Are you looking for a top notch cheap game? I’m talking about those good games that don’t cost you an arm or a leg. Red Faction Guerrilla is a great addition to any PS3, Xbox 360 or PC owners game library and at $20 how can you go wrong?
The Plot
Alec Mason, the player character and a mining engineer, arrives on Mars Tharsis Region to reunite with brother Dan and begin a new life, and learns Dan is a member of the Red Faction. While on work detail, Dan testifies about the Earth Defense Force’s cruelty to the Martian people and asks Alec to join their cause, he is soon after gunned down by air support from an EDF assault team. Alec is rescued from summary execution by Red Faction guerrillas and becomes a reluctant freedom fighter for the group along side avid inventor “Sam” Samanya, rambling psychotic Jenkins, and commander Hugo Davies. Between Davies’ command and Alec’s skill and bravery, the EDF are quickly driven out of the sector known as Parker for the first time.
The campaign against the EDF continues in the Dust sector, and Alec is eventually assigned to routine surveillance of the Marauders, a mysterious and violent warrior tribe living in the inhospitable Badlands, in hopes of recovering stolen weapons. Alec tracks them to an abandoned Ultor Corporation base that promptly comes under massive assault from the EDF. During the fracas, Alec steals a strange device called the Nano Forge and escapes. This in turn brings attention to Admiral Kobel from a huge and powerful warship called the Hydra, along with General Roth, commander of the EDF forces on Mars, who declare Alec Mason a wanted man following this incident. General Roth turns his attention to Dust and the EDF responds by pulling out of the sector and ordering the artillery base in the Free Fire Zone to bomb Dust into oblivion. Alec is tasked with saving members of the Red Faction and intel on the EDF from the bombardment, which he succeeds in doing.
Alec temporarily loses faith in the movement, citing that no matter how determined their efforts are, the EDF will simply bomb them to submission. However, Sam analyzes the Nano Forge and discovers it can create catastrophic nanites that can disintegrate any object. She builds a prototype rifle from the device and entrusts it to Alec’s care.
After determining a series of blind spots in its coverage a successful “suicide run” against an EDF artillery base is commenced, allowing the group to begin hostilities against the EDF in their own territories. Shortly thereafter the EDF stages an assault against the Red Faction, resulting in the annihilation of the Red Faction’s Badlands Camp and the death of Davies. Only Sam, Alec and a handful of other fighters survive the assault, they learn afterward that the Hydra is nearing Mars, with the Hydra’s command intending to use its massive firepower to put an end to the Red Faction. Sam declares that they need support from the Marauders if their campaign is to continue, when Alec remains dubious, she reveals that she is a Marauder herself. The pair head to a Marauder stronghold to meet with their ruler, Vasha, Sam’s sister. Sam requests the usage of the Marauders’ particle accelerator technology, with plans to combine it with the Nano Forge, creating a weapon capable of destroying the Hydra. Vasha agrees to let the Red Faction use their technology in exchange for possession of the Nano Forge once the war is finished.
After capturing a broadcasting station and using it to regroup the Red Faction, Sam and Alec lead the remaining Red Faction and Marauders to a successful final assault on EDF Central Command. The two groups converge on Mt. Vogel to begin utilizing the Marauder’s accelerator, however, a surprise EDF blitzkrieg lead by General Roth wipes out the Marauders guarding the summit end of the accelerator and Vasha along with them. Alec storms the mountain with a modified missile-pod tank, defeating General Roth’s army and killing Roth. Sam’s plan succeeds and the accelerated Nano Forge is successful in vaporizing the Hydra, killing Admiral Kobel in the process. As the survivors of Mars celebrate, Sam declares the war over, but Alec knows that the EDF will come back. While Sam says that will be awhile, Alec responds with a confident “We’ll be ready for ‘em”. Alec and Sam approach the crowds of civilians gathered, and Alec raises his hammer in the air, showing the sign of the Red Faction and their long-waited victory.
Game Play
In Red Faction: Guerrilla, the player takes the role of a Alec Mason as he assists the Red Faction to disrupt and overthrow the Earth Defense Force (EDF) on Mars. This is presented to the player in a third person perspective, a departure from the series’ previous two games which were first person shooters. Developer Volition changed the camera perspective to help the player see and appreciate the surroundings as they are destroyed. Much of the game centers around the game’s Geomod 2.0 engine, which allows for buildings, cover, and other structures to be dynamically destroyed. In many cases, destroying buildings will leave behind salvage, the game’s form of currency, which can be used along with salvage rewarded by completing missions to unlock and upgrade weaponry and technology. During the campaign, the player is equipped with a sledgehammer-like weapon, along with up to 3 other weapons or explosive devices. The player also has the opportunity to control armed vehicles such as tanks and walkers for more destructive options.
The game plays in an open world representing a terraformed area of Mars’ surface. The world is divided into six distinct areas and the player must successfully free each area from EDF control before moving onto the next. Should the player wander into as-yet-unfreed areas, they will be attacked by EDF forces. The player can traverse on foot or by hijacking one of the numerous vehicles that travel its surface. Navigation is provided by a mini-map and a GPS indicator which directs the player. In order to liberate any given area the player must complete a variety of missions to reduce the EDF’s presence. At the same time, the player can complete various side missions, such as rescuing hostages, and delivering vehicles. Players may also be rewarded with salvage for completing these tasks. Other actions, such as letting civilians die, will lower morale, while actively killing civilians will lower morale faster. Should the player engage EDF forces in an area with high morale, civilians will likely join the fight alongside the player. Once the player has worn down the EDF presence in a sector to zero, a final mission will be available allowing the player to completely secure the sector. Once this has been completed for a sector it will be freely traversable, with little danger of EDF conflict.
Why I Like Red Faction Guerrilla
How on earth could I not love a game where everything I see can potentially be blown up? If I see an enemy in a building most of the time I don’t even take out my assault rifle. I take out my mines and place charges around the buildings support columns get into my vehicle, and as I drive off I blow that building up killing everyone in it. This also works out very well when you know you are going to get yourself into a sticky situation so you rig up a bridge to explode and as you get chased by the EDF you blow up the bridge after you cross it.
I could just be mesmerized by just how much I can destroy, and while for $60 I can’t say the game would be worth it. The online multiplayer is now non-existent so you are really just looking at the single player game. Well for $20 you definitely get your moneys worth and then some. Red Faction Guerrilla has been nothing but a great experience for me. There is literally never a dull moment and you feel like a complete bad ass while blowing everything and everyone up as you fight to liberate Mars.
Buy Red Faction Guerrilla
| Xbox 360 | PS3 | PC |
Buy It Now!
|
Buy It Now! |
Buy It Now! |
More From EmotionalNinja
- Final Fantasy XIII D-Day
- Battlefield Bad Company 2: Multiplayer Review
- How to build a cheap video game library
Loading ...