Red Faction Guerrilla
Nicholas "bapenguin" Puleo
Volition- PC, 360, PS3
The original Red Faction on the PC was a game that wowed people with its technology. It promised the destruction of any piece of environment - and it almost delivered. I spent many long hours digging holes into the caverns of mars with my rocket launcher just to see how far I could really deform the terrain, it was a magical moment in gaming for me. Red Faction Guerrilla is a reboot of the franchise, though the original game is mentioned at times through the story. It drops the first person viewpoint for a stronger story based open world shooter.
You'll be dropped into the action rather quickly in guerrilla, trusty sledgehammer in hand. With this you'll be able to bust your way through any building or wall - sadly the terrain isn't very deformable. As you smash buildings and objects you'll pick up salvage which is used to acquire and upgrade weapons. While the game is open world, you will be required to do enough side tasks to be able to unlock the final mission of each section. These side missions range from exploding key structures, rescuing trapped people, and defending fortifications. They are fun at first but do end up getting a bit repetitive. Early on only a few missions are required to progress, but as you dig deeper into the game you'll find more and more are required to unlock the tools needed to complete a mission.
The beauty in Red Faction Guerrilla comes in the game's pacing. You start the missions where and when you want, and there's just an overall build up throughout the entire game. There's plenty of vehicle action to keep things tense, and thanks to some crazy physics there's plenty of "oh my god" moments.
The game extends itself well to a handful of multi player modes which should keep you busy for a while. While the game isn't perfect, and it never quite brought back the magic of the original - it does stand on its own right.
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