Graphics and Sound

Geo what?

Red Faction is powered by Volition's GeoMod engine. This engine's claim to fame is the ability to deform any terrain or structure in real-time. That means you can blow holes in walls and leave craters in the ground. Great idea isn't it? You get to exact revenge on all those times you're frustrated that you can't get by a locked door. Just blow a hole in the wall next to the door and keep moving. Is that rock a little to high to jump on? Make yourself a staircase. Sounds fun, but some things sound a lot better than they are.

The GeoMod engine does everything it claims to do, but that's not the problem. The problem is that the level designers at Volition didn't use it to its full potential. For starters, there isn't enough explosive ammo in the levels to mess around with blowing holes in everything. Explosives only remove small chunks of rock - if they could take out an entire wall they would be more useful. I think it's a safe assumption to say that most people play single player games by conserving their ammo. Mind you I didn't play through Red Faction trying to find every little secret - FPS games don't really have that feel like RPG games do (there's no secret item you can only get from side quests). Multiplayer games don't lend themselves to digging holes while everyone is trying to kill you.

Blowing a bridge

Shattering Glass

He redecorated

Besides the lack of ammo, the levels never steer you to use the deformable terrain to your advantage. There are only three or four times when you're required to blow a wall to advance in the level. The vast majority of doors are unlocked. There aren't many alternate paths or obvious work-arounds. Basically, the GeoMod engine is wasted.

The other features of the GeoMod engine are average. Textures, animations, poly count in the models, etc. don't push any envelopes. I think that games like Quake 3 and Max Payne look better than Red Faction. Does it feel dated? A little, but that's probably because Volition spent more time working on the deformable terrain than the other parts.

Sound (or lack thereof)

Nothing sticks out from the sound effects in Red Faction. Not even the Rail Driver, one of the trademarks of this game, has a memorable sound effect. Volition should have taken note and tried to create an effect similar to Counter-Strike's AWP - it cuts through everything and shakes your brain.

Gratuitous colored lighting

He's taking a nap

You can't fly that

On the other hand, the music of Red faction is great. I like it a lot; it's driving, enthusiastic and a perfect fit for a fast-paced shooter. Tragically, it's never on. At least it feels that way. The music comes on when you hit an area with significance (that's what I figure anyway, everything blends together in this game). But the music only stays on for a few seconds. It's sad really; the music gets you going, your adrenaline gets pumping, your heart is racing, you're ready to mow down anything that moves and then… the music fades and nothing happens. Talk about anticlimactic. Even in the "sneaky" areas some music could add to the atmosphere. I think that the game would be better if Volition left the music on for the duration of the game.