Red Faction: Guerrilla

Martian destruction looms

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THQ have wanted to bring it back for some time, and after clamours from fans, and enough idle gossip from the press to sink a battleship, we find ourselves in a behind-closed-doors preview session with Volition's producer, Rick White.

I arrive to the briefing late and flustered, but despite the mid-afternoon malaise I'm instantly taken by the in-game footage unfolding on the screen in front of me. Epic, rolling terrain, lightening-fast action, the martian surface splattered with claret while vast structures crumble like towers of cards. This is Red Faction alright, but not as we know it.

Gone is the PC focus and the first-person perspective, instead Volition are offering up a third-person 'next-generation' console game, which THQ clearly hope can compete with the best the genre has to offer. A word on the perspective from Rick, first, who assures us that third-person really honestly is the best way to play Red Faction, but also concedes that the developer are considering including the first-person perspective in the PC build (although he also muses that this could be a waste of time, given that gamers are expected to prefer the third-person angle anyhow).

Undecided elements aside, and Red Faction: Guerrilla (the name alone suggests a break from the series' cannon) is looking like a game that's knows what it wants and how to get it. Unusual, detailed vehicles are one of the first things I notice as we are guided through one of the game's early levels. It's a mining 'walker', adapted by the game's titular guerrillas for use in Martian combat with the formerly-heroic-turned-villanious EDF forces. Yes, a lot has happened in the time since Red Faction last graced our monitors.

All but gone are the deep, claustrophobic mine interiors that were a trademark of previous titles, instead, Guerrilla draws the focus onto vast, sprawling other-worldly landscapes. Early in the game, these lands will look much like the surface segments from the last title; all barren, red, rolling earth. But as you progress through the game's story and begin coming across terra-formed regions of Mars - you'll start noticing browner, earthier soil, and, after a while, plant-life and vegetation. We were taken on a tour of these levels, Rick at pains to point out that Volition hope to make these areas of the adventure far more vivid and diverse than they are in the present pre-alpha code. The producer also assures us that a splash of colour is fine, the title not designed to obsess over realism.

If you've yet to be inspired by anything I've described thus far, sit tight, because Red Faction: Guerrilla's real reason for being is just around the corner. Boom!

Yes, the new Red Faction is all about the destruction; and by god if the explosions aren't a thing of shimmering, flaming beauty. Yes, all the game's structures and vehicles can be detonated and pummeled into varying unrecognisable contortions. There's also options on this front. Want to take down that seven storey-high bridge construction? Perhaps you should assault it by robotic arm via one of the walker vehicles. Alternatively, you might consider a just as subtle 'lobbing grenades' approach, until the supports give way sending the entire erection tumbling in a cacophony of wonderfully-realised destruction. Or you could just swing at it for ages with a hand-held sledgehammer. The choice is yours.

Either way, when these buildings go, they really go. Beware falling masonry (smaller bits will gravely injure, bigger chunks will kill, apparently), and note with delight how just about everything can be reduced to rumble under abuse from your diverse arsenal.

This is no flash in the pan, however. Red Faction: Guerrilla also has a few tactics worth noting, a couple of which are tied to the new day-night cycle. This might see you attacking enemy outposts by cover of darkness, safe in the knowledge that it'll be less secure. Start kicking the EDF out of key areas and the local populous will also get a morale boost, and may help you later if you return to their neck of the woods. That's the guerrilla way, and its all wrapped-up in a freedom fighting plot; you assuming the role a fighter out to avenge the death of your brother and the theft of your land by taking down the EDF's regime on Mars.

Beyond the frolics of the plot, and the outright glee of the violent destruction you can unleash, we're also told to expect a lot more variation than in previous Red Factions. Gameplay, for example, will be mixed up somewhat via the injection of the Badlands region (an area of Mars where the terra-forming has gone wrong); which Rick teases may contain some fearsome night-loving enemies to be keeping an eye out for. The game has six unique areas in total (including a closing section culminating on some snowy mountain tops, we're told), and there will be 22 main missions (plus side missions) to deal with. In total, we're expecting in the region of 20 hours of gameplay, based around a new plot; which will still titillate the hardcore fans thanks to a few references to past stories.

Multiplay will, unsurprisingly, be a key element of the new Red Faction, and while Volition aren't revealing too much, Rick White does admit that cross-platform play between the Xbox 360 and PC was originally on the feature-list. That said, the option has been culled for now, although there's clearly a will to see it happen still, the developer admitting the feature could yet make a shock return.

With the all-important combat already looking razor sharp, we're now just looking to see how well this blends with the liberation plot, and the mission structure. The physics and visuals are all of the highest next-gen order, and with the environmental interaction looking staggeringly good, alongside some interesting environments and thoughtful design decisions, we're very much looking forward to seeing Guerrilla evolve between now and its February 2009 debut.

By Luke Guttridge