Red Faction

2001 Volition Action

Windows 11With a fix

MacNot sold

LinuxGold

Steam DeckPlayable

Gamicality score

Metacritic 784

OpenCritic Not rated

Steam players 831

How it’s combined

Playability today

Runs today3/5

Design today3/5

Steam user reviews

Very Positive

86%

2,780 reviews1

Get it on Steam

Facts checked November 1, 2026

Does Red Faction run on Windows 11, Apple Silicon Macs, Linux and Steam Deck?

Windows 11With a fix

Runs with a fix. See the steps below.1

Mac (Apple Silicon)Not sold

No Mac version is sold.

LinuxGold

Through Proton. ProtonDB: Gold, runs perfectly after tweaks.3

Steam DeckPlayable

Playable, as rated by Valve. May need some setup.1

Played Red Faction lately?

One click, no account, so the next player knows. How we check where it runs

How to get Red Faction running today

Install the community patch Alpine Faction, which fixes the launch crash, the video memory error and the item pickup crash at high resolutions, and adds widescreen and proper HUD scaling (PCGamingWiki).
Without a patch, keep the frame rate at 60 or lower, since higher rates break physics, animation timing and other game logic (PCGamingWiki).

Synopsis

Red Faction is a first-person shooter set in a mining colony on Mars, where a miner named Parker joins a workers' uprising against the corporation that runs the colony. Its Geo-Mod engine lets explosives tear holes through walls and rock, so players can carve their own routes. Levels mix gunfights with stealth missions and drivable vehicles.

Developer: Volition
Released: 2001
Genre: Action
Where to get it: Steam

Reception

Retrospectives credit the destructible environments as a technical leap for 2001 and praise the varied weapons, vehicles and short, brisk campaign. They also note that the plot is average and that the destruction is far more limited than its marketing suggested. Players still rate it highly on Steam, while discussion threads show people stuck on poorly explained objectives and point newcomers to a fan patch for modern PCs.

Playability today

The average of two parts, each from 1 to 5. Tap a check to see why. How it works

Runs today

3/5

Sold or given away today by an official source
Needs fan patches to run well on Windows 11
?Not confirmed yetSingle-player works without an internet connection
No source covers the current version yet, so this check counts as open, not passed. Played it lately? Tell us
Some content no longer works (servers, DLC, unlocks)
The official multiplayer master server is shut down, and online play depends on a community replacement (PCGamingWiki).
No proper support for modern resolutions and widescreen
Widescreen and ultrawide are stretched, and the HUD is displaced above 1280×1024 without a community patch (PCGamingWiki).
No full controller support and no remappable controls
The game has no controller support (PCGamingWiki).
Steam Deck Verified or Playable
No intrusive DRM or required third-party launcher account
No pay-to-win or pushy microtransactions
Known game-breaking bugs in the current version
Without a community patch the game crashes on launch on some systems, refuses to start on cards with more than 2 GiB of video memory, and crashes on item pickup above 1280×1024 (PCGamingWiki).

Design today

3/5

Controls feel awkward on a modern controller or mouse and keyboard
There is no controller support at all, so the game plays only on mouse and keyboard. The field of view is locked at 90 degrees without a fan patch. Source: pcgamingwiki.com.
Menus, text or interface are hard to read on today's screens
Widescreen resolutions stretch the image, and the HUD sits out of place at any resolution above 1280×1024. Menus and cutscenes stay stretched even with a fan patch. Source: pcgamingwiki.com.
Saving is fair: free saves or frequent checkpoints, little lost progress
Saves are free at any moment through the menu or a quicksave key. The original game never autosaves, so progress depends on saving often; the Alpine Faction and Dash Faction patches add checkpoint autosaves. Source: redfactionwiki.com, pcgamingwiki.com.
Hard to make progress without a guide
Several scripted objectives are poorly explained: the fan wiki calls the giant robot sequence very poorly signposted, and recent threads show players stuck at the power plant, the submarine and the tram without knowing what the game expects. Source: redfactionwiki.com, steamcommunity.com, steamcommunity.com.
Pacing holds up: little grind, filler or forced backtracking
A 2022 retrospective finds the campaign varied and concise, ending before it overstays its welcome. It does call out three stealth sections that take away every weapon but a silenced pistol, some clumsy vehicle sections and spongy final enemies. Source: klardendum.com.
Camera and movement never fight the player
A fast, polished corridor shooter in first person, with no camera problems reported. The view is fixed at 90 degrees unless a fan patch is installed. Source: pcgamesn.com, pcgamingwiki.com.