Red Faction : Guerrilla (Game Review)

While I haven't played any of the other games in the Red Faction franchise, I have played Red Faction : Guerrilla quite extensively. So extensively that I'm confident to say that Red Faction : Guerrilla isn't just an ordinary game; it's a great openworld sandbox game with an amazing physics engine, and it's one hell of a stress reliever. Seriously, it's practically therapeutic. Forget the characters and the plot; your main focus when playing this game is tearing down buildings. You can destroy practically anything in this game aside from the natural landscape. Buildings, walls, bridges, they're all just randomly scattered toys for you to smash with your trusty sledgehammer.

But yes, let's get the plot out of the way real quick so we can dive right into the demolition. You play as Alec Mason (a name I kept getting confused with Alex Mercer, the protagonist of Prototype), a miner who came up to Mars to make a living. Since Earth was running out of natural resources and Mars was being terraformed by the Earth Defense Force (EDF), this was a great opportunity for Alec to leave Earth for a new life and be a part of something big. However, it turns out that the EDF isn't as friendly as they project themselves, and are actually just another corrupt and oppressive organization. One thing leads to another, and Alec joins up with the rebellion force known as the Red Faction. He starts out small by irritating the EDF by destroying supply convoys, but quickly moves up by liberating parts of Mars from their oppressive control and eventually leading an entire uprising against the EDF.

Welcome to Mars! You'll be hearing a lot of Total Recall references throughout this review!

All caught up on the story? Good! Now we can finally discuss the fun parts of the game; complete and total destruction of anything that dares stand in your way! This game, even though it's almost three years old, has some of the most impressive destructive physics engine I've ever seen in a video game. The only game that even comes close is Mercenaries 2 : World in Flames, but that game had a "health" for each building, and when that was depleted it didn't matter where you hit it, it just collapsed into a pile of rubble. As satisfying as this was (since very few games actually do this...imagine how awesome Saints Row would be if this had been implemented!), Red Faction : Guerrilla takes it to a whole new level. In this game, where you hit the structure plays a huge part in how it collapses. If you take out the entire south support of a building, it slowly teeters over until it completely topples over. As you gradually do damage to a building, the more it will creak and rumble, until you then deliver the final blow or you just sit back and watch it collapse on itself. It's really fun playing with the physics of the game. Take a look at the following screencap of a smokestack polluting the atmosphere with poisonous gasses produced from extensive mining;

"COME ON COHEEGEN, YOU GOT WHAT YOU WA-AUNT! GIVE DESE PEEPLE AI-YUH!!!"

Every building, bridge, walkway and stairs in that screenshot is destroyable. The only thing you can't destroy is the very ground you walk on. Other than that, have fun! A wall preventing you from getting to your destination? Most games will have you look for another way around, but Red Faction : Guerrilla isn't most games. Red Faction : Guerrilla lets you to smash that wall to pieces! Seriously, you can even smash the debris to even smaller pieces, reminding the other walls not to mess with you. Now, I'm sure you're tired of just reading my excited description, so I'll let you see for yourself; your two main tools of destruction would be your sledge hammer and your satchel charges (you get other weapons like pistols and assault rifles, but they do nothing demolition-wise). Let's first have some fun with the satchel charges;

Demolition 101 : Plant explosives near the base of the structure for most damage.

"SEE YOU AT DA PAHTY, RIKTUH!!!"

Planning ahead so the structure won't collapse onto you helps.

"SCREW YOU, BENNY!!!"

HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!?!

And now, the sledgehammer;

"ALEC, SMASH!!!"

"It's like Pac-Man ran through here..."

"CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP!!!"

 Now remember that screenshot from earlier, with the smokestack and the buildings and the walls? Well here's the exact same spot on the map after Alec had some fun through the abuse of his excavation tools;

"Considuh dat a divorce!" (Pretending Alec is Arnold Schwarzenegger really adds to the fun factor)

And that's just the first part of the game! As you progress there's more and more parts of Mars for you to destroy liberate, and some of the end-game cities and bases are just pure paradise for people like me who just enjoy messing around in games. The only downside I can think of is that it takes so long for you to get to these awesome parts of the game that getting there can be a bit of a drag, but once you get there it's simply unfiltered joy. The EDF constantly showing up and shooting at you is also a pain, but that's like saying the cops in GTA is a pain; they're a part of the game that honestly, the game wouldn't be the same without them. Besides, you can easily take them out with your sledgehammer and resume your destructive frenzy. 

In conclusion, Red Faction : Guerrilla is a very fun game. There's plenty of fun to be had with the physics, and the developers know that too because aside from the main missions you also get puzzle missions where you're given a certain number of charges / hammer swings and you have to take down without going over that set amount. Liberating the people of Mars and getting involved is the story is okay, but the true star of this game is the demolition. Just go in and tear down a few sky scrapers with a sledgehammer; you won't be disappointed.