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27th September 2002:
Red Faction II
Earth. Twenty-second century. Five years after the rebellion on Mars...
Posted by John Grothier - PlayStation 2 - UK and Europe

Red Faction II is set on Earth in the twenty-second century, five years after the rebellion on Mars. The corrupt dictator, Sopot, for the last fifteen years has been oppressing his people - the Commonwealth. His obsessive pursuit for unification with the neighbouring United Republic has left the countries in ruin, and a body count that grows day by day. The Commonwealth has been brought to its knees, poverty is rife, but a new breed of super soldiers may give all hope. These brave souls have been injected with nano-technology, an advantage that may just turn the tide of the war, and topple the evil dictator Sopot.

Developed by THQ's studio, Volition, Red Faction II is a Sequel to last years hit first person shooter on the PlayStation 2. Red Faction was no ordinary FPS, however, it featured a groundbreaking graphics engine, (literally!), that allowed the player to destroy the in-game environments in real time. This allowed for some great fun - why search for a key to open a door when you could just blow a hole in the wall and climb through! In Red Faction II the Geo-Mod system is back, and it has been enhanced greatly so more of the environments in the game can be destroyed. You play the part of Alias, a demolitions expert, and with the help of five other elite squad members - each of which is an expert in their own weapons field, you must try to overthrow the corrupt government. Red Faction features a huge arsenal of weapons, many with multiple functions, explosives galore, and some really mean vehicles to drive.

Silicon Fusion was lucky enough to get some preview code of this fantastic first person sequel, and it looks set to become a huge hit, like its predecessor. After a stunning opening sequence the game opens with our hero, Alias, in a gunship with the other members in his team. The mission is to break into the enemy fortress, but first you must find a way in and then take out the enemy gun-towers, before the gunship can safely fly in and help with its superior firepower. Once inside you are greeted by a small army of the security services, once despatched a way further inside the building must be found. This is where the Geo Mod system really comes into it own - looking around the room an air vent cover can be found, blast this away and you can squeeze your way through the air conditioning system. Turn on you night vision, which lights up the way with a brilliant green graphical effect, and its not long before you reach another grille to escape through. One feature of the original game we all loved here at Silicon Fusion was the conversations between the enemies in the game. Instead of blasting straight out of the air conditioning system wait around and you can hear one of the guards try and borrow some money from one of his colleagues! This is one of those many in-game details that really help immerse the player in the world of Red Faction.

Later levels in the game see you storm the Public Information Building, with the Security Forces abseiling down from the ceiling - a ceiling that they have just blown a hole through - again, thanks go to that wonderful Geo Mod system! Another level lets you take to the skies in an allied gunship; here you must take out the people in the building while flying around this 'Blade Runner like' city. You will also get the opportunity of a ride in a tank. This level, 'Shrikes Wild Ride', is one of my favourites, and reminds me of the tank chase in the movie 'GoldenEye'. Although the tank is being driven by one of your squad members, you still get the chance to fire a mean machine gun and devastating rockets. Again even with these 'driving' levels you still can take out a large amount of the environment, and the tank helps out by ploughing through some of the structures on the way to your goal. There are some fantastic effects going on in this level - street lamps fuse as you knock them down, and other vehicles can be blown up or tossed out of the way by the might of your tank.

Red Faction II feature a huge arsenal of weapons, everything that you would expect in a first person shooter is here - grenade launchers, sniper rifles, rail drivers, shotguns and throwing grenades that make short work of destroying the environments. Split screen multi-player also features in the game, with loads of death match levels and selectable computer opponents to fight.

Red Faction II is shaping out to be the first person shooter for the PlayStation 2. The game features loads of fantastic levels to fight your way through, and destroy at your whim. Refined graphics, an all-new Geo Mod system, enhanced enemy AI and dynamic environments make this a truly worthy sequel in the Red Faction universe.

Red Faction II, from THQ, will be released for the PlayStation2 on November 15th.

John Grothier

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