by: Dameon White

July 05, 2009

While blowing stuff up is impressive, RF:G can’t simply rely on destructive mayhem to get you through the game. After all, there’s a story to be told here…sort of. Unfortunately, the same amount of enjoyment can’t be found within the game’s campaign. Completing missions will eventually lead to the EDF’s control rating dropping to zero. Once this happens you’ll be given a final liberation mission and completing it officially marks the land as Red Faction territory and progresses the story forward, which is told primarily through radio chatter and a few through cinematic. You won’t pay too much attention to the story because voice acting is pretty dull and uninspiring and almost everyone sounds the same as if being dosed with a very potent chill pill. What’s going on with Mars, EDF and Red Faction also isn’t too engrossing either and for the most part is pretty stereotypical of most resistance type stories you’ve heard before.

Each of the 6 zones is vaguely dissimilar and a few are great to behold, with excellent color saturation that makes for fantastic, artsy scenery. It’s the lack of life in the lands that diminishes the experience, though. There are tons of cars to hijack, each of which with their own unique properties, such as some armed with guns, others being heavy armor so they can withstand more damage and others being quicker and more nimble – the perfect getaway vehicle. While graphically the game is far from ugly, it’s not entirely breathtaking either. It’s a solid framerate experience with a few environments that are aesthetically pleasing. It’s mostly just the fact that they all feel the same that knocks the experience down a peg.

There are a multitude of side missions and challenges to partake in that you can use as distractions from the lackluster story, but most are nothing more than mindless tasks that take a big bite out of the fun factor of this game. A few, though, such as the explosive puzzle changes are engaging, requiring you to take down structures while having a very limited amount of ammo. They aren’t too difficult, but a few will throw a curve ball unless your major in school was architectural design. All in all, objectives will range from simple destruction to escort to eliminating a certain amount of EDF in a short period of time. Nothing too enthralling, but a few are challenging enough to make them feel rewarding, while the majority will just be mind-numbingly dull.

Red Faction: Guerrilla’s campaign might be lacking a little depth and polish, but what certainly isn’t lacking is the multiplayer experience. RF:G essentially takes a very sandbox, third-person action title and accelerates it further by taking the explosive mayhem that it does better than anyone and throwing it into the multiplayer pot. What essentially could have been nothing more than a run and gun online shooter now has multitudes of depth in that you can take full advantage of your explosives and other forms of structural damage to give you the advantage in a multiplayer battlefield. Set building traps, plan routes for escape by toppling buildings, or use the multiplayer’s added backpacks, which give you additional power in the form of healing, jumppack jets to jump father and higher, give you more destructive power and plenty of other things. Your typical game modes can be found, but you won’t find any sandbox title with as much online depth as Red Faction: Guerilla. Unique to the online experience is also a weapon that allows you to rebuild structures. So, in addition to trying to destroy your enemy base you’ll constantly be defending yours and trying to rebuild. The statistics and player tracking system is also phenomenal, complete with leaderboards, spectator modes, match creation/search options, player icons, and an incredibly deep statistic tracking system that keeps track of virtually everything you’ve ever done. Even for those not necessarily interested in jumping online there’s a Wrecking Crew mode for local multiplayer. In this mode you will play with up to four other friends, each taking turns, and try to wreak as much damage as possible in given time period. You can customize the maps, type of backpacks and weapons you can use and various other elements. Red Faction delivers in the multiplayer department by the bucketload and is one area that could have easily been overlooked.

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In the end, the lackluster and unemotional single-player campaign still doesn’t hurt Red Faction: Guerrilla enough to not recommend the game. If destruction is your thing, you won’t find a better game and the multiplayer adds layers to what could have become a once-around-the-block experience. While the story is lacking, player progress is still felt with an upgrade system that not only works, but makes a lot of sense and trying to find creative ways to destroy the environment both as quickly as possible but also with the maximum amount of damage or taking that element and trying to do the same in the multiplayer arena makes Red Faction: Guerrilla a game worth experiencing. Get your destruction on…and then some.

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