Red Faction: Guerrilla Wrecking Crew Multiplayer Hands-On

THQ's Gathering of Developers event was held this week, and one of the biggest titles on show was Red Faction: Guerrilla. While developer Volition’s latest open-world action game already has an extensive multiplayer mode, the team has also thrown in a single-console multiplayer mode called Wrecking Crew. While technically offline only, it does support online leaderboards for bragging rights, and we were able to try it out firsthand.

The goal in Wrecking Crew is the same as in many other pass-the-pad modes: you take turns and try to accumulate the highest score. In the case of Red Faction, you do this by causing as much destruction as possible within the allotted time. A damage score is automatically calculated during each round, and the person who has caused the most amount of destruction at the end wins. Wrecking Crew has four modes: Total Chaos, Escalation, Barrel Dash, and Rampage. Total Chaos is the default mode and consists of 60-second rounds with unlimited ammo. Escalation gives you limited ammo, but as the rounds increase, so does the ammo you can use. The aim of Barrel Dash is to blow up as many red and blue barrels as you can within 60 seconds. Finally, Rampage gives you a generous three minutes, but every time you use ammo or your jetpack, the time is reduced by around 10 seconds. Rampage requires you to think more strategically than the other modes, because every action has greater repercussions.

Jumping into a game is simple--you just have to select from a few basic options or set most of them to random. You'll need to choose the map, weapon, mode, and number of players before starting, but those who want more specific control can tweak how easily buildings will collapse and whether to have barrels in the mode. There are eight weapons at your disposal, including the sledgehammer, the grinder (which propels circular blades through the air at high velocity), rifles, rocket launchers, and the all-powerful thermobaric rocket. If you're looking to inflict the maximum amount of damage, the thermobaric rocket is your weapon, and it can easily take down a tower or half a building in a single round. Backpacks also make a tactical difference to the game. Smashing through walls with a sledgehammer and using the rhino backpack help to decimate buildings in seconds. You can also use the jetpack to rain down explosives from above.

The map you choose will likely determine what weapon and backpack you'll want to use. Complex is a small map consisting of several tightly packed prefabricated buildings perfect for close-range demolition. The Watchtower and Vista maps, on the other hand, have several towers and buildings spaced farther apart, making explosives more suitable for the job. If you prefer using guns, such as the energy-based gauss rifle, you can still make light work of buildings by targeting the strategically located barrels around the maps. Factory has three split levels, with a combination of towers, small buildings, and a huge hangar. Cascade was one of our personal favourites. It features a huge sinkhole in the middle, surrounded by many tall structures. There are also several bridges and pipelines running across the chasm, which help to boost your total when the towers collapse onto them.

The best map for showing off the string of damage you can accumulate is the aptly named Pipeline. It features an obscene number of crisscrossing tubes at various heights, and by taking aim at the top, you can maximise the destruction when they collapse onto lower structures. Only man-made structures can be destroyed, but at the end of each round, damage is accumulated for a 10-second period, meaning you can pick up some last-second points after the round is over.

Red Faction: Guerrilla is heading to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in just a few weeks, and Wrecking Crew looks like it could be perfect local multiplayer fodder. For more senseless destruction, take a look at our gameplay videos.