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System: Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, PC
Developer: Volition Inc., Reactor Zero (PC)
Publisher: THQ
Genre: Third-person shooter Sandbox
Red Faction has focused on three aspects since the original was released in May of 2001: first-person shooter action, rebellion, and the Geo-Mod game engine. Unfortunately for fans of this formula, one of these elements has been tweaked. Fans of the series though, will feel right at home in the new third-person viewpoint.
Set once again on Mars, players control Alec Mason, a rebel representing Red Faction and the miners of the planet. Your enemy is the Earth Defense Force (EDF), which liberated the planet in the first game. "Guerrilla" appears to be set up as a mission-based sandbox experience, boasting over 120 missions.
In the demo mission, players are to recover a walker from a fortified EDF storage area on the other side of a gorge within ten minutes. Mason starts off near one of the many bright Red Faction ammo containers spread throughout the level, which can be used to supplement your dwindling munitions in the heat of battle. Colonists wander around the red landscape dotted with EDF buildings, all of them destructible.
Based on the level we played, players are in for a treat. Actually, other than landscape, EVERYTHING is destructible. Geo-Mod 2.0 is definitely the most exciting aspect of the demo, littering Mars with countless opportunities to destroy. Even after several plays through, I kept coming back for more purely to push Geo-Mod 2.0’s limitations.
Getting acclimated to the sameness of the landscape may take some time, but Mars is interesting for the most part. Players will find surviving if they attempt to blaze through levels crumbling walls with Alec’s sledgehammer. While this doesn’t dilute the gameplay, to a point it detracts from the fun of just making everything crumble.
On the whole, the control scheme was manageable, but switching between Mason’s trusty hammer and, say, charges can be a tad difficult right away, but the two-button system won’t take long to adapt to especially because enemies keep Alec on his toes.
The EDF are ruthless. If a colonist gets in their way, the EDF open fire. If you pull a weapon, you are now the EDF’s “Most Wanted.” If you even so much as run they hunt you like a dog. Honestly, this is the way it should be. Volition has negated any aspect of stealth and forced the player to get in touch with his “fight or flight” response. It perpetuates the action to a point where many demos (and some games) can’t.
While no multiplayer option is included with the demo, from what I can glean from gameplay, there’s nowhere to hide. You either had to run and gun or stand your ground and put more pieces of metal into their body before they do yours. Vehicles will be of some help here, but their protection doesn’t last long, as the EDF is quick to point out. The construction-type vehicles are a true joy to drive, but they do serve as a plow, more often than not.
Alec’s trajectory to the aforementioned walker takes him through a soldier-infested canyon to the walker and back to a flatbed where he hops on a turret at the back to defend the safely deposited walker. This segment offers plenty of explosions and cinematic, “exploding car flying over-head” moments.
While audio and visuals aren’t jaw-droppingly stellar, they are more than adequate and add to the experience, even two months away from release date. The gameplay really stands out, not because it’s revolutionary, but because it’s immensely fun and it will be for almost anyone who plays it. If Volition can keep the all 120 missions feeling fresh and deliver a tight multiplayer experience, Red Faction: Guerrilla may just be one of this year’s best games.
For more information on Red Faction Guerrilla, stay tuned to Total Gaming Network!
~Eldri