Red Faction: Guerilla - Demo Impressions True destruction or truly destroyed?

OXCGN writes:

Explosions. Fun, aren't they? While during this console generation, many action games have gotten far more tactical and precise. There's at least one that remembers the sheer joy of fire, smoke and Havok-powered ragdolls flying through the air. Is it any surprise it's coming from the same studio as Saint's Row 2?

[Immortal Kaim]

I loved the old Red Faction games. I'm actually looking forward to this next gen version.

[Superfragilistic]

Yeah I like the writers comments about how this game not taking itself so seriously. That its about FUN!

Something which Volition did a damn good job of with Saints Row 2.

Hopefully lightning can strike twice!

[gaminoz]

I think one of the first PS2 titles I got was Red Faction! Loved it. The second wasn't as good though.

Explosions are good if you get to explode neato things. Bad Company had great destructibility but the houses all looked the same outside and in.

[phosphor112]

If it is in the generation we are currently in?

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Can't wait.

[REALgamer]

I guess everyone's so used to the marketing terms of everything being 'next-gen' we've forgotten we're way into the current generation. =)

PR doesn't sound as impressive saying 'and here's our new current-gen game!'

[TheIneffableBob]

The destruction is certainly 'next-gen'. We haven't really seen anything like it yet, aside from the NVIDIA PhysX implementations, but those were primarily tech demos. Mirror's Edge's PhysX functionality was nice, but it was used primarily to give more "fullness" to the scene instead of making things that blow up look nice.

[Immortal Kaim]

Damn, I hate PR speak as well.... :)

Well, if you re-read my statement though, it is technically the next-generation version of Red Faction in comparison to the older games ;)

[phosphor112]

I mean, it's the "next-gen" version of the Red Faction iteration, but its just that the current consoles being supported are now "current-gen" because we are using it, next gen would be like..something running crysis split screen lol.

Anyway, still, point taken on next gen iteration of red faction..and once again, cant wait lol. I wanna blow stuff up.

[Superfragilistic]

And thought it was okay and certainly unique. But I still have my reservations about this one.

Although THQ seems damn confident when its already declaring a Red Faction 4! lol

[REALgamer]

IT shows they have faith in the franchise and are committed to it even before they see sales data of RF: Guerilla.

Volition are really becoming a great developer for games that ignore realism and simply focus on the fun, which is great since so many franchises are going for the more gritty style (eg; GTAIV).

[Superfragilistic]

Yeah I agree they're just making games that are guilty pleasures full of unimpeded fun. No pretences or BS about realism.

I am a bit worried about "the new direction" that Volition has claimed Saints Row 3 will go... hopefully they're talking about the location rather than the gameplay and themes.

[Calvin_ISA]

I don't see why people didn't like Red Faction II. The splitscreen with bots was some of the funnest gaming my pals and I have had. Creating and leveling up bots, the maps, the civilian character models, the guns, the levels, changing your name, and giving the bots wacky names like "Xylophoner" "*sshat" or "F***Head" made it something I'll never forget. To say it "sucked" is just saying you never *really* played the game. Sure, the campaign fell short of RF1's... But the splitscreen totally made up for it.

Personally, I ABSOLUTELY couldn't wait for RFIII (now Guerilla) until I found out it's 3rd person. That changes it SO much. I'll still give it a shot and I'm positive it'll be heaps of fun, but the 3rd person changes it a lot and might kill it for me.

They should give an option for first person, so RF vets can play it like it's predecessors. (: FUN FUN FUN. I want to play some RFII now, believe it or not. :P

[XboxOZ360]

When we went to THQ's Resident Evil 5 day, they had Red Faction: Guerilla there on two other screens . .I spent most of my time on those two screens than RE5 . . .

This game will surprise many with regards to what the style and level of destruction there is in the game, and the sheer fun it has.

[GrathiusXR]

Regardless of whether it garners negative/reviews or not this is one game that i shall be buying based on because it is so fun and having played Red Faction 1 + 2 of course im gonna play the 3rd in the series..

The BETA was surprisingly fun and enjoyable especially when you had a group of friends it was awesome fun..

I say the game will not dissapoint

[ballsofsteel]

to my surprise i actually did like the demo however my concern is if it will get old. the destruction is really cool and the gameplay is sold but i hope there more than just complete mission but destroying everything in your path. will wait for reviews

[XboxOZ360]

Personally I think way too many gamers do not give any games a decent amount of time to enjoy. They get bored way too fast, their attention span is simply too short and no matter what a developer does to satisfy them, it will never be enough or right.

SImply enjoy the game (any game) for what it offers, fun, variety and simple gaming enjoyment.

[gaminoz]

I guess Fracture had the gimmick of moving the ground around but the game seemed dull as. Good that this one might avoid that! And Mechs really do rule in these games!!!

[XboxOZ360]

I disliked Fracture no end, and was sceptiucal of this, especially after the kuffufl over ppl saying the game would not fit on a DVD9 or that the 360 would never be able to play the game.

I thought it would be cut to pieces. But we have played BOTH the PS3 and the Xbox 360 demos, and they are both the same, and the games is excellent.

It's not just wandering around aimlessly smashing stuff up. You have roles to plays, tasks to complete, you'll lose points if you injure citizens or cause unwanted damage that inflict civilian loss. You have timed missions and the need to get places without being seen . .

So it's not as dumb as many might think it is. It's just being played up as a great destructive style game, which it is, and more.

[Superfragilistic]

Fracture had a good idea... executed horribly.

[Kushan]

XboxOZ360 - That's proof right there that you shouldn't listen to what a bunch of fanboys say. On either side of the fence, they're just as bad as each other and, more often than not, full of crap.

[XboxOZ360]

Couldn't agree more mate.

We were given BOTH games to review (demos) as we have BOTH consoles at our disposal. We think both consoles are great yet simply chose one over the other due to 'personal preferences' . . So developers/publishers know we won't bag a title of theirs if its on theother platform - simply because it is.

Fanboys are the scurge of the gaming fraternity, no matter what side of the fence they reside on. We do not tolerate them on OXCGN, and any comments that could or would inflame others are simply not published. If someone can not discuss things in a civil tone and manner, we (OXCGN team) do not want them on the site - period.

Both games games rocked and no matter what platform you have, you'll walk away from this having had some solid, decent fun, and want to play it again and again.And after all, isn't that what we want from gaming . . . ?

[Godem]

Never played a RF title, maybe ill give this one a rent when it comes out.

[REALgamer]

A developer boasted about total destruction and actually DELIVERED.

I was a bit underwhelmed with the destruction in Battlefield: BC, the walls kind of broke as a whole and left static metal frames in place.

Red Faction 3 should hopefully be awesome when it comes in June.

[XboxOZ360]

Some of the BEST destruction was done in BLACK by Criterion on the Last Gen Xbox. A game well ahead of anything offered after it or before. You could shoot a window off in the distance, and if you hit it in the corner, the glass would shatter diagonally, in the center and it would blow inwards. Shoot a guy behind the door, he died . . dah, but whack in COD2-3 and try the same thing, no luck.

The next iteration of Black: Second Mission will ideally be out this year, and if the previous was any indication, it will set the bar even higher for others to follow.

[Superfragilistic]

That's what Bad Company 2 is for! lol

[psycho360]

@realgamer

DICE made some comments regarding leaving the structures. It was so that the game can still be played and not turn into a massive tank rush attack on enemy base and its game over. If everything is flattened out where would you spawn? Be in the shoes of the defender than see. We've had this kind of imbalance in BF:Vietnam, with 2 or more gunships rushing the enemy base and spawn camping till the tickets run out even though the building remained intact the enemies were taken down as soon as they came out in the open to fire. I used to do that a lot hahahahah, was one of the good pilots out there.

[divideby0]

RF games were great for their time.
I played in the closed beta for the new RF and it was pretty bad. Completely took the game off my radar...

[floppyfeet]

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

the destruction is tons of fun

and i played the beta and it was great

It will be the biggest sleeper hit of the year i think

[Allowen]

After playing real uber beautiful games on this gen like Bioshock, Metroid Prime 3 , Uncharted and Killzone2 it makes me thinkj that this Red Faction game looks like an old Atari console game ! LOL>

No offense , the game can be good and so but the problem to launch such thing in a console such PS3 that have games that graphicaly are 10X better..... gahh I did not liek the demo of the game I got with my Qore subscription.

[XboxOZ360]

Graphics are NOT the be-all-end-all of gaming . . look at some of the titles on both PSN and XBLA . .terrible looking games, but played for hours on end simply because of the - gameplay . . . which leads to the "funfactor" .. something a game needs to be a good game.

It can look like the next AAA Block buster movie visually, but play like crap . . . big deal.

In order to have things happen in consoles, no matter which one it is, corners must be cut. It's different on PC's, that's a given, but we are discussing consoles, not PC's. So given that, a developer must make a choice.

DO I make the game look like the next best things to the latest animated movie, with 'average gameplay and average AI? Or do I cut the BS, make a game that plays really really well, and do a decent job on the graphics, but not t9o the level of say BioShock etc.

I'd pick the gameplay any day thank you.

It's like buying a Ferrari with a Toyota engine or chassis (yes, they have been sold like that for film work) . . you get what you pay for, a shiny looking car that goes like crap.

[raztad]

@Xbox

None of the games Allowen mentioned play like crap, on the contrary all are pretty awesome games, graphic and gameplay-wise. I'd pick the gameplay and graphics :D any day. Good graphics provide a good atmosphere to the game.

I've read very good things about Volition games, Im even tempted to get Saints 2 cause everybody says it is an extremely funny game (unlike GTA4) but not very good looking. Lets wait, If RF turns to be good I'd pick it up instead of Saints 2. I hope its graphs dont make me regret it.

BTW, I dont see many crappy looking game on the PSN. Probably you mean PS1 ports. Most PSN PS3 games boast very beautiful graphs, art-style.

[Chubear]

Love the RF series and loved both RF1&2 ... but this game feels like a shadow of the series former self. Was not impressed at all and though it's a good game I'm not getting why people would see this title as a great game but dogg on games like Fracture or HAZE cause, from the demo, this game doesn't seem like it's got the same quality HAZE had and is more or less on par with the likes of Fracture.

Destructibility is nice but not 60 bucks nice so if someone can break down why this game is seemingly a better gaming experience to the likes of Fracture or HAZE I'd like to be enlightened cause I just don't get it.

[XboxOZ360]

So you have played the demo then?

Because if you haven't, and it is only available via Pre order as of 4-4-09 (yesterday) and NOT available from XboxLIVE until 23rd April . . then how can you judge it at all simply based on what others are saying based on what others are say, all of whom have not played it - yet.

We were lucky enough to play it a few weeks ago (BETA code which BTW was different to this final demo code. We were made fully aware of that when we got our hands on a few weeks ago in March, and were told in no uncertain terms NOT to call this - the BETA- a demo, as it was not, it was being worked on as we were playing the BETA).

We grabbed the cleaned up demo several days ago and the embargo only lifted at 12 midday 4th April . . . unless there's a lot of pirated copies out there, then not too many have wrapped their hands around it yet. Yes, some were given out as part of various memberships as well, which is why many join such things, I love em.

DO play it, you'll see a huge difference between fracture and this, and K+Haze is not in the same gameplay style . .The two are completely different . . so shouldn't be compaired really.

Pop Fracture in, play that, then load the demo, play that, that should answer your questions.

[nycredude]

I played the demo (i subscription to Qore on PSN and I thought it was alright. THe destruction is definetly nice as just about anything that isn't terrain can be leveled but the graphics averall is fugly and leaves alot to be desired. The mission in the demo is very short and has you infiltrating a base to seized back a mining machine that walks and has arms. I jumped in and pretty much leveled every building in the enemy compound, and some in the freindly one also. It was fun, in same way Mercenaries 2 was fun.

At the end of the demo it shows the map size and it was HUGE! Whether this game is good depends pretty much onthe types and variety of the missions. Definitely a mindless guilty pleasure type game.

Edit: I forgot to mention that the shooting was particularly weak, and the fact that I forgot to mention it tells you pretty much what I thought about it. Could be because I just finished Killzone 2 and Resident Evil so who knows.

[Chubear]

Look, I know the 360 crew desperately need a new shooter to get excited about but this game is pretty average. I have no clue why any one would buy this game at 60 bucks.

... and yes, I played the demo. I thought I made reference to that in my comment.

[ray6988]

i hope that they utilize the destructibility in saints row 3 that would be awesome

[Don_Frappucino]

Is it out on the store, and if so which countries?