Red Faction: Guerilla

It's been a good seven years since the last Red Faction title and the appearance of Volition's own GeoMod technology. Allowing players to drastically alter their surroundings in their efforts to liberate oppressed Martian miners from the clutches of the evil Ultor Corporation, the engine promised players the freedom to explore areas anyway they wanted and to defeat enemies in unique and dynamic ways. However, the technology was sadly underused and not quite as revolutionary as we were lead to believe.

So it's nice to see its return in Red Faction: Guerilla, albeit in a modified form. 50 years on from the events of Red Faction II, the saviours of the workers, the Earth Defence Force, have broken their promise to free the miners, instead enslaving them under a regime of exploitation, cruelty and dictatorship. Alec Mason heads to the red planet to lead an honest, if harsh, life with his brother Dan, only to discover that his sibling is a member of the Red Faction, the group dedicated to the liberation of the oppressed miners. The story follows Alec's ascension up the Faction's ranks as events unfold, eventually gaining the position as voice of the people.

This emancipation is carried out via a series of missions, usually involving the assassination of EDF officials` or the destruction of certain structures. This is where the new and improved GeoMod 2 engine comes into play: doing for buildings what its forerunner did for environments, the technology ensures that every structure you destroy, whether it be ramming it with one of the game's many vehicles, blowing it up with satchel charges or smashing the foundations with the hammer, the sight of the somewhat flimsy buildings buckling always comes with a feeling of immense satisfaction. The devastation on offer here certainly gives other destructable environment games, such as Battlefield: Bad Company, a run for its money.

It's not just the main missions that open up opportunities for mass destruction. Guerrilla tasks dot the vast map, varying from rescuing prisoners from EDF compounds to intercepting couriers, so you're never at a loss for things to do. Getting to these locations can occasionally get tiresome, sometimes putting large distances between you and your destination. A nice infinite sprint function is in place though, as are fast, floaty cars that are fun to drive, alongside the numerous mech walkers you can commandeer, so getting to places isn't too much of a bother.

The weapons are also a whole load of fun to use. Even the most mundane weapons are heavily powered, meaning that dispatching foes with a pistol is just as fun as with the more exotic Nano Rifles or Grinders.

The single player is bolstered by a deeply comprehensive multiplayer comprising of several different game modes, ranging from standard deathmatches to variants of domination, taking place over several maps. Alongside the huge amounts of destruction found in the main game, backpacks add some strategy to proceedings, and with massive amounts of customisation and unlockable content, the multiplayer is as absorbing as the main story mode.

If you fancy yourself a paragon of the people, or you just want to blow stuff up, Red Faction Guerilla satisfies both needs well. You'll want to see the story, spiked with a couple of shocking plot twists, through to its conclusion, and the side missions and multiplayer modes on offer will see you playing this for a long while after its tale has been told. There's never been a better time to join the revolution and smash authority.