-on. Secondary fire enables heat-seeking.
- Rail driver — A portable rail gun. The secondary fire allows you to see through walls and objects to find enemies. It kills enemies instantly.
- Heavy Suppression Machine Gun — A 99 round, belt-fed machine gun. Primary fire is full auto, but the secondary fire is slower, and has greater accuracy.
- Flamethrower — This flamethrower shoots a stream of fuel that sticks on contact. Use the secondary fire to throw the canister as a bomb.
- Precision rifle — A highly accurate and fast-firing rifle used by the mercenaries.
- Fusion rocket launcher — The largest weapon in the game. It shoots a large shell that does tremendous damage. The reload time is significant, however.
Vehicles
- Drill Machine — A large vehicle usually used to carve out caves. Can short out electric fields.
- Jeep — A basic jeep vehicle. Has a machine gun mounted in the back.
- Submarine — A submersible used to get around underwater. Uses torpedoes as weapons.
- Aseir Fighter — A nimble aircraft armed with rockets and a vulcan cannon.
- Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) — A large vehicle used to transport people. Armed with a vulcan cannon and rocket launcher.
Sequels
The sequel Red Faction II was released for PlayStation 2 in October 2002, and then PC, Xbox, and GameCube. It takes place on Earth, telling the story of a group of super soldiers, including the main character, Alias. These soldiers were physically enhanced by a secret technology originally developed on Mars. Red Faction II does not support network gaming, but provides some multiplayer-style games with 'bots'.
Monkeystone Games developed a version of Red Faction for the N-Gage that was published by THQ in December 2003. It has some features exclusive to the N-Gage version, but is also greatly trimmed down in other ways.
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