Title: Red Faction: Guerrilla
Publisher/Developer: THQ/Volition
Platforms: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox
Release Date: 06/02/2009
Number of players/Multiplayer: 1 player, online multiplayer support (21 maps up to 16 players)
Red Faction: Guerilla is a sand-box game that brings the classic struggle for the freedom of a colony from an oppressive motherland to life in a vibrant 3-D version of Mars. This is the third Red Faction title. I’ll not spoil your character’s motivation for joining the Red Faction, but I will say that the game provides you ample reasons to run around Mars, steal cars and blow stuff up. The story is not a tear jerker of an epic tail and in that regard it falls short of what it could have been. Guerilla improves on its predecessors’ notion of a completely destructible environment by moving the game play from the cryptic corridors and military bases to the open surface of Mars. This game eschews the claustrophobia of the previous Red Faction titles in favor of the great wide open spaces of the Martian Surface.
Taking a good look at the gaming world around them, Volition carefully reinvented its series in a thoughtful and precise fashion. They created a vast world, with many diverse and interesting locations to discover and blow up. They also moved the game play into the 3rd person, added very swift and useful sprint features, savage melee attacks, regenerating health and the ability to use cover.
The world in which you explore is massive, composed of six distinct zones, each in need of the proper pushing and shoving against the resident corrupt authority to allow its citizens to rebel and declare their independence. These zones are large enough that you’ll be quite grateful for your healthy selection of vehicles and equally grateful for their variety of features. There’s not much more fun than smashing the little tiny bubble go-karts with a Martian dump truck. Well, except the tank, but it’s probably not fair to compare other vehicles to a tank.
What really and truly makes this game shine is the unbridled sense of satisfying destruction working as a rebel freedom fighter can offer. If you feel so inclined, you can take down entire buildings piece by piece with nothing but a sledgehammer. It’s quite satisfying, but why stop there? You have remote charges, rocket launchers, nano-disassembler rifles and even giant robots to aid you in your glorious smashing. As you play, you unlock extra icons or character models to use and you can even customize your trusty sledgehammers appearance.
The matchmaking service is adequate. Multi-player combat is a robust and furious onslaught of incoming fire. It is made all the more fun by the presence of various backpacks which confer specific powers, such as flight, earthquake generation, ramming through walls or even stealth capabilities.
Of course all this glorious destruction wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying if it weren’t nice looking. This game is pretty. Mars is ugly, but that’s something that can be overlooked when you consider the fact that… well quite frankly Mars really is ugly. The game is also not without its visual idiosyncrasies. For example, since each and every building is made of hundreds of individual smashable pieces, they want you to see each and every piece of a tumbling building fall. So I found it a bit unrealistic when huge building collapsed without a single dust cloud. It’d also be nice to see more multi-layer buildings which go underground instead of the typical above ground buildings.
The Review
Storyline:
Let’s be honest with ourselves, you aren’t going to play this game for the story. There is a solid core of a story. However, after the first couple of minutes of game play, the story takes backseat to destruction of this planet. I would have liked to see more integration of the game play and the story.
Game play:
While the connection of the story to the game play may be weak, the game play itself is the current technological pinnacle of destructive environment, pyrotechnics and automobile robbery. There are more than a dozen creative ways to destroy things that will keep you entertained for a good long time. Before the game came out, I found myself playing the demo version over and over – until an entire evening had passed.
Music/Sound:
There are a lot of nice stirring tunes which provide excellent mood to breaking things and destroying buildings. However there aren’t any specific songs which stick out in my head as something I’d like to hear outside game play. The sound effects are believable and realistic.
Graphics:
The graphics range from adequate in the case of the landscape, to exceptional in the case of the buildings, vehicles and sensational explosions.
The Good:
This game has gorgeous explosions, visceral destruction and immensely satisfying game play in single player and multiplayer. The sledgehammer is the most satisfying weapon I’ve ever played with and many of the other weapons in this game aren’t far behind.
The Bad:
I’ve never seen a game scream for co-op more in my life. Seldom has a game been ruined by tacking ‘with a buddy’ on the end of the game play description. Liberate the people of mars by defeating the EDF through strategic destruction with a buddy has a nice ring to it. Alas, it was it not to be. I guess my good buddy will just have to live vicariously through my destruction and I might have to share the controller with him at times.
The Ugly:
Mars is, for the most part, like a large brown construction site with occasional hints of red. The scenery is well done for what it is, but seldom ever changes. It would be nice to see a few more nods to past titles with more subterranean environments. Who knows, though? Three DLC packs have been announced, we may yet plummet into depths of Mars again.
Overall:
If the idea of mass destruction and the liberation of an oppressed people through the application of mass destruction is something that sounds appealing, break out your plastic and buy this puppy right now. At $60.00, it is money well spent. This game is a masterpiece of destruction and absolutely unparalleled among its competitors. It can and will get a little repetitive, so it’s best taken in doses of a few hours over time. If you’re on the fence, you’re in luck. There are free demos available on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. Seeing is believing, but smashing through buildings with a giant robot is love itself. I hope my wife will understand.
Final Vote:
4.5 out of 5 score.
Tags: explosions, faction, Guerilla, Mars, Microsoft, Playstation, red, Red Faction, Sony, THQ, volition, XBOX
