Red Faction: Guerrilla
Preview
The return to Mars
by Zkylon
previewed on PS3
Destructibility
Red Faction: Guerilla is the third installment in Volition’s Red Faction series. The hallmark of the series has always been its Geo-Mod Engine, which has permitted mischievous players to lay waste to whatever so called solid structures held their foes. In other words, it is an engine created for the sole purpose of blowing stuff up. Now, previous Red Faction titles were praised for their outstanding environmental destructibility, unmatched even by standout “gun-porn” shooters like Criterion’s Black, but the Volition team was feeling they still hadn’t hit their mark. Enter Red Faction: Guerilla, the first current-gen title of the series. What’s familiar? Destructibility. What’s new? Bigger destructibility. Sounds like a winner.
Comrades, grab your sledgehammers!
Guerilla takes place 50 years after the events that took place in Red Faction. For those who owe themselves the pleasure of spending some hours with past Red Faction titles, let me give you a quick recap. In Red Faction, earthlings have colonized Mars and exploit the planet’s healthy dose of resources; primarily minerals recovered via deceived miners that traveled to Mars looking for the better life that the Mars based Ultor Corporation promises them.
Of course, with a name like that, the Ultor Corporation is quite a lot less than what it promises. The conditions of life are terrible at best, a plague is spreading among the miners. I’ll say understandably, the mine workers join forces with the Earth Defense Force (EDF) and start a rebellious army called the Red Faction to stop the Ultor Corporation’s wrongdoings. So two games pass and lots of blowing up occurs and the life at Mars settles down.
Over the 50 years that succeeded the EDF has turned into what it sought to destroy, oppressing the miners themselves. History repeats itself when tormented turn tormentors and it is once again the Red Faction and little men of the proletariat who have to stand up and rid themselves of the tyrants in power. Combined with the game’s logo and name, you have some sharp little charming communist innuendo right there.
The day Marvin the Martian skipped class
Since the EDF isn’t going to overthrow itself and the Red Faction is once again outgunned, main character Alec Mason has to get creative. Setting ambushes and using terrain in your favor is key for Mason to emerge victorious. Because if you run directly towards your enemy you end up with a miner with a lot of more holes than he needs. So here’s where Geo-Mod will prove useful (and all so awesome).
