First, there’s a wall. Now, there’s not

by Florian Eberhorn

Fun factor: Fun

Worth to: Buy

Will have you laying awake at night thinking of new ways to bring down buildings, plan ambushes and cause unprecedented havoc -- an engaging and guiltily entertaining, if sometimes repetitive, destructive romp.

The future. Mars, the Red Planet, has been partly terra-formed, colonized and become home for many of Earth’s former inhabitants. But for almost 100 years now, there has been unrest among the population. Poverty, governmental tyranny, and exploitation of the weak have made Mars more and more akin to the former Earth colonies of Old. And when the people of Mars just can’t take it any more, the Red Faction -- their very own revolutionaries -- rises up. It has happened twice before, the last uprising 50 years ago, and today the people of Mars once more stand at their breaking point.

All I wanted was to sell salvage…

After the last attempt at revolution Mars’s was actually freed from oppression, only to see the vaunted liberators simply taking on the role of the old oppressors. By now, the EDF, the Earth Defense Force rules the population with an iron hand, creating a two-class society between them and the workers, mostly miners, living in the poorer of Mars’ six terra-formed sectors. The EDF’s rule is marked by violence and arbitrary cruelty. And so it is no surprise that the Red Faction is on the rise again.



Enter You, as Alec Mason, miner and demolition expert by profession, just recently arrived from Earth. You are here to see your brother Dan, hoping to find some honest work on the not-so-red-anymore planet. You don’t really care about the Red Faction, the EDF or Mars’s political problems. Not yet, anyway. Together with your brother, you hunt for construction salvage (salvage is like gold on Mars).

Salvage can be found in the debris of destroyed structures and vehicles, as well as ore deposits found in the various sectors. And if the buildings happen to be still standing, well, once at the site, a little tutorial offers you a chance to brush up on your explosive and demolition skills. You scavenge through the debris, looking for valuable goods when you are rudely interrupted by an aerial EDF patrol. By rudely, I mean they kill your brother. To make a long story short, you join the Red Faction. And in the words of a soon to be “convicted” Sam Fisher, “what happens next is entirely up to you.” Well, not entirely. But almost.

No more Geo-Modding, but it’s still Geo-Fun

Red Faction Guerrilla, is a 3rd person, open world action game, featuring Volition Studios’ prized Geo-Modding physics engine. RFG is the third installment in the venerable Red-Faction series, albeit with two notable deviations from the franchise formula. For one, RFG is the first Red Faction title to abandon the linear, 1st person shooter gameplay for the freedom of a 3rd person open-world sandbox adventure. For two, Geo-Modding isn’t really “Geo” anymore.



Instead of being able to alter (i.e. “make holes in”) the GEOgraphy, as well as most walls, by means of excessive firepower, RFG’s destructive abilities are limited only to man-made structures and vehicles. “Limited” might not be the right word, because you can flatten them all. Every. Last. One. From bridges to buildings to military bases to smokestacks and watchtowers, from APCs to Gliders to Tanks. And the way it’s done is so stunning and realistic, that the sheer fun of taking down a building will have you playing RFG long after you should have been done with it. Because even if Mars is in population density more akin to Australia than China, you’ll never run out of stuff to take apart.

But then, you’re not here to sledgehammer Mars’s colonies to dust and rubble (even though it might seem that way). No, your destruction has a purpose: you’re supposed to free Mars, remember? Not level it. And in order to do that, you have to vanquish the EDF forces and drive them out of each of the six colonized sectors. Mars’s six terra-formed sectors make up a huge and diverse game world, and the more you see of it, the more you might be surprised how green the Red Planet has become in places.

Except for the Free Fire Zone, permanently liberating a sector is only possible once all sector story missions are completed, as well as EDF control of that sector reduced to zero, which is the only kind of chronological restriction RFG forces upon the player’s progression. Each sector offers two kinds of missions: the main story missions that continue the narrative, and a plethora of Guerrilla Action side-quests that earn you different rewards. Each sector’s missions culminate in the final sector liberation, every liberated sector bringing Mars one step closer to freedom.

Plenty of action, most of which end with rubble

For now, freedom is still a long way gone. At the beginning of the story, you face a seemingly invincible opposition. Each sector is securely under EDF control, and the morale among the population is relatively low. There are guard stations at almost every crossroad, soldiers patrolling the streets and EDF facilities seemingly everywhere. A full frontal assault is never an option. No, Guerrillas hit hard then run even harder to fight another day.



To help you find your way around, RFG provides a nifty full-screen Map, a constant mini-map and the Mars equivalent of a GPS navigation system. On the full screen map you can get an overview of Mars’s sectors; check out EDF control and the local morale; find story missions and mission objectives; see the locations of Guerrilla Action side quests and set navigational GPS markers. In addition to all that, the mini-map also shows you EDF structures, nearby vehicles, enemies and the location of hidden collectibles.

Guerrilla Actions come in different flavors, and each flavor earns you a different reward. There are the do-it-yourself actions that earn you salvage: transporting a vehicle to a certain location in a limited amount of time; mastering your demolitions skills trying to bring down a building in a set amount of time with specific weapons. There are Guerrilla Raids and Hostage Rescue Actions, which have you battling alongside your fellow Faction members to kill all enemies in a certain area or free arrested miners from the EDF and bringing them safely to a safe-house. There are the Collateral Damage Actions, with you manning the turret on a Red Faction vehicle, trying to cause as much destruction as you can.

Some time into the game, you will also encounter Heavy Metal Actions, where you have to hold your own against a certain number of enemies, drawing the EDF’s attention until some other Guerrillas do something Guerrilla-ish. In addition to that, there are also several “missions of opportunity” you receive by radio from Red Faction headquarters, that task you with destroying an enemy convoy, capturing enemy supply trucks, stopping a courier and retrieving the information he’s carrying, or defend certain locations from attacking EDF troops.

All of these actions are quite diverse and for the most part a lot of fun, but still, after your 50th GA, completing the same kinds of mission again and again can get a bit tedious. Thankfully, none of these actions are really mandatory. There’s no penalty for not completing them, and all reward you either with salvage, a raise in sector morale or a reduction of EDF control. On the other had, once a sector is liberated, all of its uncompleted Guerrilla Actions -- except for “Transporter” and “Demolitions Master” -- are inaccessible until the final liberation of Mars (that means until you finish the game).

Morale is low? Blow something up!

But there are other things to explode, and other ways to affect control and morale. EDF buildings are everywhere, and each building you destroy chips away a little more control. Marked on your map are medium and high importance EDF structures that, once leveled, take a big chunk out of the EDF’s hold on a sector. Again, taking out these structures is not mandatory or even necessary, at least not to reduce EDF sector control to zero, but that just shows off once more how truly free you are in approaching and accomplishing your goals.



The local sector morale can also be raised by destroying EDF propaganda billboards, starting killing sprees or some seven figures worth of demolition mayhem. Even if the local morale is not essential to your private revolution, it does have its effects. The amount of salvage you get from completing story missions or the amount of ammo you get from Guerrilla ammunition crates, or even the willingness of your fellow Martians to take up arms and join you in the just cause is affected by it.

Yes, if the people know that you fight for them, they will fight for you, and a high morale will let you rarely have to fight alone. Once you’re under attack, people will jump out of their vehicles to fight alongside you, until either you escape, or they die. But don’t confuse them with powerful allies or mistake them as your equal. They’re not very smart, and act more like bodyguards than tactical reinforcements, to the point where they will run next to your vehicle in a strange sort of “Operation: Human Shield.” But then again, these people are miners, not soldiers (even if most of them are packing quite a lot of heat), so they will go down quickly in a sustained firefight with EDF forces.

With every dead colonist, morale sinks again, even more so if you happen to be doing the deed. It will happen more than you’d like, and if there’s one thing to complain about here, it’s the creeping feeling that even if you might escape the battle intact, you’ll still be feeding these sheep to the wolves. Since the whole story is based on you freeing these guys, it just feels a little awkward to see them run at a heavily armored EDF trooper with nothing but a sledgehammer and getting mowed down. In the end, they are nothing but glorified gun fodder, buying you the time to either do what you need to do, or escape to keep doing what you have been doing. Unfortunately, there are no command options for your spontaneous compatriots -- no way to send them back home or even into the safety of a car. But then, this is War. And every war has its casualties.

Formidable enemies are no match to kamikazes

Since the EDF is actually a formidable enemy, you will be most assuredly among those casualties. But don’t worry; it’s not all that bad. Actually, it’s not bad at all. The penalty for death is a three-point reduction of morale in the sector you die in. Then you respawn at the nearest Red Faction safe house. If you’re on a mission or Guerrilla Action, you can opt to return to the last mission checkpoint or retry the GA. If you’re not in a mission, everything you accomplished or demolished until you fell lifelessly to the ground is saved, which makes a kamikaze-style approach to explorative destruction much too easy, in my opinion. Driving a truck full of charges into a heavily fortified compound and blowing it up might sound like a flawed tactic, but if you manage to take out some medium importance EDF buildings in the process, it’s still a huge win for a very small cost.



Sure, blowing yourself up is one way, but you’ll probably die more at the guns of the EDF. A lot more. The EDF are a fully equipped military force, geared with patrol cars, APCs (Armored-Personnel-Carriers), tanks and flying gun-ships. They react to pretty much everything you do almost realistically, sometimes in staggering numbers. If you blow up some EDF fuel tanks, and even without EDF witnesses, if a patrol car is in the general vicinity they will drive over to investigate. They will get out of the car and actually look around with their weapons drawn. If you plant some remote charges on a bridge and an enemy stumbles upon it, they start investigating. They will even stop their cars a few feet away to avoid the mines you set. Everything they see, they will react to.

The severity of the EDF’s response to your actions is determined by the alert level shown on your mini-map. With each new threat level, more and stronger EDF units will be sent out to hunt for you. Depending on their numbers, their attack patterns will change and their actions are believable, logical, and mostly tactically sound. They will seek cover or try to rush you, man available turrets to give each other support, try to flank or corner you. And do a damn good job of it. Every big encounter is a frantic firefight, with lots of intense combat. Enemy AI realism makes combat challenging, but once understood also gives the opportunity of effectively lay traps, lure the enemy into ambushes or create explosive diversions.

Oh, and the EDF aren’t the only enemies you’ll face. Sure, they are THE enemy, the main force to vanquish, but they are your enemy. The Marauders, on the other hand, are everyone’s enemy. They kill and scavenge anything they can get their hands on, regardless if it’s EDF, Red Faction or just innocent workers. They are an odd tribe with improvised weapons, and funky headgear. As you progress through the storyline, you will get a certain insight into their background, but suffice to say, they’re pretty bad.

Any Mech day is a good day

Your weapons of destruction range from the common to the sneaky, from the futuristic to the outright mean. You start out with a sledgehammer and a pack of remotely detonated charges. These two might arguably be your best friends. The remote charges pack quite a punch, stick to anything and anyone, and can be detonated by a simple button press, even if you’re quite far away and holding a different weapon. You can carry up to four different weapons at a time, with the sledgehammer being the one unchangeable constant. You can also trade collected or rewarded salvage in exchange for new weapons, as well as armor, ammo and weapon upgrades.



Eventually, you’ll have access to a variety of assault rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers, explosives and proximity mines, and such amazing weaponry as the Grinder -- which fires rotating saw-blades slicing your enemies to ribbons; the Nano-Rifle, whose bullets release upon impact a cloud of nanite robots that silently disassemble or corrode anything from people to building parts; or the EDF’s singularity bomb, a frightening device that creates a pocket-sized black hole that dissembles then destroys surroundings.

With a little ingenuity, every vehicle and even the buildings can be used to wreak havoc on your enemies. A truck with discreetly placed charges makes for a great ambush. Alternately, you can just drive it through the foundations of your building of choice, jump out and let the charges finish what your vehicle started. The players more in tune with their inner demolition expert might even try using undesirable buildings to crush their enemies. Then, there are the Walkers. The Walkers are robotic mining Exoskeletons, ranging from small and versatile like Ripley’s lift robot in James Cameron’s Aliens, to fully armored, mech-sized rocket-launching Hulks -- frighteningly effective devastation devices, which is probably why the EDF confiscated most of them. Walkers are pretty rare but rarely not worth looking for.

And then (yes, there’s more), there is the “Mother of All Bombs.” As you travel around Mars’s surface, your mini-map will sometimes show you a small, green blip. These are the locations of old Radio-Tags, each containing a radio message from some poor dead soul (or video game developer?). The tags are mostly well hidden but for every three you find they reveal the location of a pre-Mars era bomb of staggering force: the “Mother of all Bombs” (MOAB). The MOAB can only be attached to a vehicle and make the perfect Mobile Weapon of Mass Destruction. MOABs can take out huge structures in a single massive explosion, but there are only 12 of them in the game, so use them wisely. Fortunately, when you use them is completely up to you. Once located, the MOABs will remain available until they are attached and detonated.

Combat on foot or on wheels

The combat on foot is just as much fun, especially since you rarely have to follow a set path to reach your objectives. The more weapons you acquire the more diverse your choices will become. In the end though, some shooting will be inevitable. Thankfully the controls are more than up to it, and even in the most frantic of battles, changing weapons, laying traps and the general mundane acts of killing come fluidly and intuitively off the game-pad. In fact, the shooting, sprinting and jumping (and some sneaking) are on par with some of the best 3rd person action titles available.



The only chink in RFG’s combat armor might be the cover system. Though it mostly works just fine, it is sometimes hard to stick to damaged cover objects, and putting the “cover” command on the same button as sprinting was unfortunate, as it will have you sometimes just run past your desired cover position instead of sticking to it. Also, when toting the hammer, taking cover is not available, which is a fundamental mystery to me since the hammer will be your only “stealthy” weapon for much of the game.

Mars is huge, and navigating from one point to the next can be a drag, but thankfully the world of Mars is replete with different vehicles. Small, fast dune buggies, jeeps, transporters, garbage trucks, EDF patrol cars, tanks, as well as the “Mad Max meets Mars”-style Marauder vehicles are all up for the taking. Due to the sheer size of Mars, you will spend quite some time driving through the different sectors. Fortunately physics are good. Even if the vehicles tend to launch themselves into the air over even the smallest humps due to Mars’s lower gravity, once you get used to it, driving is pretty accurate and satisfying, whether racing through gullies to avoid artillery fire, driving to your next mission, just exploring or mowing down enemies.

Multiplayer madness

Fully liberating your way through Mars’ sectors will take you about 15 hours, if you stick to necessities only, but the various Guerrilla Actions and a little sense for exploration can extend the single-player experience easily to 30-plus hours. And even if you only do what’s necessary, once Mars is free, you can chose to play through any uncompleted Guerilla Action in the game.

And just when you think it’s over, you discover that you’re not alone. There are more Guerillas out there, and they’re ready to play. Red Faction Guerrilla offers six online Multiplayer Modes, and even a 4-player competitive offline mode called Wrecking Crew, a “H.O.R.S.E.” kind of “who does the most destruction in a limited amount of time.” Online Multiplayer features the expected Deathmatch and Capture the Flag variants, plus three unique modes called Siege, Damage Control and Demolition, that have teams fighting against each other, against the environment, and even against the destruction a single-player can do. The Multiplayer modes give you all the physical destructibility of the single-player campaign (except, sadly, for the use of vehicles), but comes also with a few gameplay additions. One notable addition is the “Reconstructor,” a repair-gun used in the Siege and Damage Control modes used for rebuilding damaged buildings and (if necessary) take control of them.



Most exciting however are the ten different backpacks you can use to enhance your fighting abilities. The backpacks give you such diverse powers as charging or even seeing through solid walls, a limited cloaking device, triggering a small earthquake or the venerable jet-pack. All of the packs have tactical advantages and disadvantages, and give Multiplayer combat a whole new level of complexity. While the online Multiplayer modes are mostly frantic battles -- especially since every player has one of these wall-defying sledgehammers -- offline Wrecking Crew is more of an explosive art form, but nevertheless entertaining in its own right.

Still, not everything in RFG is gold, and most of the shiny-yet-not-really-gold stuff can be found in the single-player campaign. Guerrilla Actions and all the driving around can become rather boring as you progress. Also, a more severe penalty for dying might have resulted in a more intense experience, and a rudimentary command system for your Guerrilla compatriots would have been welcome. But these are minor annoyances at most, and RFG offers more than enough excellence to make up for it.

The graphics are just beautiful. The frame rate is consistent, even in the middle of heated firefights, and the topography does its best to minimize pop-ups through a cleverly limited line of sight. The sound is just as amazing, as well as the excellent score. Voice-acting might not be all that good, but it’s more than adequate to tell RFG’s version of a “storyline.” The gameplay is diverse and fun, easy to pick up, a little harder to master, but almost always deeply satisfying.

Summary

Altogether, Red Faction Guerrilla is as complete a game experience as they come -- an extensive single-player campaign, sophisticated enemy AI, engaging online and offline Multiplayer modes, realistic physics and open-world destructive freedom. All you need to bring is your Appetite for Destruction, and it’s Welcome to the Jungle, dancing with Mr. Brownstone (building), taking down Paradise City, until someone screams Sweet Child o’ Mine, You’re Crazy. It’s just So Easy.