Get your ass to Mars!
In 2075 the Ultor Corporation, one of many Mega-Corps practically running Earth, began mining operations on Mars to aid in Earth's increasingly desperate need for minerals. Many people emigrated to the Red Planet in hopes of becoming wealthy with Ultor's contracts but the reality on the ground was deplorable. Miners lacked basic necessities and were abused at the hands of Ultor's private mercenaries. To compound the trouble a plague began to afflict the miners and signs began to point back to Ultor as the source of it. It seems an Ultor scientist was using the miners to experiment with nanotechnology and the plague was a side effect. A resistance formed called Red Faction and under the leadership of a man named Parker they took up arms against Ultor. (This was the first Red Faction, a FPS) Red Faction was outgunned however and eventually they managed to get a distress call off to the Earth Defense Force who came to their aid. Together the EDF and Red Faction drove Ultor off of Mars and won their freedom. However, Red Faction was still basically a group of miner-colonists so when the EDF offered to help them establish themselves and provide security they gratefully accepted. The EDF did much for Mars, terraforming the atmosphere and helping restore the infrastructure.
2128- Times have changed on Mars. The EDF, once saviors, have become oppressors as Earth now relies on Mars more than ever for valuable minerals. Once again miners find themselves stripped of human rights, presssed into slavish conditions. When they protest the EDF cracks down into a police state. Red Faction is reborn. As the guerrillas begin to move towards more violent forms of resistance the EDF ramps up to full on atrocities; torture, indefinate detentions, slaughter.
Alec Mason is a miner by trade, a demolitions expert from Earth, but jobs on Earth are hard to come by so when his brother Daniel offers to set him up with work in the Parker settlement on Mars he accepts. Unbeknownst to Alec, though, Daniel has gotten involved with Red Faction and once they get settled he tries to persuade his brother to join. Alec refuses though, saying he just wants some honest work. However, on a salvage run, an EDF gunship locates and IDs Daniel and during an arrest attempt they open fire and kill him. EDF police capture Alec and accuse him of being Red Faction as well, ignoring the fact that he only arrived on Mars that day and cite his blasting charges as evidence of his involvement, despite his official EDF permit for those charges. The officer in charge summarily orders Alec shot as a resister; executed in effect since he's already in custody. Just before he's killed though his brother's Cell shows up and takes out the EDF. Alec is angry over the loss of his brother and blames Red Faction for all that's happened, including the fact that the EDF now considers him a terrorist. "They said I'm Red Faction!" he yells at the Cell leader, "Now you are." the leader replies.
This is where the awesomeness starts. Red Faction: Guerrilla is an open world game. The colonies are large and expansive and divided into six sectors. At the game start all sectors are 100% in EDF control. The goal is to liberate the colony, one sector at a time. Each sector has a number of objectives you need to accomplish ranging from Red Faction missions to simple sabotage to serious demolitions and assault. Often the best place to start is by taking out EDF propaganda; posters, billboards, and news kiosks. Next up are EDF property and each site is dynamic. Take out a barracks and the number of soldiers decreases, an armory and the quality of their weaponry reduces. Take out comm towers and their response time slows noticably. Periodically a call will go out to aid in the defense of a mining settlement under EDF assault. It's totally up to you to go and help or not. As you complete actions EDF control begins to slip and Popular Support begins to rise. As it rises some miners will join in the fight if they see you engaged with the EDF. This increases until it finally reaches mob proportions and the EDF is forced to pull out of the sector but beware; kill civilians or allow the civilians to be killed by the EDF and popular support will drop dramatically.
Equipment and upgrades are bought with salvage points gained from salvage collected from destroyed buildings and vehicles, from actually mining minerals found scattered about, and from completing missions. Equipment ranges from the trusty sledgehammer through conventional firearms and sticky charges to Arc Welders and powerful rocket launchers. Explosions are INCREDIBLE. The buildings are REAL, right down to the rebar and structural supports. Compromise the structural integrity and the building will eventually come down, never in the same way twice. Sometimes a damaged building will linger only to collapse when you least suspect it.
Direct combat is foolish. Alec is a miner and as such his aim isn't as precise as the EDF soldiers. As a guerrilla fighter this a game of hit and run. Effective strategy includes setting traps with remote charges, stealth and sabotage, and using sticky charges in concert with vehicles to create rolling bombs. You can load a truck bed with hydrogen canisters, attach a number of charges to it, and drive it full speed at an EDF fuel depot, diving out at the last minute and detonating the charges for a MASSIVE explosion.
Not every mission centers around destruction. There are some where you are asked to 'reacquire' mining assets confiscated by the EDF. Of course in such situations a well-timed distraction is helpful and once you have the asset, usually some form of heavy equipment, then all bets are off. Among the assets are large mining loaders a-la Aliens which can wreck staggering destruction against vehicles and buildings alike.
Multiplayer takes the form of common capture the flag missions but with a twist. Instead of just stealing a flag you must destroy a headquarters and keep your own repaired. Team Deathmatch is there as well but the BEST mode is a competitive pass-the-controller mode called Wrecking Crew which disregards combat for a timed demolition rally.
Overall I give Red Faction: Guerrilla a solid 9. The only thing this game lacks is depth and by that I mean the setting is great, but there's not much to do except fight. It would be nice if you could talk to people outside of the storyline, form posses for missions, relax in one of the numerous bars, attend a day job, play cards or some other form of mini-game. Don't mistake me, the setting is great. I spent about 10 minutes in real time just looking at Phobos in the sky, but there needs to be more of that. Something to communicate what life on Mars is like or something to do in a sector once you liberate it.
Red Faction: Guerrilla is available for PS3 and Xbox 360 and will be coming out later for PC as well.