I have Red Faction (got it when it came out). It is indeed a very good game, and much better than the sequel. The PC version is awesome, what with the mods and multiplayer (plus the PC allows for more GeoMod fun).
Also. Best. Rail Driver. Ever.
Thermal imaging through walls. See people moving around as orange-to-red outlines in blue. Target. Send hypervelocity metal rod through wall. Hear gurgling scream, watch crumple and fall.
I still don't know what happened to the engine from that game. So many games since, and they've lacked the ability to realistically shatter rock, concrete and other materials like that had, going right back to the old boring "the scenery is indestructible" model of gaming.
It was incredibly satisfying to send a rocket launcher shot into a guard station and not just break the windows, but have the windows crack and fall as safety glass bits, lights go out, and structure fail with blown-out concrete chunks, holes, and soot damage where you hit it, not just as a scripted destruction event (like
Black). That, and the glass debris was persistent, so you could hear it crunch underfoot as you walked up to the wreckage.
The vehicles were cool, too.
