Red Faction: Guerrilla
Preview
Return to the red planet in third person view
by Howie Howard
previewed on PC
Geo-mod
Red Faction: Guerrilla is the third installment in the Red Faction series from Developer Volition and Producer THQ. Guerrilla is slated for a June 2009 release date for the Xbox 360 with PC and Play Station 3 versions to come later.
The Red Faction franchise is best known for its first person action sequences that feature a lot of shooting and destruction. Red Faction: Guerrilla offers more of the same but with one big exception. The first person perspective is replaced by a new third person view. Volition reports that this change in perspective is necessary in order to make their environment changing Geo-mod feature easier to see and use.
Geo-mod is the game engine that gives the player the ability to have an effect on every structure and item in the game world. By ‘an effect’ we mean the destruction of buildings, vehicles and of course human enemies. Volition has programmed the Geo-mod system to match real world structural physics. Every building and structure in Guerrilla looks realistic and the way it blows up appears even more realistic.
Alec
The plot in Red Faction: Guerrilla is the need to stage a revolution against an oppressive Martian regime known as the Earth Defense Force (EDF). If you can remember back to the two original games in the series, Red Faction and Red Faction II the EDF were the good guys. This time around the EDF is a power hungry and corrupt organization that needs to be destroyed. Guerrilla continues on right where the last two games left off.
The main character in the game, that you are in control of, is a fellow named Alec Mason. He is a simple miner in search of a better way of life on the red planet. Upon meeting up with his brother Dan on Mars, Alec soon comes to realize that everything isn’t right on this dusty and barren planet. He is forced to choose between dealing with his past demons on Earth or joining the rebellion that is fighting to overthrow the once heroic Earth Defense Force. Of course Alec chooses the latter option and joins the guerrillas in their fight for freedom.
As a top leader in the resistance its Alec’s job to device a strategy to overcome this powerful foe. Once the proper tactic is decided upon he must then gather his forces together and go out and do the missions in order to complete the overthrow. As you move past the introduction you soon realize that a total destruction and scorched earth policy is what is needed. How this goal of winning the game is accomplished is completely up to the game player. Red Faction: Guerrilla doesn’t have a scripted plot and the missions can be done any way the player sees fit. However, there are certain conditions that need to be met in order to be able to advance though the six segments contained in the game.
