Name: Red Faction: Guerrilla
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Volition
Genre: 3rd person shooter
It’s strange how certain mechanics can make an average game great and then just disappear. The original Red Faction had this incredible gameplay mechanic: destructible environments. This outstanding addition to the gameplay turned that shooter into one of the best for the previous generation. Since then, destructible environments don’t really appear all that often. Battlefield: Bad Company and The Force Unleashed had different approaches to this, but neither reached that sense of ultimate destruction that Red Faction had back in the day. Now the Red Faction series makes its debut on the current generation of consoles in the form of Red Faction: Guerrilla. Does this sequel bring back the appetite for destruction? Read on…
Graphics
Guerrilla doesn’t follow the same artistic design as the older Red Faction games did. The previous installments focused on a Minority Report style of environments and characters. Red Faction: Guerrilla steps into a simpler, cartoony realm. While the characters don’t look ridiculous or anything, they are more animated then recent shooters on the market. The environments are pretty cool, but go through a lot of barren spots as well. There is a lot of driving across empty Mars plains, from one base to the other. Because it’s a sci-fi shooter, there are also the obligatory outrageous gun effects. The game has some cool-looking guns that can disintegrate or electrocute or whatever. The visuals are usually pretty good, but they shine on the destruction side. Every building can be leveled however you want. Take out the foundation, or just knock down the walls and leave it teetering. The explosions are all perfectly done, and can really rattle the screen. Guerrilla features top-notch visuals from top to bottom.
1/1
Audio
BOOM!!! Yeah, that gets heard a lot. The rocking explosions really hammer the nail into the already impressive work done by the audio department. The voice-over work is well-done, with Fable-esque quips from passers-by. The soundtrack comes and goes, but can really heat up the action. The guns sound great, the vehicles sound great, the crumbling towers sound great. The sound work is booming and well-rounded.
1/1
AI
I wish I could say the AI impressed me as much as the visuals and audio did, but that’s not true. The AI gets a bit monotonous. You fight the same soldiers who really aren’t that advanced; more cheap, really. Sure, they can overwhelm you at times, but the bland uniforms and stale weapons means that eventually you will likely get bored of the shooting part of Red Faction.
0/1
Variety
The game is third-person shooter set on Mars. Unlike the previous Red Faction games, Red Faction: Guerrilla is open-world. The game takes you through many different zones on Mars as you fight for the Red Faction, a group of organized rebels. The single player consists of either the main story mode or destruction mode. Destruction mode didn’t really do much for me. It’s basically just a mode for destroying everything, which is fine, but it feels far more satisfying during the campaign. The campaign itself features diverse missions, both main and side. The main ones are the more robust missions, often involving several steps to complete it. The side missions include: intercept enemy vehicles, destroy important enemy buildings, attack or defend bases, or just shoot stuff for salvage, the currency of Guerrilla. They are all pretty fun and clever, and the size of the game guarantees that you will have the option of approaching each a different way.
1/1
Innovation
Red Faction and Red Faction II were released in 2001 and 2002 respectively, while Red Faction: Guerrilla was released in 2009. So 7 years after the last game in the series, THQ and Volition make the next-gen sequel. It’s been so long, many people have likely forgotten about the series, but Guerrilla should remind them why it was so good in the first place. Okay, so terrain deformation isn’t as fresh as it was 7-8 years ago, but it hasn’t been done as well as the previous two installments since they were released that I have to give the nod to Guerrilla, not only for innovation, but for resurrection. Also, why aren’t more games set on Mars?
1/1
Value
Single player should take you between 12-20 hours to complete, depending on how obsessive you are at doing the side missions. The multiplayer, both local and online is nice and robust (though the local suffers from a reliance on pass-the-controller play setup). The game will last you a while, and you may still be inclined to play again.
1/1
Presentation
The story in Red Faction: Guerrilla is not as robust as the landscape. It follows Alec Mason and the Red Faction as they rebel against their evil tyrants. The story is serviceable, but not much more. No real twists or anything, but you won’t get lost or confused. The load times can be a bit lengthy, but compared to recent game I’ve played like UFC, Fuel or Bionic Commando, Red Faction: Guerrilla can be excused. Menus and interface are as serviceable as the story, but still unimpressive.
0.5/1
Difficulty
I play a lot of shooters, but I still found Red Faction: Guerrilla a bit too hard on the normal difficulty level. I like challenge in games, especially in a game like Red Faction, where a higher difficulty would encourage the player to use the building deformation tech to their advantage. Still, the game feels pretty cheap at times. Alec doesn’t have nearly enough health to take on entire bases on his own (which is most of the time), and enemies all seem to be able to shoot him through anything. I’ll excuse any game glitches that caused this, for fully destructible building can cause those, but the cheapness of the enemies did piss me off a lot.
0.5/1
Gameplay
As I’ve said before, the fully destructible buildings are implemented very well and in clever ways. The shooting is solid, no Gears of War, or any sort of genre-busting new mechanic akin to it, but still well done. The controls are all tight and well laid-out, and the ability of infinite sprinting is an added point to any game, and Red Faction: Guerrilla thankfully includes this. The intricacies in the main missions keep the game flowing well. You need to keep morale up by not letting fellow guerrillas die. Mason also needs to lower enemy control whenever possible by knocking down important enemy buildings. Volition keeps the gameplay fresh and exciting at each moment, even if it does get rather difficult.
1/1
Fun
Here’s what I found fun:
+ destruction
+ multitude of missions
+ length of the game
Here’s what I didn’t find fun:
- cheapness and monotony of enemies
1/1
It’s strange to see this franchise continue with such a different, yet well-crafted game. Like the previous ones it has its problems, but it’s grand scale more than makes up for it. While you may not feel much attachment to the characters, if you are looking for a destruction-centered game that doesn’t suck, Red Faction: Guerrilla is likely your best choice. I look forward to the next Red Faction, and hope it doesn’t take 7 years again.
8/10
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