The premise of the story is that you are a miner, on mars. You were drawn to the job by the romantic appeal, the risk and the adventure - all ideals that were instilled by the mining company's remarkably effective advertising. Problem is, things on mars are not exactly as described. In fact, you could say that the marketing blitz was a little less than honest; with miners working under slave-like conditions and guards that would not seem out of place in starring roles in a nazi war film. Not nice.

As a result of this rather harsh regime, the "we're not going to take it" brigade have banded together to form a resistance movement and the tension between the guards & the resistance is high.

It is against this backdrop that our story begins, with the hero (what a surprise, it's you) coming to the end of his shift, just as the tension erupts into violence.

The story elements in Red Faction, although not exactly new or imaginative, are well integrated into the game. The rare FMV sections however let the side down somewhat, as on a reasonably configured machine, chances are pretty good that the ingame graphics will far surpass the video. This is a shame as instead of drawing you further in, it serves only to remind you that you are playing a game.

Level design is impressive, and although still essentially linear, there are often several routes you can take to get to an objective, with no overwhelming "i'm on rails" feeling. The areas are often expansive, always interesting and the ability to actually destroy bits of the level does genuinely add to the experience - can't be bothered trying to find that key-card? Just blow your way through the wall instead of going through the door.

Enemy AI is where the package really begins to fall to pieces. While some aspects of it are very good (enemy ability to find & use cover, for example), most of the really obvious stuff is very poor indeed. For example, entering a room that contains an enemy, you will be met with three simultaneous and yet completely contradictory actions or phrases: "It's just you and me, miner!" in a threatening, i'm going to get you manner, followed immediately by "Don't shoot me! I'm unarmed!" (as the guard runs away) followed immediately by the guard shooting you. These events all happen over a 3 second period, completely shattering any illusion that you are in a vaguely realistic situation or can have any real effect on what is going on.

Add to that the fact that if you blow your way through a wall, emerging in a new room immediately behind an enemy that is not facing your direction, he won't notice you. That's despite the fact you just pulverised several hundred kilos of rocks into dust with 3 pounds of plastic explosive, not 2 feet from his head. If he is not looking in your direction, you don't exist - simple as that.