Sunday, December 12
Red Faction: Guerrilla was a game developed by Volition Inc. and Published by THQ in 2009. It is a 3rd person shooter/destruction simulator that follows the story of Alec Mason during is first time on Mars.
Red Faction: Guerrilla was played using the PC version.
- Story -
Once starting the game you are thrown through a cut scene and into the shoes of Alec Mason, who has arrived on Mars to do make money doing some honest labor, or mining. Unfortunately for Alec Mason the game doesn’t want that and following some events you end up joining the Red Faction, which is an underground movement that wants to free Mars from the EDF, or Earth Defense Force. The EDF had liberated Mars earlier from another faction giving peace to all the inhabitants, but over time they started making restrictions and strived for power even if that meant suffering for the miners and colonists. It is now up to Alec Mason and the rest of the Red Faction to reclaim Mars and rid themselves of the EDF.
 |
| This is Alec Mason, master of explosions |
As a member of underground faction the game proceeds through small guerrilla actions. These can be anything from destroying a convoy to rescuing a hostage or even to taking/defending an outpost. These guerrilla actions eventually lead to the ability to take part of Red Faction actions. Which will lead to the Red Faction liberating the sector, out of 6 sectors. The problem with this progression system is that there are a limited number of guerrilla actions and can unfortunately become repetitive and boring.
What the game lacks in originality of story is makes up for elsewhere. In the end the story comes less down to character progression or revealing the EDFs secret plot and more about you just destroying everything in your path to remove them from Mars. Interesting, not really, but good enough that is doesn’t get too boring.
-- Story Score = 6 / 10
- Visuals -
Red Faction pulls of the ability to look great and bad at the same time. Textures and what not look great. Each character is animated very well and looks very good. Also the buildings and environments look quite good. However, the game is bland. Each area, beyond a color change, looks almost identical. Even though each area is very similar they do still look very good, and again the animations look great.
 |
| The world may be bland, but the explosions definitely liven up the place |
Beyond just the simple textures are the effects. This goes from explosions to muzzle flashes. And the effects do not disappoint. From the muzzle flashes to the different back pack’s effects in multiplayer, it all just looks fantastic. When a vehicle explodes it looks just like it should and when you fire a gun it looks like it almost feels like in a way.
Red Faction is a game of outstanding visuals that should not disappoint anyone, unless you cannot stand similar locations.
-- Visual Score = 9 / 10
- Game Play -
Red Faction shines when it comes to the game play. Everything from the gunplay to the destruction is just great, with possibly the only bad part partially being vehicle driving.
 |
| Oh yes, you get one and they are an absolute blast |
Red Faction’s gunplay is much like a standard current generation 3rd person shooter, except that there is little emphasis on using cover, even though it is possible. What makes this game different, and the game encourages, is destroying any and all buildings. You can do this with the use of a sledgehammer, mining explosives, rocket launchers, walker vehicles, and just about everything else. And when most games say buildings can be destroyed it usually just means parts of it, but with Red Faction it means ALL of it. Every wall, floor, and ceiling can crumble according to whatever you want to happen. However the one iffy thing about the destruction is the ability for buildings to keep standing up even though the majority of their supports are gone. This isn’t game breaking, but is odd.
One of the things about the game that will actually keep you from destroying buildings with explosives are the guns, and even some of them destroy buildings too. Red Faction and a good assortment of guns that range from a standard assault rifle to an Arc Welder (lightning gun) to a Grinder (shoots saw blades) to the Nano Rifle, which designates whatever comes in contact (be it human, vehicle, or building).
-- Game Play Score = 10 / 10
- Multiplayer -
One of the fantastic things about Red Faction is the multiplayer. It offers the standard game modes such as death-match (aka Anarchy),a form of keep-a-away (aka Bagman), a territories style game (aka Damage Control) and capture the flag. Along with those modes is Demolition and Siege. Demolition consists of each team having a certain person capable of scoring points. That person must destroy as much as possible to score. Also one team can kill the other’s special player and earn points. In Siege the game plays like an attack and defend. One team has targest to destroy and the other team has to keep them alive.
 |
| Blue bullets and back packs, all you need for a good time |
The special thing of Red Faction’s online is that is has various backpacks and also a weapon that can rebuild any building. The backpacks act as perks from Call of Duty. Each one contains a unique power, which can range from sprinting or a jetpack to a charge or heal ability. This backpacks end up actually changing how you act in battle and can even turn the tide of battle many times. The unique rebuilding weapon is very valuable online and is required in some game modes. In siege an entire team could try to kill the attackers or half could try and the other half could try rebuilding the structures they are defending. They additions to multiplayer make it a very fun blast, especially because all of the destruction present in single-player is also in multiplayer.
Something Red Faction has that many other shooters do have now is a leveling system. When you level in Red Faction you don’t unlock new weapons or items, but new player skins, game modes, emblems, and various experience increasers. Along with this you can unlock 1 style of weapon skin, which is for the sledgehammer. The final sledgehammer skin ended up being an ostrich so everyone can finally live their dream of either smashing a building or people with an ostrich.
 |
| Ostrich Hammer? Why not! |
One problem with the PC version is that it uses the matchmaking system that console games use. Which immediately means the online community will either be non-existent or close to. While the matchmaking system works well it limits the online community with no ability to join mid game. This can make finding a game impossible for maybe 6 minutes at a time because all the players are in a game.
A feature that was made more for consoles is called Wrecking Crew. It is Red Faction’s “split screen” mode. It technically isn’t split screen, but it is meant to replace it. In Wrecking Crew each player, up to 4 players total, each take a turn trying to earn as many points as possible, by following each game modes instructions. All of these game modes involve destroying as much as possible, but each mode does it slightly different. Now after one person takes their turn the next player then gets a go at the same thing. So only one person can play at a time, but it does allow Red Faction to be played by more than one person locally offline. Wrecking Crew is actually pretty fun, but can be annoying for the PC. When someone ends their turn they have to get out of the seat in front of the PC so someone else can take their place. While not a terrible price for some fun with friends it can be annoying.
Beyond the matchmaking system, the multiplayer is very well laid out and extremely fun to play, especially with all the destruction present. Once the repetition of the single-player shows itself a person can find joyous fun with this games multiplayer. However, the community, at least for the PC version, is quite small so it may be difficult to find a match now to play.
-- Multiplayer Score = 8 / 10
- Presentation -
How Red Faction presents itself is fairly good, but that is mainly because of the audio.
The story progresses mostly just through the game without much story between each section liberated. And to help that almost nothing progression are the cut scenes. There is a sparse number of cut scenes throughout the game, but when they do occur they do look good and are done well. Throughout most of the game it is just you doing your own thing without almost any story or anything real special to make you motivated to get further. Once you figure out there are barely any cut scene even that isn’t a motivation to go farther.
 |
| Explosions... they're everywhere! |
What Red Faction does fine, but could have been slightly better was the user interface. Most of the in game UI works great, but outside of it isn’t as good. The only way to check offline statistics, which includes achievement progression, is to actually load a game. Why this is not allowed just through the main menu surpasses me. There were several times I wanted to see how close I was to an achievement that didn’t actually involve the single player campaign, yet I had to load it anyway. Along with this is the inability to customize the settings (graphics and what not) during game play. To do so you must quit the game and adjust them in the main menu. Along with this is the PC versions love of going to windowed mode. If there is a pop up or you activate sticky keys (trust me it will happen in multiplayer) it automatically windows the game. The interface isn’t game breaking at all, but some of it could have been changed and the way it is now is just unnecessary.
 |
| Flipping cars is fun and sounds absolutely fantastic |
One major redeeming factor of Red Factions presentation is the audio. The voice is actually quite good. The script may not be fantastic, but they pull it off well. Along with that all the music is ok and the sounds coming from the guns and destruction is quite good too. Nothing about the audio is bad, but unfortunately it isn’t good enough to really make Red Faction’s presentation remarkable.
-- Presentation Score = 6 / 10
Final Section Scoring
- Story = 6
- Visuals = 9
- Game Play = 10
- Multiplayer = 8
- Presentation = 6
This is a game that anyone can enjoy for at least some time and that is just because of the destruction. However the longevity of the game may turn many people away and the presentation, while strong at the start falters very quickly making this a game of your own imagination.
Average Total Scoring
- Average Score = 7.8 / 10
Total Time Spent To Complete Single Player
- Roughly 16 hours
