Join The Faction! Save Mars!

Congratulations to Volition for taking a first person shooter from the PS2 era and going with a third person action game perspective. Not only is this one of the best transitions between genres, it brings a whole new meaning the destructive environments. When you look at Red Faction: Guerrilla for the first time, it might not seem any different from your generic third person shooters out there..and you would be right but only to a certain point. There is depth to this game that does make it stand out from the crowd. One thing you will notice right away is the ability to destroy anything and everything that you come across. If there is a wall in your way, just bust it down with your sledgehammer, EDF (Earth Defense Force) barracks ruining your day? Just set some charges to it and watch it crumble while you giggle like a little school girl.

The story is one of slavery, rebellions, saving miners from the EDF, and taking back Mars. You are Alec Mason who is basically tricked by his brother to come help fight for the rebellion on Mars. What ensues is total chaos across all of Mars. If you have played any of the Grand Theft Autos you will know what to expect when it comes to the game play. It is an open world game so you can go anywhere and do anything. The world is broken down into zones which have their own missions, side missions, EDF control, and miner morale. Your job is to liberate each zone from the EDF and gain miner support. Some of the side missions do tend to get repetitive but they at least help weaken the EDF in the area. The main story is great although it felt like some of the side mission stories were just thrown in to give you a reason for doing it. The place where RF: Guerrilla really shines is the multiplayer.

In terms of the modes, it offers the usual CTF, deathmatch, large battles, Headquarters mode called damage control, and the two exceptions; siege and demolition. In siege you have attackers and defenders. The attackers are trying to destroy certain buildings and the defenders must stop them from reaching that objective. Demolition has a demolisher on each team trying to cause more destruction than the other team while his/her teammates try to keep them alive. These modes added in with a great assortment of backpacks to level the playing field as well as secret challenges, badges, sledgehammers, characters, and different ranks to unlock make this multiplayer more than just an afterthought. When it comes down to it, nothing beats watching a giant building come crashing down on your enemies and hearing them scream while they are being crushed....yea...now that would put a smile and any wannabe rebel's face.