Written by Nibbles

Red faction: Guerrilla is a new third person shooter from Volition Inc and is the third installment in the Red Faction series, although personally I haven’t played the others.

The game takes place on a future colonised Mars as you control Alec Mason, a newly arrived miner joining his brother on the planet to begin a new life. You quickly learn however, that all is not quite right with the planet as you witness hostile EDF (Earth Defense Force) troops harassing the population while your brother, who is a member of the guerrilla Red Faction, explains the oppressive regime that the EDF has become. It seems that a scarcity of resources on Earth has led to pressure on the EDF to acquire the resources Earth needs from Mars, whatever the cost. The EDF has responded to this by using the base of operations they held from the last games to help free the planet to become its occupying force and impose a state of forced labor onto the inhabitants.

Of course if this oppression isn’t enough, it quickly becomes personal as your brother, wanted by the EDF for his Red Faction actions, is gunned down in front of you. Luckily for you, as the EDF decides to kill you too, a Red Faction team leaps in to kill the EDF troops and rescue you. Like it or not Alec is now a member of the Red Faction, and it is at this point you take control of Alec and begin the game.

The game takes place on the terraformed surface of Mars across 6 sections that make up the world. Each section is under EDF control, and their presence felt through checkpoints, bases, patrols and guards present at various buildings important to EDF operations. Your job is to help the Red Faction liberate each section of the world and send the EDF packing from the planet. This is done by completing missions for the Red Faction. Each mission reduces the control the EDF holds on the area until the final mission, unlocked when EDF control reaches 0, which will force the EDF from the area and give control to the Red Faction. As well as the main story mission, there are side missions and buildings important to EDF operations whose completion or destruction will lower EDF control in an area. Conversely as you complete missions or other actions, moral will go up in which contributes to a bonus when completing missions and will also provide you with civilians who will join you in battle to support the Red Faction cause? If you can take control of all 6 areas, the EDF will be forced to abandon Mars. You’ll also come across the Marauders, a strange and mysterious group of settlers that seem to take advantage of lower EDF control and attack facilities to support themselves, and also anyone else around them.

The gameplay takes the form of an over-the-shoulder third person perspective. Much of the game centers around its destructible element, if you see it, you can destroy it. It’s something the game does incredibly well. Buildings take damage and eventually collapse. You’ll find yourself attacking points that seem structurally important and it’s immensely satisfying to send a building crashing to the ground around you after taking out its supporting walls. Destroying structures will give you salvage (scrap metal) which is the games currency and used to upgrade weapons or purchase new ones.

You have four weapons slots, one of which is locked as your sledgehammer, which is quite useful as a killing weapon or to damage structures. The other three slots are available to you to load out as you choose. Weapons include remote sticky charges, and electricity gun, RPG’s and rocket launches as well as a variety of guns as well as some more special ones. Completing missions unlocks new weapons for purchase, and purchasing weapons unlocks upgrades that can also be purchased. You’ll find yourself loading out with a balance, some explosives for attacking and demolition and projectile weapons for defense against troops and vehicles. My personal favorite was the upgraded electricity gun which could arc out to attack multiple foes, but really came in handy against those in vehicles, as you could fry the vehicle, killing whoever was inside.

Like most open world games, most of the missions are the standard travel from point A to point B and attack/kill what you find. The destruction element really differentiates these missions from other games though. A personal favorite tactic was to hijack a heavy EDF vehicle, drive it to the target and plow through the wall of the target building, hop out, and blow the vehicle along with some charges on the walls to bring the place crashing down. Of course these things will bring EDF attention and once you have their attention, they won’t stop sending people after you. This brings out the guerrilla in you, you’ll find yourself plotting how to get in, do what you have to do, and get out, as you won’t survive prolonged firefights with the EDF, eventually the numbers will get too much, so you need to run.

You’ll spend most of the time traveling around the planet in the numerous vehicles that are seen traveling through the world. Most people are happy to give up their vehicle to you in your fight against the EDF, and if moral is high you will find people searching you out to offer a vehicle when you are on foot. Traveling is made easy by the on screen mini-map and GPS system that marks out routes for you, and there is also a helpful yellow marker on the in-game roads for you to follow.

As well as attacking buildings you’ll find a range of missions across your map. There’s transporting special vehicles, rescuing hostages the EDF has taken, participating in raids on EDF properties, defending Red Faction territory from attacking EDF, rolling attacks on the EDF and demolition missions to give you a little practice in bringing down a building. Completing missions’ nets you salvage, lowering EDF control, raising moral or a combination of the three.

Overall the game is a lot of fun to play. The destruction element really adds to what would otherwise have probably been a pretty average experience. There’s not really a huge amount of variety with the missions or experience as a whole, but what the game does do it does so well that you’ll have plenty of fun with it regardless.

8/10

Resources: Map of the location of collectibles throughout the world