(originally posted on Mediawhorenetwork)

One of my first posts on MWN was an impressions post for the Red Faction: Guerrilla beta that was taking place at the time. At the time I thought It had potential but it still had a bit to go. Well the game has been worked on since then and so we come to April, where myTHQ users could sign up for free and get the new single player Red Faction: Guerrilla demo for free. Being the loyal, hard working myTHQ member I am, I quickly took that offer and have now been playing the demo for about a week before everyone else got it yesterday. So how does it compare with the beta I’ve played?

Well first off if you’re looking for story then you’re not in the right place at all. Red Faction: Guerrilla may be brainless action, but it’s fun brainless action. So the story is pretty simple. Basically you’re on Mars and part of the Red Faction, a rebel group who is trying to start a revolution against the cliche evil EDF (Earth Defence Force?). We are never told why they’re evil, but they are so they’re the enemy. You also have the help of the miners, who are sick of the EDF’s oppression but are too scared it seems to have their own revolution so it’s up to you and your fellow dirty commies to help them go Viva La Revolution on the EDF’s arses.


So the demo mission is to steal a walker for the miners. Should be simple right, so let’s get to work. Now the game’s main attention grabber is the physics and the destruction you can course and for once, when a developer says that you can destroy anything, they mean it. From bridges to portable loos, virtually everything can be destroyed it one way or another and boy is it fun. It gives you various options in your destruction too. Do you smash the toilet down with your mighty Moon Hammer or do you make a minuscule effort by using vehicles like the tank or the walker? Do you destroy a bridge with the hands of a walker or do you strategically plant bombs on the frames of the bridge? It’s great stuff and hopefully means that the final game shouldn’t get too repetitive.

So I’m going through the camp, hitting everything in the way with my hammer, or with a gun for the EDF drones, where the arguably weakest part shows in that the shooting is pretty generic really. The weapon changing system is also a little clunky with up to 4 weapons being available by pressing RB/R1 and the analog stick left, right, up or down. That being said the focus is more on the other toys than anything else. Eventually after I make my way through the camp, I reach the walker, and this is where the fun starts. The walker is one mighty of object of destruction and you can destroy so much with it that the game has to slow down a little just to keep going. The main idea that came from the game is that if you like destroying things, then this is the game for you.

So after getting the Walker to our vehicle, we’re onto the final section of the demo, which is a truck chase with you on the back with a big, awesome turret. It’s a good sign with this as it shows that the game might have more variety than just being on foot all of the time. After the demo finishes, I’m told I’ve unlocked hard, which is the same as normal except for a smaller health bar, and a trailer which promises a huge open map and up to 120 missions. This sounds pretty promising if it’s true repeated playthroughs did give the worry that the game might be a bit repetitive. The game also promises about 17 weapons as well, which should be nice for multiplayer mode. In conclusion, the positives outweigh the negatives and I’m a lot more excited about Red Faction: Guerrilla than I was before. That being said I think I’ll wait for a while when it’s released to see if the price drops. Red Faction: Guerrilla is out on June 5th for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. Viva La Revolution comrade!