You're not trapped in the mines during the entire game though, like Doom 3 strands you in the UAC facility. You'll explore barracks and offices like in Figure C, research facilities, underground lakes, gigantic sub-Martian caverns, the Martian surface, spaceships, and even a ride to an orbital platform.

FIGURE C

Red Faction takes you through a wide range of environments on, under, and above the Martian surface. Click picture for a larger image.

In addition to all these different environments, you'll get your chance to actually operate a wide range of vehicles. Figure D shows a drilling machine, just one of the many vehicles you get to drive in Red Faction.

FIGURE D

This drilling machine is just the first of many drivable vehicles in Red Faction. Click picture for a larger image.

In addition to the drilling machine, you'll get to drive submarines, and both air and ground assault craft. You'll also ride different trams and trains, get to take the gunner's position in different assault craft, and operate a number of turret-style guns.

Red Faction has plenty of play to it. I don't recall specifically how many actual missions there are, but I do know it's about twice as many as most other games in this genre. It has a story that unfolds over the course of the game, with plenty of action, puzzles, and even stealth missions to keep you occupied for quite some time. And yes, there are cheats aplenty for Red Faction.

I still love this game, and count it as one of my all-time favorites. Not only is it playable on my laptop, but playable at the highest detail level. And I don't have a top of the line laptop either. In fact, it's Dell's value-line laptop, the Inspiron 1000.

There was a sequel to Red Faction, Red Faction II, but it was a rather pathetic offering. Much like Men of Valor, it was a PC port of a console game, with no save feature and extremely limited cheat features. Overall, a big disappointment. So disappointing in fact that I didn't even finish it.

Shagadelic baby!
The next game up on the retro list is The Operative: No One Lives Forever, also known as NOLF, shown in Figure E.

FIGURE E

No One Lives Forever, a spy-based first person shooter. Click picture for a larger image.

In NOLF, from Monolith and Fox, you play the part of Cate Archer, shown in Figure F, former cat burglar turned journeyman superspy for UNITY.

FIGURE F

Cate Archer, novice superspy in No One Lives Forever. Click picture for a larger image.

The plot is based around a spoof of the '60s spy movies, complete with mod decor, cheesy dialog, and appropriate era-inspired music. As a result of a mole, most of the active field agents in UNITY have been killed by HARM, forcing agent Archer into her very first field mission. Playing No One Lives Forever is like being in an Austin Powers movie, complete with the fat, obnoxious, Scottish bad guy shown in Figure G.

FIGURE G

Magnus Armstrong, Scottish bad-guy extraordinaire. Click picture for a larger image.