Is there life on Mars? Disappointingly, yes. Red Faction: Guerilla released in Summer 2009 and was my first game in the series. This series features great destruction physics that let you destroy buildings. Blowing up buildings or smashing them down with your sledgehammer is so fun and satisfying, it saves this game from being a forgettable one.
Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad game, it just could be so much better. I think it had huge potential that failed to deliver, too much focus went into the destruction, which is the only thing that's really good in this game. I'm yet to play Armageddon which was released after this, but if RF ever came back with the destruction and a more solid story and characters, I believe it could thrive.
Onto the game, you meet up with your brother on Mars (oh yeah, it's set on planet Mars) and you quickly discover that things aren't too swell. The EDF have pretty much taken over and the Red Faction are the resistance that are trying to liberate Mars from their control. Standard story really, except there are no characters. There's a couple named people, some only feature in cutscenes, in which there are only about five total, some can only be heard and some pretty much just suck. Alec Mason, who you play as is probably the best character. He's not really that good though, he's boring really, but he's the only one you ever see. The story is short and the missions are boring. You have to do around three missions to liberate each sector of Mars. The missions are basically hijack this, destroy that, not very interesting at all.
So, apart from the boring story and bland characters what else do we get? Well, we get the empty, dismal planet Mars to explore. There's literally nothing to look at, just rocky mountains and sandy roads. The driving is good and the amass of unique vehicles to drive makes for variety, but driving around is made even more boring when there's no radio or no music playing, you're literally driving around a deserted place with nothing but the sound of your car. You can get a walker which is a machine you can enter that has legs and arms and are a fun way to destroy buildings and enemies quickly. The graphics are very average, the buildings all look the same and the characters that do barely appear are boring or annoying. A lot of work is needed for character development and more cutscenes and story content is definitely needed.
The gun play wasn't to my liking, I hated getting in gun battles and the EDF had a specific gun that felt over powered as it could send your car flipping as they shot it. Thankfully the sledgehammer saves the day, it's powerful and fun to use. The enemies are annoying though as they're constantly running away, leaving you to chase after them. There is a vast selection of weapons including remote mines that you can tactically use to take down structures and plant a few at once, there's also a rocket launcher and land mines. The nano rifle is the most memorable though, a gun that can disintegrate buildings, vehicles and even enemies. The AI are stupidly annoying as they will get in your way and even run you off the road, they're so annoying and even when they're talking, they're not adding anything but more annoyance. They do join you and help you out when you're in a tough situation against the EDF and they even drive a car over to you when you're running on foot for a certain distance. These were nice touches to an otherwise useless group of friendlies.
However, there is a decent amount of content here, there's plenty of side activities which go from destroying buildings, attacking EDF locations, defending bases from assaults and many more. There's also a multiplayer that seems out of place, but it can actually be pretty fun. It has a bunch of backpacks that give off certain boosters like sprinting or shaking the screen to make shooting difficult. It has a bunch of modes to try out and there's also Wrecking Crew, which lets you destroy buildings in creative ways with some friends.
I hate to diss the game, but after playing it all the way through I have to. If it wasn't for the fun of destroying buildings I probably wouldn't have liked it at all, there is so much potential here but with THQ absent these days, there may never be a chance for this potential to be unleashed. I really hope Armageddon can redeem this as that could be the last we ever get in the series. There is life on Mars, I just wish it was a little more lively... and also green! Where were the little green martians?!
6.8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment