Guerrilla warfare and the ability to destroy just about anything?!? Sign me up for the Red Faction!
THE GOOD
-Destroying buildings is awesome
-Fun multiplayer
-Good controls
-Action packed campaign mode
-Guerrilla warfare is challenging but exciting
-Solid audio
THE BAD
-Campaign can feel repetitive at times
OVERVIEW
Red Faction: Guerrilla is all about guerrilla warfare and destroying just about anything. The game takes place in the year 2120 on the planet Mars. If you remember the story from the first Red Faction, you know that the Earth Defense Force (EDF) was the good guys. Well, since Mars is a mining colony and Earth is running low on resources, the EDF is being forced to push the miners to the limit and make them work as slaves. Out of this political unrest, the Red Faction has been formed once again.
You get to play as Alec Mason, a mining engineering who just recently made it to Mars to reunite with his brother Daniel. Daniel, unannounced to Alec, is a member of the Red Faction which is a band of rebels looking to free the people of Mars from the treacherous EDF. When the EDF gun down Daniel, Alec, who initially didn't want to get involved in the politics on Mars, hesitates at first but then joins the Red Faction. Your goal as Alec Mason is to liberate all six districts on Mars: Parker, Dust, the Free Fire Zone, Oasis, Badlands and Eos. To do this Mason needs to coordinate guerrilla tactics with the rest of the Red Faction in order to hit the EDF hard and drive them out of Mars.
The story and character development in Red Faction: Guerrilla is respectable but takes a backseat to the amount of action this game has to offer. This Sci-Fi, Third Person Shooter has plenty of buildings and other structures to destroy which adds a unique strategic element that most gamers probably aren't use too.
GAMEPLAY
Much of the game's success is due to the Geomod 2.0 engine which incorporates fundamental engineering mechanics to buildings and other structures. These structures can take damage, crumble and eventually come crashing down. Armed with his trusty sledgehammer and some explosives, Mason will be able to demolish just about anything in the game. Another key element to the physics engine is that buildings will fall when you take away specific load bearing supports which adds a great deal of realism to the destruction; which is really fun to watch. The demolition aspect of the game is so much fun that you could literally spend hours just running around Mars hacking buildings to the ground.
The campaign mode, like I said before, is filled with plenty of action. You start in the Parker Zone at one of the few safe houses scattered throughout the game. The safe house is an area where you can restock supplies, upgrade your equipment and seek shelter when the EDF gets overwhelming. Once you liberate a zone another will become available. To free the people from EDF suppression you have to perform various guerrilla actions which involve rescuing hostages, defending Red Faction strongholds, destroying EDF property and much more. Successful missions will lower the EDF Control Meter, for that sector, and once the meter reaches zero that sector will be liberated. This may seem like a tough task for one man, and some of them are, but as your reputation around the sector spreads of your acts of heroism, a Morale Meter will increase which raises the chance for other guerrilla fighters to come to your aid. The only drawback to the campaign mode is that it can get a little repetitive performing the same types of missions over and over again.
Red Faction: Guerrilla's game play works a lot like the Grand Theft Auto series. As you wreak havoc on Mars (i.e. Killing EDF, destroying property, etc…) an alert color indicator will change from green (no threat) to yellow (partial threat) to red (full threat). When the alert color goes to red it's like getting 5 stars in Grand Theft Auto; the entire EDF with tanks and fighter planes will come and hunt Mason down.
The weapons on Mars aren't your conventional arsenal that you're use too. Along with a sledgehammer, remote charges and a rocket launcher there are other unique guns to use like the arc welder (shoots electricity), grinder (throws deadly buzz saw blades) and the Nano-rifle (a gun that disintegrates anything). All in all, most of the weapons in this game are fun to use.
When you're back at a safe house a lady named Samanya will upgrade the weapons you own but she won't do this for free. Currency in Red Faction comes in the form of salvage. When you destroy buildings salvage is left behind for you to gather and trade in for new weapons and weapon upgrades; this is actually I pretty neat system.
The controls for the game are quite good and it plays like a typical third-person shooter should. The cover system, via the LB button, works well and comes in quite handy when you've got about ten EDF soldiers attacking you from all directions. Mars is also filled with many different types of vehicles from cars to hulking dump trucks. Handling vehicles in Red Faction is surprising well done (unlike Mass Effect's atrocious MAKO driving); although it may take a couple of tries to get the hang of things.
Now if you think the campaign is fun, wait until you jump on Xbox Live and tackle some multiplayer. There are some common game types to participate in like Anarchy (Deathmatch) and Capture the Flag which provide hours of fun but my personal favorite is Siege. In Siege each team takes turns playing offense and defense. The goal for the attacking team is to destroy certain buildings and the defender's job is to protect these structures. There is another slight difference in playing online in that you get to carry backpacks with special abilities. There are backpacks like a jetpack (for flying), fleet feet (for running faster), and rhino (for destroying buildings and people in your path). The backpacks are fun to use and prove to be extremely strategic depending on what type of game you're playing.
GRAPHICS & SOUND
The graphics are pretty good in Red Faction: Guerrilla. The character design and charity in the cut scenes really enhance the overall experience. My favorite part about the visuals is when you get to see a huge building collapse to the ground with stunning realism.
This game has booming sounds effects; from the explosions to vehicle crashes. Also, it's not only fun to watch a structure crumble away but hearing it get demolished is absolutely delightful. The soundtrack definitely fits the mood and keeps up with the pace of the action.
CONCLUSION
Red Faction: Guerrilla is a fantastic game for the Xbox 360. Whether you're enjoying the action-packed campaign mode or the enthralling multiplayer experience, there is plenty of third-person shooter fun to be had. This new Red Faction game combines many exciting shooter aspects along with some new strategic elements since everything is destructible. If you've been a fan of the series you'll really appreciate the new direction taking here. I would recommend this game to any shooter fan and those that love destruction.