Red Faction II is a 2002 first-person shooter video game developed by Volition and published by THQ for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Windows and Xbox. It is the sequel to Red Faction and the second installment in the Red Faction series. The game changed the direction of the first game by introducing a greater emphasis on action and a new setting on Earth, rather than Mars.
Gameplay
thumb|left|Unlike its [[Red Faction (video game)|predecessor which is set on Mars, Red Faction II is set on Earth.]]
Multiplayer
Red Faction II features local multiplayer. Deathmatch, Bagman, Arena (all available with either individual or team play), Capture the Flag, and "Regime" Bots, like the human players, are able to keep statistics pertaining to gameplay. Bots obtain more statistic points as they fight matches in multiplayer, which allows the player to upgrade their abilities as they are used. These statistics include Health, Damage, Agility, and Accuracy. There are also two other stats pertaining to their gameplay: Camping Tendency and Aggressiveness.
Plot
In 2080, 5 years after the events of Red Faction, the nanotechnology developed by Axel Capek, the head scientist of the Ultor Corporation before its fall, has been claimed by the Earth Defense Force (EDF). With this technology, the EDF commences a reorganization of the Ultor Corporation, focusing on enhanced supersoldiers and suitable weaponry. However, the research that Capek did in his laboratories has been consequently stolen by other militant groups and assorted terrorist organizations. This has continued for years; the research has often changed hands in the criminal underworld. The player is introduced to their role as an explosives expert (codenamed "Alias") as he embarks on a special operations mission to claim the research data for the Republic of the Commonwealth.
Eventually, the research is successfully claimed by the elite forces of Victor Sopot, Chancellor of the dystopic military state known as The Commonwealth. Sopot uses nanotechnology to enhance his formidable military forces, successfully creating the first supersoldiers with the research data. However, fearing the potential of his new supersoldiers, he orders them all to be hunted down, executed, and replaced with far less intelligent, mutated horrors known as "The Processed". Collectively betrayed by their leader, the player's squad flees underground and allies itself with the Red Faction as mercenaries. At this point in the story, the Red Faction is an organized resistance movement strongly opposed to the rule of Sopot and the skewed political tenets of the Commonwealth. The squad eventually pursues Sopot and neutralizes all opposition in their way as the Red Faction takes the conflict to the streets in a joint uprising against the rule of The Commonwealth. During the initial stages of the game, the Red Faction and the squad mutually support each other as they overcome shared objectives such as sabotaging propaganda installations. The uprising culminates in successfully trapping Sopot in his missile silo and executing him.
Alias returns to the makeshift base of operations only to discover that all of the Red Faction resistance members present have been brutally slaughtered. The squad's leader, Molov, remarks that with Sopot dead and the nanotech research in his possession, the Commonwealth's military forces have voluntarily pledged allegiance to him. He declares Alias and Tangier to be enemies of the state for supporting the Red Faction. Tangier helps Alias escape, and shortly after fleeing to safety, Alias lends aid to surviving Red Faction members who are defending themselves from the enemy. Alias meets with Echo, the leader of the Red Faction, in a secret location to discuss an alternate strategy to stop Molov. Echo is killed in action during a firefight with Quill, a former squad member. Tangier radios Alias soon afterward, and the two agree to shut down Molov's commandeered nanotech laboratory located within the colossal statue of Sopot. Inside the laboratory, Alias triumphs over Repta, a former squad member, and destroys the nanotech laboratory's power generators. Alias's explosives weaken the foundation of the statue and render it unstable. Alias encounters Repta again and once again triumphs over him, causing the energy field within Repta to reach critical mass.
Alias and Tangier meet up and pursue Molov, who is scaling Sopot's statue with the nanotech cell – the culmination of Capek's research – and awaiting extraction from Shrike, Molov's subordinate. Shrike betrays his commanding officer, and Tangier reclaims the nanotech cell from Molov's possession. Molov, desperate to eliminate his enemies, climbs aboard a nearby battle armor and launches a frenzied assault against Alias. Using the destructible environment to his advantage, Alias manages to evade Molov's fire and launches a counterattack that kills Molov and destroys the statue. Shrike swoops in with his close air support craft to extract Alias as the statue crumbles. From this point, the story ends in one of four possible ways, depending on the player's Heroics score.
Reception
The PS2 and GCN versions received "favorable" reviews, while the Xbox and PC versions received "mixed or average reviews", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.
Sequel
A sequel, Red Faction: Guerrilla, was released in 2009 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows.