Red Faction 2 - PS2

Red Faction 2, then. Not so much a sequel, more of a re-think. Unlike most contemporary follow-up titles, RF2 is quite a lot different to its predecessor. A different storyline, new characters, a delightfully destructive selection of fresh heavy-duty weapons, a wicked multi-player mode that supports up to four players with the game's bots rattling around the screen, and for those who like to feel they're in complete control, mouse and keyboard support. Sound promising? Red Faction 2 rocked our world - literally*.

RF2 is set on Earth, the 22nd century, five years after the events of the original Red Faction. There's a new situation for the central character, Alias. He's the super-soldier that you control in the game. The Ultor Corporation is no more, Parker is long gone. There's very little reference to what went on, on Mars, five years ago. Alias and his fellow nano-tech'ed-up colleagues are charged with toppling the mercenary dictator Chancellor Sopot, and overthrowing the government in the process. Sopot is, to put it mildly, a bad man. The Commonwealth's economy is in a downward spiral, and the time is right for revolution. Similar stories have been told in video games many times, but Red Faction 2 does it so well, and it is, after all, gameplay that really matters. RF2 has oodles of it.

It's telling that the character you control is a demolitions expert. RF2 is packed with explosions, and much has been made of the fact that a lot the game environment is destructible. With your seemingly inexhaustible supply of weapons, it's easy to get carried away with blowing things up. By trial and error, you'll soon find whether your incendiary actions are a help or a hindrance. There are many puzzles to solve in RF2, and a great deal of them can be overcome with the help of something that makes a loud bang. The new, improved Geo-Mod engine, courtesy of developer Volition rocks in every sense.

Red Faction 2's array of weapons - grenade launchers and rail drivers to name but two - its selection of controllable vehicles (hover flyers, submarines and tanks included) and a bunch of different game objectives leading to multiple game endings mean that, just as a single-player experience, Red Faction 2 will keep you occupied for a long while. Then consider the multi-player mode: RF2 will keep you and your friends off the streets this Winter and beyond.

*We were playing Red Faction 2 in the early hours of Wednesday morning, September 26, 2002. That's when there was a fairly hefty earthquake in England. Of course, we didn't realise at the time that it was an earthquake - we thought it was part of the game! Really! more