If you didn’t get the chance to check out Red Faction Guerilla at NY Comic Con, you’ll get the chance on April 23rd when the demo goes live on Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network.
At first glance, Red Faction might seem like your typical 3rd person shooter title, much like Gears of War. However, in Red Faction, shooting is really a secondary thought in the gameplay. This title is about one thing only: environmental destruction. The engine was mostly custom designed to really show off the physics of a world based on total vandalism. It’s like Grand Theft Auto mixed with Gears of War, set in the future on Mars. Most of the mission objectives will require you to destroy certain objects or buildings to advance.
The demo won’t allow you to take advantage of the game’s real winning feature, the online multiplayer, but you will get a taste for what this game is about. You start with your hammer, bashing everything in sight as you salvage the wreckage to sell later. The hammer is really cool and will instantly remind you of the Hammer introduced in Halo. The only difference is, the Red Faction Hammer can destroy just about anything. You can take down people, tanks, buildings - the list goes on. You also have your typical pistol and assault rifle weapons, along with an assortment of explosives. Remote detonators and proximity mines are personal favorites here.
What I would have liked to see in the demo, which I didn’t get a feel for, was an auto-lock for aiming. Shooting purists may not need it, but your casual gamer may feel lost without it. Also, unlike Gears of War, you can’t cling to different parts of the environment to use for cover as you target enemies. This may have been left out because most surfaces were meant to be destroyed.
Be sure to check out our expanded coverage of Red Faction Guerilla. Click here for gameplay footage and the interview with Jeff Carroll from Volition Inc, the development team behind Red Faction.
Red Faction Guerrilla by THQ (Xbox 360):
Red Faction Guerrilla by THQ (PLAYSTATION 3):
Red Faction Guerilla hits the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in June 2009.
Also, check community.redfaction.com for information. They have the most there out of anywhere, which is great since its the official site.
Looks great. Definitely a rent (my policy for all games now), and possibly a purchase.
I just hope that it gets good reviews, and then better coverage as the release date approaches. If this undersells and is an amazing game…no sequel. Oh well.