Review: Red Faction Guerrilla
Game: Red Faction: Guerrilla
Format: PS3
Developer: Volition, Inc.
Publisher: THQ
I know it’s been out a few months now but I’ve only just managed to get my hands on a copy. So give me a break ok? Having played the original Red Faction on PC for all of ten minutes many moons ago, I came to the game with no preconceptions; on the recommendation of someone who shall remain nameless. He said it has offline four player (it doesn’t) and is a game that allows LAN link up (it isn’t). But after my initial disappointment at being gypped once again by developers failing to cater to us gamers with real-world friends, I ploughed into the single player.
The game sets you as one Alec Mason, a recently emigrated miner to Mars. Within the first five minutes the action kicks off as you meet up with your brother Dan, who has become a resistance fighter against the oppressive EDF, or Earth Defence Force (nasty robotic-looking bastards), and he is subsequently gunned down before you’re very eyes. Thus, a new guerrilla warrior is born, and you must spend the rest of the game completing various tasks in order to rid Mars of the EDF, sector by sector.
So the plot is your typical good versus evil, stringent pacifist becomes extremist and liberates Mars with the help of a beautiful inventor, we’ve all seen it before. But that’s the resounding mark of this game; it takes things we’ve all seen before and does them pretty bloody well!
Watch out - he looks pissed and he's got a hammer
Take the visuals for example. Cinematic sequences are very tidy, with fantastic looking characters and locales. In-game, the visuals are equally as nice and do a great job of creating the look and feel of Mars; if it were to suddenly have an atmosphere. A stand-out moment for me has to be when blowing up one of the many gas canisters across the planet: the green fireball effect will really have you clambering for more as you hunt around for the next beautiful explosion.
The five different sectors across the planet each have a distinct visual style, which is a nice touch; as one of the main differences is that each has a particular colour theme. Thus driving from the purple-hewn ‘Parker district’ across country, the colour spectrum shifts to a kind of grey and on to an off-yellow as you drive through ‘Dust’ and into the ‘Badlands’. Whilst this colour scheme is a little unbelievable, it serves to provide the player with an effective navigation system without the use of the map screen.
In terms of sound; whilst it won’t completely blow you away, it is fairly satisfying. The voice acting is not great, but does the job arguably as well as any other game on the market. However, where the sound really comes into its own is in demolitions. When you blow something up you really feel like you’ve caused some damage. Buildings teeter and fall bit by bit in a very satisfying and impressive way.
On the whole, game play is great and extremely enjoyable. However, there are a couple of issues. Firstly, driving could be better. I appreciate that we’re on Mars and the effect of gravity is different, but the turning circles of almost every vehicle are atrocious, and the fact that touching almost any object at high speed sends your car careering off the road does grate after a while. But this is a learning curve issue; and one that I found got better as I did. Also, there is perhaps not enough variety in the tasks you are set. Essentially every side mission involves blowing something up; whether it be the attacking EDF soldiers, a building, or a vehicle. However, the satisfaction from bringing down a whole building using your trusty sledgehammer really does negate this lack of variety. In fact, hitting anything with your sledgehammer really doesn’t get old; from smacking the doors off a car to twatting an EDF member around the head.
The various difficulty levels make this game accessible to a wide range of gamers; with easy being a complete walk in the park. Hard difficulty, in my humble opinion, is near impossible, and whilst it will definitely have you pulling your hair out as you struggle to do even the most simple of tasks as you get blasted to oblivion, it does fill you with a feeling of real achievement if you can get on with it.
Some of the weapons are pretty devastating
Beware all you extremely casual gamers. This is a long game. At some 20 or 30 hours in, I’m a little over halfway. And whilst it must be noted that a lot of that time has been re-doing actions to get the pro scores, or simply because I’ve failed several times, a significant chunk of my time has been spent playing through for the first time. Personally, I find long games enjoyable because they are value for money. But if you’re looking for a quick fix in order to move on to the next thing, this isn’t for you.
Overall, Red Faction: Guerrilla really is a joy. Whilst it’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I thoroughly recommend it if you’re stuck for something to play. The sound is reasonably good; with voice acting fulfilling what it sets out to, even if it doesn’t ever really impress that much. Explosions, as you would expect from a game focussing on demolition, sound and feel real and gratifying. The game play certainly has some issues, but these issues don’t detract from the fun you can have with this game all that much.
REVIEW ROUND UP:
Graphics: 4/5 – The game looks great with some interesting choices being made with colour schemes for the various sectors.
Sound: 4/5 – The voice acting serves its purpose. But where this really comes into its own is the awesome explosions.
Gameplay: 4/5 – There are a few issues, but they get better as you do. The third person aspect works well and the variety of weapons adds a level of strategy to all the destruction.
Longevity: 5/5 – There’s tonnes to do here. The single player campaign is huge, especially when you add in all the possible side missions.
Overall: 4 spiked sledgehammers out of 5 – This is a great game if you’re stuck for something to play. Pick it up cheap in a few months time once you’ve played Batman to death and need a break from Modern Warfare 2!
[starreview tpl=16]
I think the pass the pad multiplayer mode (wrecking crew?) is 4 player, although I don’t think that should really count as a proper multiplayer mode!
Have you given the deathmatch mode a go?
My main problem with this game is that the story is so painstakingly dull, and full of missed opportunities. For instance, rather than just having the EDF gun your brother down within the first few minutes, why not let you build up a raport with him? I mean, you could have spent a few missions actualy doing the job you were supposed to do, and get to know your brother. That way when he’s actually gunned down in front of you it might actually stur up some real feelings in you.
Still, having said that, the tech in this game is very impressive, and blowing stuff up sure is fun!
I’ve only played the demo but I loved that. I’ll probably pick it up if I see a bargain.
Just looked and Play has it for £18! Bargain. I’ve added price guides
that’s an excellent feature! I wish more reviews would do that!
Actually, scratch that, let that be our thing from now on!
“Pass the controller” is something you can do in the single player of any game! So I don’t consider it a multiplayer feature. In fact, when they say it’s multiplayer offline and it only has pass the controller I think of it as a slap in the face. Take Burnout Paradise for example. ‘Party Mode’!? It would have to be the dullest party in the world for that to even feature!
Yeah the “party mode” in Paradise was pants wasn’t. Although the pass the pad mode in Burnout Revenge (the crash time mini game) was brilliant. Hours of fun!!