Get it when it's on sale.
Red Faction 2 is a significant step down from the first game for several reasons, though it is an enjoyable FPS on it's own. I bought the Red Faction bundle during the steam sale and I decided to play the first two again before I replayed Guerilla and then got stuck into Armageddon. Playing it right after the first game definitely highlighted the drop in quality for me.
My feelings for this game are as mixed as the reviews it's had so far, so I'll list the pro's and con's and let you decide for yourself.

PROS:
- Fun gameplay, the main reason I decided to recommend it. Once you get into the game, it is an undeniably fun sci-fi FPS.
- Dual-wielding pistols, machine pistols and nano-machine pistols was a nice touch, although you never actually do that until you get the NMP near the end of the game, or in multiplayer.
- Ammo animations. Instead of just a number counting down as you fire, there are bullets/grenades rapidly sliding down next to the number, and back up when you reload. Although this does not affect the gameplay in any way, it does look cool.
- Bot matches. If you don't have anybody to verse in multiplayer, you can start bot matches with up to four enemy bots in a variety of new locations. The kicker is that you can create your own four unique bots, with their own names and which bodies they have, and after each match each bot gets a few points for you to use upgrading its accuracy, toughness, speed and damage, so that each bot match is slightly more difficult than then one before. This isn't really noticeable until you've played about ten or so bot matches and then create new bots only to realise how weak they are in comparison. This does help you get better at multiplayer matches.
- Rail Driver. Instead of showing a heat-signature outline with the RD scope, you get pulsing concentric circles, representing the enemy heartbeat. While it's actually more difficult to use these to find the enemy than large orange outlines, I really love the idea behind it, so this is a pro for me.
- MOLOV. The commander of your squad, Molov is voiced by none other than Lance Henrikson, who does a fantastic job and is a truly commanding personality.
- SHRIKE. The mad pilot of your squad, Shrike is voiced by Jason Statham, and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed voicing Shrike. It's just a shame that Shrike didn't have a larger role.

CONS:
- The biggest con is definitely the almost total lack of geomod destruction that made the first game so original and so fun. You can destroy certain walls in certain parts of the game, but most buildings and all of the scenery is otherwise indestructible.
- REPTA. The heavy-weapons member of your squad, Repta is at least as annoying as Rico from Killzone, with the same irritating 'macho' voice.
- TANGIER. The stealth soldier of your squad, Tangier's only purpose in the game seems to be flirtatious dialogue with a breathy voice. This isn't a con because it's sexist, but because it's really, really annoying.
- Short campaign. This campaign is definitely shorter than the first game. It took me 9 1/2 hours to play the first Red Faction and less than 9 to play the second. That may seem like a really small difference, but it was only that long because of the following two things:
- Game divided into missions without the auto-save feature of the first game. If you reach a hard part of the game, you cannot save just before hand, and if you die than you will have to replay the entire level again to reach that point. On hard difficulty and in areas without medkits, this can be frequent. This extends the playtime considerably. What makes this doubly annoying is:
- Unskippable cutscenes. That's right, you cannot skip the cutscenes. Normally I enjoy watching the cutscenes, but when you're watching them for the fourth time and they do nothing more than show you the area and a bunch of soldiers waiting, it gets aggravating. With 11 missions, divided into numerous levels, almost all with their own cutscene about half a minute long, this becomes so frustrating that I have quit the game a few times because I couldn't stand to watch the same clip one more time. Playing the game on Hard mode, where you can expect to die about ten times in most of the boss fights, this has meant that I was stuck on one boss for several days. In total I have spent at least half an hour watching the same cutscenes over and over, and the same again for having to replay the same levels because I died near the end, which I consider to be a rather dishonest way of adding to the runtime of the game. These would be much less of a problem if they had also been in the first game, which they weren't, which just makes their inclusion baffling. On Normal difficulty, this game takes 6-7 hours, and on easy it takes 4-5. It takes longer if you (as I did) spend a while on each level trying to ferret out the hidden bonus objectives.

All in all, it's a game worth playing, although more frustrating on Hard than the first one was on Impossible difficulty, with the most annoying parts of it only coming into play on Hard. A significant step down from the first game.

Get it when it's on sale. Red Faction 2 is a significant step down from the first game for several reasons, though it is an enjoyable FPS on it's own. I bought the Red Faction bundle during the steam sale and I decided to play the first two again before I replayed Guerilla and then got stuck into Armageddon. Playing it right after the first game definitely highlighted the drop in quality for me. My feelings for this game are as mixed as the reviews it's had so far, so I'll list the pro's and con's and let you decide for yourself. PROS: - Fun gameplay, the main reason I decided to recommend it. Once you get into the game, it is an undeniably fun sci-fi FPS. - Dual-wielding pistols, machine pistols and nano-machine pistols was a nice touch, although you never actually do that until you get the NMP near the end of the game, or in multiplayer. - Ammo animations. Instead of just a number counting down as you fire, there are bullets/grenades rapidly sliding down next to the number, and back up when you reload. Although this does not affect the gameplay in any way, it does look cool. - Bot matches. If you don't have anybody to verse in multiplayer, you can start bot matches with up to four enemy bots in a variety of new locations. The kicker is that you can create your own four unique bots, with their own names and which bodies they have, and after each match each bot gets a few points for you to use upgrading its accuracy, toughness, speed and damage, so that each bot match is slightly more difficult than then one before. This isn't really noticeable until you've played about ten or so bot matches and then create new bots only to realise how weak they are in comparison. This does help you get better at multiplayer matches. - Rail Driver. Instead of showing a heat-signature outline with the RD scope, you get pulsing concentric circles, representing the enemy heartbeat. While it's actually more difficult to use these to find the enemy than large orange outlines, I really love the idea behind it, so this is a pro for me. - MOLOV. The commander of your squad, Molov is voiced by none other than Lance Henrikson, who does a fantastic job and is a truly commanding personality. - SHRIKE. The mad pilot of your squad, Shrike is voiced by Jason Statham, and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed voicing Shrike. It's just a shame that Shrike didn't have a larger role. CONS: - The biggest con is definitely the almost total lack of geomod destruction that made the first game so original and so fun. You can destroy certain walls in certain parts of the game, but most buildings and all of the scenery is otherwise indestructible. - REPTA. The heavy-weapons member of your squad, Repta is at least as annoying as Rico from Killzone, with the same irritating 'macho' voice. - TANGIER. The stealth soldier of your squad, Tangier's only purpose in the game seems to be flirtatious dialogue with a breathy voice. This isn't a con because it's sexist, but because it's really, really annoying. - Short campaign. This campaign is definitely shorter than the first game. It took me 9 1/2 hours to play the first Red Faction and less than 9 to play the second. That may seem like a really small difference, but it was only that long because of the following two things: - Game divided into missions without the auto-save feature of the first game. If you reach a hard part of the game, you cannot save just before hand, and if you die than you will have to replay the entire level again to reach that point. On hard difficulty and in areas without medkits, this can be frequent. This extends the playtime considerably. What makes this doubly annoying is: - Unskippable cutscenes. That's right, you cannot skip the cutscenes. Normally I enjoy watching the cutscenes, but when you're watching them for the fourth time and they do nothing more than show you the area and a bunch of soldiers waiting, it gets aggravating. With 11 missions, divided into numerous levels, almost all with their own cutscene about half a minute long, this becomes so frustrating that I have quit the game a few times because I couldn't stand to watch the same clip one more time. Playing the game on Hard mode, where you can expect to die about ten times in most of the boss fights, this has meant that I was stuck on one boss for several days. In total I have spent at least half an hour watching the same cutscenes over and over, and the same again for having to replay the same levels because I died near the end, which I consider to be a rather dishonest way of adding to the runtime of the game. These would be much less of a problem if they had also been in the first game, which they weren't, which just makes their inclusion baffling. On Normal difficulty, this game takes 6-7 hours, and on easy it takes 4-5. It takes longer if you (as I did) spend a while on each level trying to ferret out the hidden bonus objectives. All in all, it's a game worth playing, although more frustrating on Hard than the first one was on Impossible difficulty, with the most annoying parts of it only coming into play on Hard. A significant step down from the first game.