Red Faction: Guerrilla Reviewed

Few games have drawn me in as quickly, intensely, and compulsively as Pandemic’s Mercenaries for the Xbox.  My initial play period was an unhealthy seven hour consecutive stretch, punctuated by shouts of exuberance and flurries of expletives. Even after the console was powered down, my thoughts continued to be dominated on how to kill or capture the remaining deck of 52 members. The title’s combination of diverse weaponry, open-ended gameplay, and explosive bombast was a digital drug of few peers. It’s a shame that last year’s sequel couldn’t capture the original game’s destructive zeitgeist.

Fortunately, the recently released Red Faction: Guerrilla is the title’s spiritual successor. Developer Volition understands that there is something wonderfully primal about blowing things up. Like Mercenaries, rarely does a moment go by when the player isn’t obliterating enemies, structures or entire bases. Unlike Pandemic’s last-gen title, today’s now-consoles have the power to render the annihilation of nearly every environmental object, which augments the intensity of the Red Faction.  From the moment we errantly killed ourselves by destroying a tower from within- sending the whole spire cascading on top of us, adoration for the title bloomed.

While Red Faction’s storyline won’t win a Hugo award, it is strong enough to give justification for the on-screen mayhem. Players take the role of Alex Mason, who visits the burgeoning landscape of Mars on the suggestion of his brother Dan. As the siblings reconcile, Dan is shot by the oppressive Earth Defense Force. When the malicious government agents take aim at our protagonist, members of the rebellious Red Faction come to Alex’s rescue, compelling him to side with the defiant assembly.  Volition kept the prologue prudently brief- within moments the player is unleashed to generate gratuitous destruction.

After a short interval we acclimated to the game’s weapon selection system. Players must use the right bumper to bring up a menu, and then use one of the face buttons to select an offensive tool. Beyond that slight irregularity, the game’s control scheme was wonderfully intuitive- we were razing compounds and driving across the red planet’s stony surface instinctively. Although the game depicts the proportionately lower gravity on Mars- players are able to bound through the air. Red Faction’s physics never felt frustratingly floaty.

The game presents six distinct sectors for players to reclaim. As Alex destroys enemy structures, a meter indicating enemy dominance, lowers. Gamers can also reduce Defense Force supremacy through activities that range from zone defense, items quests, and the requisite escort assignment. Fortunately, the title keeps the tasks lively by rarely straying from the fundamentals of unadulterated annihilation. Unlike Battlefield: Bad Company, which presented a very finite set of destruction, Red Faction‘s engine allows for a much more organic and thoughtful form of devastation. Players must look for weak points in each structure’s architectural design for swift demolition, adding a subtle puzzle-element to the proceedings. When force is administered via sledgehammer, rocket launcher or sticky bomb, each construction crumples in a unique and realistic manner.

With so much environmental wreckage, one would expect the Red Faction framerate to vary widely. Until players operate the most devastating weaponry near the last third of the game, the title’s refresh rate stays remarkably fluid. Even as we commandeered tank and mechs, the game’s gratifying sense of obliteration overpowered any graphical qualms. Red Faction’s competent textural mapping and environmental design should also be complemented- the game looks consistently picturesque from its sweeping vistas to the title’s convincing selection of space vehicles.

The game’s multiplayer diversions range from deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, territory control options. While each of the six archetypal variations were enjoyable, the standout of the bunch being siege mode. Here, teams take turns defending, and attacking territories, expertly utilizing the power of the graphical engine. As our review precedes the retail release of Red Faction, we weren’t able to fill lobbies with the game’s 16 allowable players.