Is there anything worse than a middle of the road game? If the game is bad, then hilarity might ensue; and if it is good…well, it’s good. However when a game is lukewarm, game reviewers don’t know what to say, and readers can get confused. Lukewarm is the most polite way I can address Red Faction: Battlegrounds. While it does some things right, it really isn’t a good game.
Vitals
Title: Red Faction: Battlegrounds Developer/Publisher: THQ Platform: XBLA/PSN Cost: 800 MSP/$9.99, available nowWhile I was playing through the campaign (a brief, hour-long set of 16 missions that teach you how to play multiplayer), I felt the game was meant only to be a free add-on for Red Faction: Armageddon (which it is). This was apparent when I completed these 16 missions and jumped online. Sure, the game has strong twin-stick vehicular combat controls. But other than that, the game has nothing going for it.
Truly, this game is meant to be a multiplayer experience. The training missions are simple and do nothing besides let you know you are five years old or above. If I was told it started out as an unrelated game that was meant for the Indie Marketplace, I would not be shocked. The only things this game had in common with Red Faction games were vehicle names and certain locations.
Red Faction: Battlegrounds is 800 Microsoft Points ($10, US). And honestly, this is a plain ripoff. At five dollars the game would be okay, but as a free add-on, it would be great as the content available is lacking in a big way. Not to mention the multiplayer either has few people online (which wouldn’t surprise me) or the matchmaking is broken (this also wouldn’t surprise me).
The first time I tried finding a match, I sat in the lobby waiting for just one other person to join. I was there for ten minutes. Ten. Minutes. After one person joined, the match started loading up, there was a server connection issue and I was thrown back into the pre-game lobby. I was then forced to wait for another five minutes for another soul to join me in my suffering. When they did, I finally got a chance to play.
When you get into a game, it is chaos. The destructibility you are used to seeing in RF titles is replaced with a comical number of explosive barrels and fuel trucks that get destroyed with one shot. That one shot either comes within the first 30 seconds rendering them useless for the entirety of the match or when you are directly next to a barrel and you fire an errant shot meant for your enemy, thus, blowing yourself up.
As for user-controlled explosives, three different types of mines exist: a singularity bomb, a proximity mine and a triggered mine. It would be really great if you could carry all three and toggle between them, picking the proper mine for the proper area; but unfortunately, that isn’t possible. You must exhaust your supply of mines you are carrying in order to pick up a different type.
This game has some good ideas. But after I played the game for several hours, I felt it wasn’t doing enough to make me play it again after I was done reviewing. If I can’t recommend to myself to play it again, it is hard for me to recommend it to anyone else.
However, if this game is ever on sale for half off or more, think about whether or not you want a cup of coffee tomorrow. If the answer is yes, don’t buy Red Faction: Battlegrounds.
This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360 with a code provided by THQ and Volition Inc.
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