Red Faction Guerrilla (2009)

Title: Red Faction Guerrilla
Year: 2009
Red Faction Guerrilla is the third game in the series which started way back in 2001. Back then the main hype for this game was the Geo-Mod technology where when you can blow up rocks and buildings and it will create a hole as an end result. It was revolutionary back then but only worked at specific parts of the game.
The first two games were first person shooters with some vehicular combat.
This third game however, is designed as open world 3rd person shooter, made popular by the Grand Theft Auto series.

In this game, you play as Alec Mason, a new employee to the mining facility in Mars controlled by the Earth Defense Force (EDF). After his brother was killed, he vows to seek revenge by joining a group of rebels known as the Red Faction.

There will be two bars which you will need to monitor in order to progress. The first one is the EDF presence indicator. This should be lowered down to zero by accomplishing main missions and side missions which include rescuing hostages, destroying EDF property and raiding EDF bases. The second one is the morale of the people in Mars. The higher the bar, more reinforcements will help you to accomplish your mission objectives.

There are very minimal RPG elements involved in this game. Money can be earned by collecting salvage from scrap metal collected from destroyed buildings. As you progress, various weapons and armour will be unlocked for you to purchase and upgrade. Although here are the usual weapons such as Assault rifles and pistols, you will soon grow tired of it after obtaining the unique weapons such as the arc welder which shoots bolts of electricity. This can be useful for stealing vehicles without damaging it by electrocuting the driver inside first. Another unique weapon and is part of the main plot if the game is a gun which disintegrate anything it touches.

Probably the main highlight of this game is the amount of destruction that you can do to buildings and vehicles. The most common weapon that you will use in this game is the sledge hammer as it is powerful enough to destroy any building and it kills enemy soldiers instantly with one blow. Due to the top notch graphics, it will leave a smile on your face whenever you destroy a building and finally seeing it collapse. Another highlight of the game is when you get to control mechs known as walkers which is a big robot that can bring down buildings and destroying vehicles in seconds.

In short, this is one of the better GTA clones out at the moment and one of the best games of 2009. Don't miss it if you are a fan of GTA and/or science fiction.

Rating: 8/10

Pros: Stunning graphics, absorbing gameplay, bonus downloadable content included in the PC version.
Cons: Un-involving storyline, needs a powerful PC to enjoy its beautiful graphics.

Troubleshooting Tips:
1. If you are unable to save your progress even after creating an offline profile for Games for Windows Live, you will need to update Games for Windows Live.

2. To increase performance, run the game, then go to task manager (Ctrl-Alt-Delete) and under red faction set priority to low.