Red Faction: Guerrilla

by Chris Davis
reviewed on X360
Life as a Human Wreaking Ball (cntd)
Several hours into the game I came across an EDF base that seemed to be a heavy industrial sector. According to the map there were several targeted buildings in the area that needed to be destroyed, these targets ending up being smokestacks that were littered around the area. With the EDF having already spotted me and calling in the big dogs I’m basically running through the area taking out as many as I can before I kick the bucket. As I round the corner of a warehouse and sight my fifth target I notice one of the more imposing enemy vehicles in the game: an EDF light tank. Knowing that my health bar is depleting fast from the soldiers hot on my tail, I formulate an idea. I use my jetpack to get on top of the warehouse and pull out my satchel charges and toss them all at the top of the smokestack. I then jump to the ground, pull out my sledgehammer, and proceed to go to town on the base of the smokestack. As I hit it one last time the base of it comes apart and begins to lean. I watch as the target I just knocked down tilts and falls on top of the tank at which time I detonate my charges and destroy it.
A smile eroded onto my face.
The power of the new Geo-Mod engine is fantastic and easily one of the most impressive pieces of physics tech since the dawn of the Havok engine all those years ago. Buildings fall apart exactly the way they should in real life and can be taken down just as easily. Sure, you could spend several minutes taking out the entire base of a building but why do that when you can just place some explosives on the supports and cause it to imploded? I personally enjoy taking out most of the supports and watching a building fall apart on its own. Either way, the Geo-Mod engine is definitely the best part of the game bar none.
Bringing Down the House
The Red Faction series has always relied on the Geo-Mod engine to stand out amongst the crowd when considering gameplay. Unfortunately, Guerrilla is no different in this regard. Despite the shift to being a third-person open world shooter the end result isn’t as grand as you would want it to be. The map, despite seeming huge in comparison to Liberty City or Stillwater, is much smaller than you would expect, only taking a handful of minutes to cross via vehicle. Many of the outlying areas are unreachable as well leading one to wonder why they are even mapped out.
The map for the game is divided into six different sectors and starts the player out in the Parker sector (remember him?). It is the goal of the Red Faction to take control of each sector one at a time and eventually rid the entire surface of Mars of EDF control. Each sector plays out the same way too as you have a set number of missions to accomplish before taking complete control of the sector. This only does half the job however as you need to reduce EDF control of a sector down to zero in order to completely liberate it. This can be done by taking on side missions, called Guerrilla Actions, as well as destroy EDF property and buildings. Completing missions also raises the morale of a sector and increases the likelihood of civilians coming to your aid in case you find yourself in the middle of a firefight. Raising morale isn’t necessary but it does certainly help you when you are in a tight spot.
8.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time