Godliberator
Well-Known Member
Red Faction: Guerrilla
In all the years that I have been enjoying video games, there have been some games that I have always held a special place in my heart. Red Faction has been one of those series that I have loved from the very beginning. The first red faction sucked me into its magnificent story about the red planet and how the Ultor Corporation was oppressing the mars miners who came to mars for a new beginning, and then rose as one against its corporate oppressors to create a free mars.
Inspirational right?
However today I am here to give my review of the latest in the series Red Faction: Guerrilla. Which has a very similarly inspirational logo?
The story this time has changed slightly. Ultor mining has long been gone and a new force has since showed up. The Earth Defense Force which came to mars originally in support of Mars, however Earth resources have run low and the EDF have taken control of Mars and taken away the freedom of the colonists and have issued forced labor policies to keep up with the demand for natural resources on Earth. Mars is no longer free. Thus enters our protagonist, Alec Mason.
Mason arrives on mars and is immediately introduced to the EDF as he is almost run off the road by them. Mason’s brother explains how The EDF has taken control and how nothing is how it is portrayed back on earth. Dan briefly explains the situation on Mars and mentions the Red Faction which is pushing back against the EDF.
On mars, scrap is as good as cash, and scrap is everywhere just waiting to be demolished. Dan introduces you through a quick tutorial about the tool that becomes your life in this game. The Sledgehammer.
This tool/weapon is one large part of what makes this one of my favorite games to play. Every piece of architecture in this game is destructible into its individual parts. Destructible environments have been done before, but in this game it is done beautifully. The best way to describe this effect is to show you.
It’s so beautiful.
Back on topic, now you have learned to destroy stuff to gain your currency in the game. After this fun little tutorial where you bash through buildings and blow up other such building, you get run off by an EDF gunship. Once you make it back to Dan’s place you find that the EDF have it seized and want to take the both of you in for questioning due to Dan’s ties to the Red Faction. Other Red Faction members see this and attempt to intervene. Dan is killed in the ensuing firefight and you destroy the EDF captain who was attempting to detain you, thus ensuring your place in the red faction picking up where your brother left off in the fight against the EDF.
The map is split up into several zones, each of which you need to liberate from the EDF. Doing the missions for the game will decrease the control of the EDF and allow for the liberation of a zone. There are also mini-missions spread across each zone that when completed will give you extra spending scrap and will raise morale in that sector. The higher the morale in a sector, the more likely that colonists will snatch up arms and help you when you are causing trouble for the EDF.
I mentioned earlier that the missions earned you spending scrap, which you can spend on your various upgrades for you, be it unlocking new weapons or upgrading your sledgehammer.
The mini games range from rescuing red faction members from the hands of the EDF, to riding in the gunner seat or a red faction vehicle controlling the rocket launcher and attempting to cause as much property damage as possible against the EDF. All the mini-games will give you extra scrap to use on all your upgrades
There are plenty of awesome weapons in this game each of which you can upgrade after you purchase it. You have your assault rifle, your remote detonated mines, and a pistol; which are all fairly standard items to compliment things like the grinder which launches saw blades at your enemies, and an upgrade or two later, those saw blades explode. There is also the thermo-baric rocket launcher which launches a rocket that creates an explosion that is comically large. There is a wide variety of weaponry to play with in this game, but you will always have your hammer with you.
The vehicles in this game are just as fun as everything else, and can be used as weapons also. All the vehicles were built for this game. You’re on Mars, so the vehicles are of course Martian in the way they look and handle. Several vehicles have weapon attachments which can be fired at will while you are driving and some of which you may switch to when you require a bit more precision aiming. From the giant dump trucks, to the small sporty rovers, the cars are fun to drive. There are also several opportunities to drive heavy equipment like the walkers and the tanks which unleash even greater damage on your immediate surrounding area. Nothing is really quite as satisfying as knowing that instead of running and gunning into a building full of enemies just to complete an objective, you are able to just run your vehicle off of a cliff and into said building to ensure mass damage and multiple kills in one shot.
The music in this game is very well written and orchestrated throughout the game and is performed by a full orchestra, however, the games action does somewhat drown out the music as there is a high amount of action with every step you take. I am not saying this is necessarily a problem, just that most of the time you don’t notice the music playing in the background because of the large explosions and people yelling and shooting at you.
This game is well worth the play through. From the variety of veichles and weapons, to the dynamic desctuction and your trusty sledge. This game will have your attention captured for hours on end, and to the point that when you stop playing, you want to go back and smash more buildings with a sledgehammer.
This translates well in real life as well, however there will more than likely be repercussions from any actions you take in real life with a sledgehammer.
This game also has online features, however Xbox live is a ghost town and I was quite literally the only player online who was playing red faction guerrilla, so I did not really get to spend time playing any of the online modes. There is also a mode that can be played through system link called wrecking crew in which you and your opponents are tossed into an area with several buildings and the one to cause the most property damage each round will win that round, after three or so rounds the one with the most overall damage done is proclaimed the victor.
I had no issues with the controls, a few of the veichles are a bit tough to drive, but the buildings are destructible so the worst thing that happens is you end up in the lobby of a random building and you gracefully excuse yourself and drive out the other side of the building. I was a little disappointed that I was not able to ever drive one of the EDF air support veichles, but that was only a small disappointment out of the entire game as there is enough other veichles and fun upgrades to make this game worth playing.
I would absolutely recommend this game to anyone who wants a game that is sincerely just a fun game to play casually. If you are on a budget as well, this game averages at about $17.00 dollars US and is worth every bit of it. Be sure to check it out, and don’t leave home without your hammer.
Red Faction Now!, A Free Mars Forever!
In all the years that I have been enjoying video games, there have been some games that I have always held a special place in my heart. Red Faction has been one of those series that I have loved from the very beginning. The first red faction sucked me into its magnificent story about the red planet and how the Ultor Corporation was oppressing the mars miners who came to mars for a new beginning, and then rose as one against its corporate oppressors to create a free mars.
Inspirational right?
However today I am here to give my review of the latest in the series Red Faction: Guerrilla. Which has a very similarly inspirational logo?
The story this time has changed slightly. Ultor mining has long been gone and a new force has since showed up. The Earth Defense Force which came to mars originally in support of Mars, however Earth resources have run low and the EDF have taken control of Mars and taken away the freedom of the colonists and have issued forced labor policies to keep up with the demand for natural resources on Earth. Mars is no longer free. Thus enters our protagonist, Alec Mason.
Mason arrives on mars and is immediately introduced to the EDF as he is almost run off the road by them. Mason’s brother explains how The EDF has taken control and how nothing is how it is portrayed back on earth. Dan briefly explains the situation on Mars and mentions the Red Faction which is pushing back against the EDF.
On mars, scrap is as good as cash, and scrap is everywhere just waiting to be demolished. Dan introduces you through a quick tutorial about the tool that becomes your life in this game. The Sledgehammer.
This tool/weapon is one large part of what makes this one of my favorite games to play. Every piece of architecture in this game is destructible into its individual parts. Destructible environments have been done before, but in this game it is done beautifully. The best way to describe this effect is to show you.
It’s so beautiful.
Back on topic, now you have learned to destroy stuff to gain your currency in the game. After this fun little tutorial where you bash through buildings and blow up other such building, you get run off by an EDF gunship. Once you make it back to Dan’s place you find that the EDF have it seized and want to take the both of you in for questioning due to Dan’s ties to the Red Faction. Other Red Faction members see this and attempt to intervene. Dan is killed in the ensuing firefight and you destroy the EDF captain who was attempting to detain you, thus ensuring your place in the red faction picking up where your brother left off in the fight against the EDF.
The map is split up into several zones, each of which you need to liberate from the EDF. Doing the missions for the game will decrease the control of the EDF and allow for the liberation of a zone. There are also mini-missions spread across each zone that when completed will give you extra spending scrap and will raise morale in that sector. The higher the morale in a sector, the more likely that colonists will snatch up arms and help you when you are causing trouble for the EDF.
I mentioned earlier that the missions earned you spending scrap, which you can spend on your various upgrades for you, be it unlocking new weapons or upgrading your sledgehammer.
The mini games range from rescuing red faction members from the hands of the EDF, to riding in the gunner seat or a red faction vehicle controlling the rocket launcher and attempting to cause as much property damage as possible against the EDF. All the mini-games will give you extra scrap to use on all your upgrades
There are plenty of awesome weapons in this game each of which you can upgrade after you purchase it. You have your assault rifle, your remote detonated mines, and a pistol; which are all fairly standard items to compliment things like the grinder which launches saw blades at your enemies, and an upgrade or two later, those saw blades explode. There is also the thermo-baric rocket launcher which launches a rocket that creates an explosion that is comically large. There is a wide variety of weaponry to play with in this game, but you will always have your hammer with you.
The vehicles in this game are just as fun as everything else, and can be used as weapons also. All the vehicles were built for this game. You’re on Mars, so the vehicles are of course Martian in the way they look and handle. Several vehicles have weapon attachments which can be fired at will while you are driving and some of which you may switch to when you require a bit more precision aiming. From the giant dump trucks, to the small sporty rovers, the cars are fun to drive. There are also several opportunities to drive heavy equipment like the walkers and the tanks which unleash even greater damage on your immediate surrounding area. Nothing is really quite as satisfying as knowing that instead of running and gunning into a building full of enemies just to complete an objective, you are able to just run your vehicle off of a cliff and into said building to ensure mass damage and multiple kills in one shot.
The music in this game is very well written and orchestrated throughout the game and is performed by a full orchestra, however, the games action does somewhat drown out the music as there is a high amount of action with every step you take. I am not saying this is necessarily a problem, just that most of the time you don’t notice the music playing in the background because of the large explosions and people yelling and shooting at you.
This game is well worth the play through. From the variety of veichles and weapons, to the dynamic desctuction and your trusty sledge. This game will have your attention captured for hours on end, and to the point that when you stop playing, you want to go back and smash more buildings with a sledgehammer.
This translates well in real life as well, however there will more than likely be repercussions from any actions you take in real life with a sledgehammer.
This game also has online features, however Xbox live is a ghost town and I was quite literally the only player online who was playing red faction guerrilla, so I did not really get to spend time playing any of the online modes. There is also a mode that can be played through system link called wrecking crew in which you and your opponents are tossed into an area with several buildings and the one to cause the most property damage each round will win that round, after three or so rounds the one with the most overall damage done is proclaimed the victor.
I had no issues with the controls, a few of the veichles are a bit tough to drive, but the buildings are destructible so the worst thing that happens is you end up in the lobby of a random building and you gracefully excuse yourself and drive out the other side of the building. I was a little disappointed that I was not able to ever drive one of the EDF air support veichles, but that was only a small disappointment out of the entire game as there is enough other veichles and fun upgrades to make this game worth playing.
I would absolutely recommend this game to anyone who wants a game that is sincerely just a fun game to play casually. If you are on a budget as well, this game averages at about $17.00 dollars US and is worth every bit of it. Be sure to check it out, and don’t leave home without your hammer.
Red Faction Now!, A Free Mars Forever!
Nicely Done.
60 it ust did it for me, i even liked the online which most people argued as crap