Red Faction: Guerrilla Preview

And the walls come a'tumbling down.

The year is 2208. It's been 50 years since the liberation of Mars from the oppressive Ultor Corporation. However, the mining opportunities on the terraformed planet are still lucrative, and in the intervening time, the Earth Defense Force has changed its stripes.

Once allies of the miners, the EDF has stepped in to fill the power vacuum, and power... well, power corrupts. Walmart The miners are once again routinely abused, their profits stolen, and people who complain are routinely “disappeared”. Unfortunately for Alec Mason, his brother gets the "disappearing" treatment right in from of him, execution-style. But Alec luckily manages to escape thanks to the newly reformed uprising Red Faction.

Part freedom fighter, part terrorist, part scavenger, and all parts destruction, you fight the EDF for the liberation of Mars. Don't think it will be easy, however, as not everyone agrees with your ideology. As you take on missions and challenges, or just destroy EDF buildings and killing their soldiers, the civilians of Mars gradually come around to your side. As the local morale increases, miners will even begin to pick up weapons and fight alongside you. Be careful, though, as civilian losses mount, the morale and thus control of the territory can veer towards the EDF instead.

As morale shifts, more missions open up, allowing you to eventually completely liberate territories from the EDF, one by one.

All of this works through a vast open-world system. As if in GTA: Mars City, you have access to dozens of mining and military vehicles to get around. Civilians sympathetic to your cause offer their vehicles, although they sometimes ask that you try not to crash it this time, while EDF jeeps and tanks can be classically 'jacked.

Once you have some wheels, there's plenty to do. There are kidnapped miners to rescue, supply convoys to disrupt, EDF soldiers to gun down, and of course, buildings to blow up. Armed with mining charges that can be remotely detonated and an arsenal of other weapons (including your trusty pneumatically-powered sledge), you can destory every structure in the game. Because the Red Faction really, really hates infrastructure.

And the buildings don't just crumble, they come toppling down in a relatively realistic physics model and can crush vehicles, people, and even other buildings. Nothing is as scary as being inside a building, taking out a couple support pillars, when suddenly you hear the groaning, straining, popping of immanent collapse. You'd better run for the nearest exit and pray.

There's an upside to all this destruction in the form of scrap, the underground currency of Mars. With scrap, you can buy new weapons or upgrade the ones you have in the safe haven of your rebel camps.

Unlike Red Faction II, Guerrilla will feature a number of online multiplayer modes, which features even more weapons. In addition, a variety of special backpacks can enhance your abilities. Increase your firepower and empty some clips, or beef up your speed to run in and smack 'em with your hammer.

Get ready to rise up against the man, because Red Faction: Guerrilla comes to a planet near you on June 9.