Red Faction: Guerrilla
 |
|
Red Faction 2 offered a radical new way of playing games. The fact that you could essentially bore through walls in order to reach your objectives changed the way the game was played. Now Red Faction Guerilla brings its own brand of destruction to gaming with the same satisfying effect.
Red Faction Guerilla is an open-world game set on Mars. You are trying to liberate the planet from an organization that used to be good but has been corrupted over time. The story is told through well done cut scenes, but it boils down to more of a simple excuse to have you blow anything and everything sky high.
With the story taking a backseat to the destruction, it’s a good thing the developer, THQ, has set the bar high with some of the most advanced destructible environments seen yet in a game. Nearly any building you see can be brought to the ground with explosives or brute strength. You have plenty of weapons and gadgets to work with; remote charges, rockets, a jetpack… but if you run out of ammo, your trusty sledgehammer will bring down most anything with a handful of well placed strikes.
The destruction is incredible. You’ll bring down whole buildings just to kill a few enemies or for no reason at all. The spectacle of a huge smoke tower falling into ruin at your feet is so thrilling that you’ll find yourself driving vehicles through structures on the way to your next mission just to watch the ensuing chaos.
With tons of main missions and even more side missions ranging from simple “defend your friends” missions to the awesome “take down this building with a limited number of charges” challenges, you’ll get plenty of time out of this game. The problem is, none of the missions are as interesting as the destruction. I often felt like the missions were a chore. Destroying buildings and killing enemies seemed too disconnected. I wish that the fantastic gameplay somehow carried over to the tedious firefights. Perhaps if the AI used the environment to try and kill you, and the real battle was creating the perfect trap of falling shrapnel, I would have been satisfied, but as it stands, I had more fun when I was doing my own thing.
Red Faction is built around THQ’s fantastic new destruction technology and as a result, the game feels like a step into the future of gaming. It’s a step forward in games, but in many ways, it feels like an empty experience. The game is certainly fun, but don’t go in expecting much from the story or main missions.
Red Faction Guerilla is an open-world game set on Mars. You are trying to liberate the planet from an organization that used to be good but has been corrupted over time. The story is told through well done cut scenes, but it boils down to more of a simple excuse to have you blow anything and everything sky high.
With the story taking a backseat to the destruction, it’s a good thing the developer, THQ, has set the bar high with some of the most advanced destructible environments seen yet in a game. Nearly any building you see can be brought to the ground with explosives or brute strength. You have plenty of weapons and gadgets to work with; remote charges, rockets, a jetpack… but if you run out of ammo, your trusty sledgehammer will bring down most anything with a handful of well placed strikes.
The destruction is incredible. You’ll bring down whole buildings just to kill a few enemies or for no reason at all. The spectacle of a huge smoke tower falling into ruin at your feet is so thrilling that you’ll find yourself driving vehicles through structures on the way to your next mission just to watch the ensuing chaos.
With tons of main missions and even more side missions ranging from simple “defend your friends” missions to the awesome “take down this building with a limited number of charges” challenges, you’ll get plenty of time out of this game. The problem is, none of the missions are as interesting as the destruction. I often felt like the missions were a chore. Destroying buildings and killing enemies seemed too disconnected. I wish that the fantastic gameplay somehow carried over to the tedious firefights. Perhaps if the AI used the environment to try and kill you, and the real battle was creating the perfect trap of falling shrapnel, I would have been satisfied, but as it stands, I had more fun when I was doing my own thing.
Red Faction is built around THQ’s fantastic new destruction technology and as a result, the game feels like a step into the future of gaming. It’s a step forward in games, but in many ways, it feels like an empty experience. The game is certainly fun, but don’t go in expecting much from the story or main missions.
