Red Faction: Guerrilla

[XMEN Gambit]

Steam had a sale, and I picked up this game. Some of you may remember a LAN long ago where the first Red Faction game was played a lot. This is an improvement. I've not played multiplayer, but the single player game has a variety of objectives and vehicles, and lots and lots of blowing stuff up. Your first weapon is a sledgehammer. You can use it or a variety of other weapons (or vehicles) to destroy anything artificial (not landscape) on the map. Unlike the first game I've not seen a tunnel yet; it's all wide open environments. You'll get lots of practice driving vehicles, from little buggies to 4x4s, big rigs, APCs, tanks, walkers, and who knows what else. Some are armed and some aren't. It's not a stealth game: demolishing enemy buildings is as much a part of the game as taking down enemies, but a variety of weapons exist for both purposes - though I've not seen a sniper rifle yet. You buy upgrades and new weapons with scrap (which serves as currency) picked up from demolished facilities and as payment for completed objectives. The missions are varied - rescue hostages, protect your fellow revolutionaries from attack, steal vehicles, create diversions (heh heh heh), destroy facilities in a variety of ways, intercept convoys, and more. Some are required, many are optional, and there are always lots of targets out there if you just want to engage in a little vandalism and/or collect funds.
It is challenging and while there is a penalty for dying or killing innocents that sets you back, it won't necessarily compel you to engage in the save-and-reload cycle. But you can if you're a perfectionist since they don't use "only at checkpoint" saves. Good decision.

There's a thin linear plot but I've not got very far yet so it could thicken. Basic idea is that Martian colonists are being oppressed and you find yourself joining the revolution. The voice acting is adequate to decent and sometimes amusing (e.g. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way" from the enemy chasing you down). Graphics are not bad, a little dated, and I could wish for more configuration options.

Probably worth 10-20 dollars these days. Steam's regular price is $20 but it's still on sale for $5. Or as part of the THQ pack (which is a great deal at $50 and includes RF, Warhammer, Stalker, and Company of Heroes games).