Post by AdjacentKitten on Jun 17, 2009 5:22:03 GMT -5
Red Faction: Guerrilla Review (Xbox 360)
Game Summary
Red Faction: Guerrilla is the third game of the series, following up Red Faction II. The basic focus of Red Faction: Guerrilla revolves around the reformation of the Earth Defense Force into a particularly devastating enemy, even if they were your allies in previous games. Humanity's home planet is running out of resources. Seeking a solution, the Earth Defense Force is pressured into seizing the resources of their newly acquire planet, Mars, even if at the cost of the (mostly) peaceful Martian society.
The player character, Alec Mason, a demolitions expert that arrives on Mars to reunite with his brother Daniel. Along the course of the opening sequence, Alec finds out that his brother is involved with the newly formed Red Faction, and finds himself submerged into the Red Faction himself, even if he doesn't come willingly at first.
This game, in my opinion, is one of the more awesome games out there when you're looking for a good adventure (or anger) outlet. The Red Faction video game series has always been into destruction on some scale, but with the latest release of Guerrilla, the level of destruction has been raised tenfold. Seriously. You will never find a game like this in terms of destruction. I'm not kidding. Moving on!
Storyline
This game has a very tight storyline. It doesn't take much to understand this game if you're new to the series, but it really doesn't offer enough information to new players to truly grasp us into the plot. Although I believe veteran players will understand this storyline more, I'll continue on.
Red Faction: Guerrilla has a very strong plot from early on in the game. You're forced into Red Faction. The EDF has reason to suffer your virtual wrath. Along the course of the game, you'll find that the missions and side-quests increase a bit of depth into the main storyline. It slowly draws you in, and then it just goes further and further, getting better and better, until you reach the climax point of the story. Of course, just as all good things come to an end, the plot tends to dry up near the last twenty-five percent of the game.
Do not misunderstand me. This is just my opinion. I just don't think they finished that game correctly. They could have gone about that finale in so many different ways, and they just chose the classic ending to finish up such an awesome game. It was a design flaw in the end, but I guarantee the ending will not fail to disappoint. It just lacks the diversity most games attempt to feature.
Gameplay
Red Faction: Guerrilla is one of those impressive open-world games, filled with anything from desolate barrens to sprawling colonial cities. The only catch here is that anything you find can be destroyed, with the exception of the Martian landscape (rocks, mountains, dirt, etc.). Let me go further into detail here.
Your objective is to destroy a watchtower. You can virtually choose your own way of dispatching of this watchtower. There's always the sledgehammer technique, to batter away at the walls under the watchtower crashes down, although the recommended method would be to take your remote charges and set them up around the building. Take a step back and enjoy the fireworks (if you're not being fired upon yet), as the entire structure quite possibly tumbles to the ground, leaving a gigantic pile of rubble to rummage through for this game's version of currency, salvage.
It's quite unique when you look at the possibilities for gameplay. Although the game is quite linear mission-wise, the means to finish the mission will leave you feeling fulfilled. With your new found demolition experience, this game will quite possibly be the most fun you've had destroying anything.. ever. This game really makes you feel like your tearing down a dictatorship, "one brick at a time."
Weapons
Although the weapons of Red Faction: Guerrilla are no where near the standards of a game like BioShock, the weapons continue at aiming to please.
The weapons are split off into different categories according to their origins. A strange design choice, but easier for organizing. As I ease the attempt to cover up possible spoilers, bear with me.
The first category is based on Guerrilla-designed weapons. This category is comprised of mining tools turned specialized weaponry, with an assortment of distinct upgrade options to choose from. Although these weapons can be fun at times, each weapon is designed to carry out one purpose, but can be rigged to branch out into lighter tasks. At times, you'll be concerned with wasting your inventory space with such a one-purpose tool.
The second category is Earth Defense Force weaponry, captured or stolen from the various EDF forces you'll come across along the course of the game. These weapons are available in most video games, with options such as the machine-gun and plasma rifle available. You might find yourself using these weapons in a simplified way of killing enemy infantry, but they don't do much else.
The third and final category is the Martian-designed weapons, brought to life from the earliest colonists to reach Mars. These weapons are closer to modern-day weapons than anything found in EDF or Guerrilla possession, but they concentrate as a mainly anti-infantry category. With weapons such as low-tech shotguns and some sort of sharp staff, you'll find yourself using these only when the sledgehammer becomes too dull for you.
Vehicles
In Red Faction: Guerrilla, you might find yourself in need of a faster way of transportation in this red wonderland. Perhaps a vehicle would be your desired transportation? Indeed it would, and this game makes a decent attempt at fulfilling your needs. With at least twenty different vehicles in the game, all varying in type and origin, you'll normally find yourself behind the wheels of something.
Admittedly, the vehicles of this game are not quite as fulfilling as I wish they could have been, there's nothing like strapping a rocket launcher on top of a semi-truck to blow up some EDF structures. Vehicles play a minimal part in this game, sticking to a few vehicles for each faction, with the majority of them landing under the category of civilian-owned. The one great feature of this vehicle problem is how they introduce them. As you enter each area, you are presented with a new variety of civilian or faction-related vehicles, keeping the game a bit fresh as you work your way into the campaign.
Controls
There isn't much to say here, but I'll go for it anyways. The controls for Red Faction: Guerrilla are as open as can be.. they really don't restrict you in any way as they allow you to adventure the diverse setting they've created for you on Mars. There aren't many restrictions.. at all. You just can't explore the bottomless pits. Bottomless pits are bad.. don't drive your car into them.
Graphics
The graphics for Red Faction: Guerrilla really make you feel in the game. These graphics are exactly what you'd come to expect from a game on the Xbox 360. Although they don't come anywhere as close to as detailed as the Gears of War games or BioShock may have been, I can guarantee that those games never offered an open world either.
The most outstanding feature of this game's graphics is the attention to detail in characters, weapons and vehicles. Everything is extremely well done and I can quickly tell you there will be no disappointed Red Faction fans in the house, although the trained eye will be likely to spot some minor errors.
As you'd also come to expect from an open-world game, you may know that these types of games must dull down their standards to meet the performance levels of the Xbox 360 to make it playable. This make makes you wonder how such a game could have ever been playable on the Xbox 360. The thing here is.. they're very clever with the way they make sure everything runs smoothly. Smoke and mirrors, I believe is the phrase. Still, these mirrors are hardly visible to the average dude, and they have absolutely no effect on gameplay unless you consider an increased framerate a problem.
Long-story short, this game has splendid graphics. Nothing to be worried about when you're going around the game with a passion, for just for the fun of it. The graphics contribute well to this video game's total score. Guaranteed.
Sound
This game has no errors with it's voice-acting, nor does it have any difficulty realizing how emotionally devastating a building falling to pieces should be. They've hired true professionals for working on these positions, and I'm glad they did. Everything in the sound department contributes to the overall experience.
Voice-Acting
The voice-acting is flawless. You can really share a connection with the characters when they speak, even if the lines they say may seem to be a bit... alien. This subject was managed well, and I'm glad it all worked out. If only this could happen outside of the cutscenes as well.
The only problem I really noticed with the voice-acting was that when characters outside of a cutscene, as I said above. The voice-acting is perfectly fine, but the problem lies with the virtual lip-syncing with the character models. It just doesn't come together right, when it even happens. It is a small flaw, since most of this game you'll spend with your sledgehammer bashing in a building, but it just breaks apart the current mood when you notice it.
Sound Effects
The sound effects within Red Faction: Guerrilla are really great. They worked extremely hard on the sounds that come out from nearly everything in this game, but the highlight here would be the sound effects. The weapons, the collisions, the rumbling.. everything really clicked together.
As I said, the weapons have a realistic sound to them. Every weapon seems to have been thoroughly researched and thought over before entering the sound design stage. The machine guns sound right, and the explosions sound sweet. Nothing could beat that, right? Well, even if this is just my opinion, I believe that the amazing feat they pulled off here would be the sounds of a building collpasing upon itself. It really sounds like each brick is tumbling down and hitting one another as the structure is eventually a pile of rubble. It really gets your spirit fired up. Or maybe hat's just me.
Musical Score
The Musical Score for Red Faction: Guerrilla could have been better. Overall, it just could have been better. It feels like they just had an orchestra come in and revamp some older songs for those quiet moments, and then further add onto them with an almost techno sort of beat for extended fight scenes. It gets you into the game, but it doesn't dazzle anyone. Especially not me.
I'm not one to compare, but this would never be on the same level as the Halo musical scores. Those were brilliant and were full of excitement! These ones in Red Faction are a bit bland and tend to lack that same excitement injected into the Halo series.
Overall Thoughts
This game operates at a whole new level compared to previous games. Never have I seen a game so bent on destruction, that actually lets you carry through with those events you crave for.. the time when you can seriously destroy an important bridge just by bashing it up with your sledgehammer.
Yes, it gets repetitive sometimes, and yeah, the missions are not the highlight of the game, but the sole love of destruction should keep people going through when they feel wronged by this game.
This game is amazing. I would love to see a sequel, or hell, I'd love to see some downloadable content to follow up this game. It game deserves everything I say right here. This is an epic game, and even with some flaws, it demands a position in the destruction advocates' hearts.
Truly an awesome game.
Ratings
Overall Rating:
8.6/10
Storyline Rating:
7.8/10
Gameplay Rating:
9.3/10
Graphics Rating:
8.4/10
Sound Rating:
7.9/10