Graphics

There's a lot of pixels being shifted around here, what with a 3D viewpoint, walls, floors, and enemies appearing and disappearing as you turn around and duck behind corners. But you're not going to see much - the first few levels being based in the mines of Mars means you'll see rock. And more rock. And more rock. The casual gamer is going to struggle to get through the first ten minutes of solid rock before you see a different texture.

The enemies themselves are crisp and clear, although being sprite based there's not much variety between them, so you're not always sure who you're fighting.

All the graphics have an unreal quality, beause they give the impression that you're eight feet high. The scale never feels quite right, but I think this is all to do with getting enough informatio on your N-Gage's screen.

Or there's the simple viewpoint. The 3D engine in Tony Hawk is better.

Sounds

Solid but not fantastic. We've got a limited range of voices from the enemy, and a nice "alert" siren whenever yuu get one of the 'plot explanation' screens, but that's it. You could happily play this game with no sound and you wouldn't miss a thing. Not a good sign.

Gameplay

It may have the same name and plot as the spectacular PS2 game, but the N-Gage version isn't exactly the GeoMod enabled, hackable tour de force from the consoles. Remember the rule of thumb - the N-Gage is as powerful as the Playstation, and that reflects in Red Faction more than any other N-Gage title.

Which means that if you've been brought up with any modern day FPS, you're going to look at Red Faction and think "that looks just like Doom. And it plays just like Doom. Heck, are you sure this isn't Doom? Who wrote this?"

John Romero wrote this. And given that he wrote Doom, it's not surprising the similarities Red Faction has to the Mother of All First Person Shooters. This relationship actually has advantages. For although Red Faction feels like a first generation shooter, you've probably forgotten just how good the gameplay was in those games. And Red Faction brings that playability to the N-Gage.

Mostly.

Red Faction has a nice range of weaponry, from fists and riot shields (my personal favorite) through to shotguns, stun batons and grenades. There's a lot of deciding what the most appropriate weapon will be in any given situation. The Mining Staff and Guards are a good mix of skill and (above average) intelligence. What lets Red Faction down is the level design.

It's very poor. There's no feeling of sprawling mines, of a maze to find yourself through, or of levels that you can just roam around in. These levels don't feel as if they've been modded from something in real life.The impression is of a Games Designer leaving a trail of breadcrumbs that pulls you along through a level till you reach the exit. Or die. The first five levels had no real exploration elements - it was more a Rat Run against the opposition, with no choice of direction or sense of exploration.

Story

There is a good story behind Red Faction. An uprising of Miners on the Mars colony, fighting a large conglomerate that is 'evil' in the best Flash Gordon B-Movie tradition is the backdrop. The problem is the presentation.

The story is presented through speech bubbles and heads to show the character talking. These screens pop up in the middle of a game, disrupting the flow. And you don't have a choice, you've got to go through seven or eight screens of text before moving on. When you die and go through the level again, when you reach the position on the map, you get the story again. Every time. It's tedious the first time, and annoying as you carry on attacking the same level.

Multiplayer

Deathmatch is where these games can be guaranteed to raise your adreline levels. Red Faction is no exception. Up to four players can join in on the special Deathmatch maps (you don't get to play on the same maps). Without exception, these maps are all too small. They're cramped for two players - add in more people and it becomes a race to the big gun, turn and squeeze off a rocket, you're sure sure to hit everyone else running towards the rocket.

Of course, each player needs their own N-Gage and their own copy of the game, so it can be a mighty expensive feature to 'test' in a group.

Summary

Red Faction is a solid game, but doesn't have anything you'd class as memorable, apart from being the first 'shooter' availablr for the platform on MMC Game Cards. It deserves recognition for this, but there is more than enough missing that you would expect to see. The N-Gage is more than powerful enough for a classic shooter. Red Faction proves it can be done, but it's not the one to exploit it. ES