Red Faction: Guerilla

Red Faction: Guerilla is a third person open world action game that takes place on Mars. You play as Alec Mason, a miner who joins up with the Red Faction resistance group. They use guerilla warfare to try to disrupt the power of the EDF (Earth Defense Force) on Mars. The primary form of gameplay which differentiates the gameplay from other open world action games is the destructible buildings. Every building and object on the face of Mars can be destroyed piece by piece with realistic physics.

Zaukul's Review
Red Faction: Guerilla looks like a very generic game at first glance. You have a generic story involving taking down an oppressive government, and a standard group of characters who I don't really remember anything about, nor do I care to.

Despite all that, this game is awesome, and it's all because of the gameplay. This game is about blowing stuff up, smashing buildings, and causing mayhem, and it's a hell of a lot of fun. It's hard to explain how cool it is to smash up the bottom of a tall building until it crashes down with realistic physics. Smashing stuff is by far the most fun thing you can do in the game, and the developers know it. You're given a wide variety of tools to use to bring down structures, blow up vehicles and generally run amok.

Your progression through the game does a great job of giving you a large variety of situations and goals that almost all involve blowing up buildings, which is great. You also gather salvage, the game's form of currency, which you can use to buy new weapons and upgrades, more of which appear as you progress through the game.

I haven't finished the game yet or played the multiplayer, but I feel confident giving the game a strong recommendation. I can't wait to get back in there, as I just unlocked a new rocket launcher and can't wait to see what it can do.

Played in June and July 2009 and rated 4.