There are games out there that have a cult following, most of which you presume deserve so as they are hidden gems. Tis could be something like Shadow Warrior (1997), Blood, Get Even, XIII (2003), and what have you. But THIS is lost on me. Why people like this game so much, is something I can't figure out and probably never will. It's not a bad game, but my god is it slow and clunky.
It's an FPS, probably one of the slowest. If I had to describe it, it would be Half-Life, but it's on Mars, it's slower, and the lore and world is way more boring. It takes place in the future where workers of a corporation known as Ultor decide to rebel against them given the incredibly poor working conditions and sickness going around.
In terms of gameplay, it is very much like Half-Life. All the weapons you carry have some kind of secondary like Shadow Warrior (1997), except most are useless.
You have a Baton which is slow, doesn't do much damage, and the secondary, a taser, requires batteries and it guzzles the whole thing before you ever actually stun an enemy. A pistol with a silencer as a secondary that you only have to use once in a stealth section. It nerfs the pistol so badly it will take maybe 6 shots before you kill anything.
There are two assault rifles and snipers. Once you acquire the second of both guns there is no reason to return to the first because they're that much better. To be fair, these are the two most practical in the whole game. The assault rifles fires like normal, but has secondary for more accurate shots at long range. However, this is almost worthless because you get an SMG with an assault rifle secondary that takes the same ammo. (These weapons are a fucking mess.)
A shotgun which functions and looks exactly like the one from Half-Life. A railgun which is a railgun. Then there are the three most useless weapons in the game. The flame thrower and rocket launcher, while not bad weapons, are useless due to how scarce ammo is. Then there's the riot shield. It is so terrible it will take you 13 hits before you kill an enemy. The only reason this weapon seems to exist is because you need it to avoid getting insta-killed by an enemy with a rail gun.
Now one thing I think most people associate Red Faction with is the geo-mod technology which this game is the earliest use of. This is something that allows the player to blow holes in walls, floors and just about anything, allowing some advantages in game. Is what I would say if it did. There is almost no scenario where blowing open a floor or wall gives you some kind of tactically advantage. Technologically impressive, tactically unnecessary.
I keep saying how slow the game and that is very apparent in the movement which feels too slow for the kind of game on display, there is no enemy variety with you fighting the same Ultor enemies over and over again, the level design is pretty flat, and the only thing that keeps the game from being incredibly boring are the two stealth and vehicle sections.
The stealth is poor and the mechanics established are pointless most of the time. It's the most basic stealth in that you wear a disguise, keep your distance from guards and cameras, and keep your pistol holstered to avoid detection. That's basically it. There are only two missions and they're very straight forward. Well, except one.
In the second stealth mission you have to get to Cryptek's secret lab and you need a access card to get through. To get this, you need to get it from the administrator, but you can't get into his office if you just b-line straight to it because the guards will be alerted. It turns out that you have to receive a brain from a room that's out of your way, give it to the surgeon in OR, take it to cryogenics, to which then you can get into the admins office as you need the admins signature. If you don't know about this beforehand then you'll be lost as to what to do.
The vehicle sections are actually not bad and allows you to blow up and kill many enemies. These mostly serve as a way to get somewhere, not that different from the vehicle sections in Half-Life 2. Except these vehicles actually control much better, oddly enough.
If you wanna play a good version of this, just play Half-Life.
It's an FPS, probably one of the slowest. If I had to describe it, it would be Half-Life, but it's on Mars, it's slower, and the lore and world is way more boring. It takes place in the future where workers of a corporation known as Ultor decide to rebel against them given the incredibly poor working conditions and sickness going around.
In terms of gameplay, it is very much like Half-Life. All the weapons you carry have some kind of secondary like Shadow Warrior (1997), except most are useless.
You have a Baton which is slow, doesn't do much damage, and the secondary, a taser, requires batteries and it guzzles the whole thing before you ever actually stun an enemy. A pistol with a silencer as a secondary that you only have to use once in a stealth section. It nerfs the pistol so badly it will take maybe 6 shots before you kill anything.
There are two assault rifles and snipers. Once you acquire the second of both guns there is no reason to return to the first because they're that much better. To be fair, these are the two most practical in the whole game. The assault rifles fires like normal, but has secondary for more accurate shots at long range. However, this is almost worthless because you get an SMG with an assault rifle secondary that takes the same ammo. (These weapons are a fucking mess.)
A shotgun which functions and looks exactly like the one from Half-Life. A railgun which is a railgun. Then there are the three most useless weapons in the game. The flame thrower and rocket launcher, while not bad weapons, are useless due to how scarce ammo is. Then there's the riot shield. It is so terrible it will take you 13 hits before you kill an enemy. The only reason this weapon seems to exist is because you need it to avoid getting insta-killed by an enemy with a rail gun.
Now one thing I think most people associate Red Faction with is the geo-mod technology which this game is the earliest use of. This is something that allows the player to blow holes in walls, floors and just about anything, allowing some advantages in game. Is what I would say if it did. There is almost no scenario where blowing open a floor or wall gives you some kind of tactically advantage. Technologically impressive, tactically unnecessary.
I keep saying how slow the game and that is very apparent in the movement which feels too slow for the kind of game on display, there is no enemy variety with you fighting the same Ultor enemies over and over again, the level design is pretty flat, and the only thing that keeps the game from being incredibly boring are the two stealth and vehicle sections.
The stealth is poor and the mechanics established are pointless most of the time. It's the most basic stealth in that you wear a disguise, keep your distance from guards and cameras, and keep your pistol holstered to avoid detection. That's basically it. There are only two missions and they're very straight forward. Well, except one.
In the second stealth mission you have to get to Cryptek's secret lab and you need a access card to get through. To get this, you need to get it from the administrator, but you can't get into his office if you just b-line straight to it because the guards will be alerted. It turns out that you have to receive a brain from a room that's out of your way, give it to the surgeon in OR, take it to cryogenics, to which then you can get into the admins office as you need the admins signature. If you don't know about this beforehand then you'll be lost as to what to do.
The vehicle sections are actually not bad and allows you to blow up and kill many enemies. These mostly serve as a way to get somewhere, not that different from the vehicle sections in Half-Life 2. Except these vehicles actually control much better, oddly enough.
If you wanna play a good version of this, just play Half-Life.