Red Faction: Guerrilla Catch-All

First off, EVERYTHING is destructible.

Really everything? Really really?

Word has it the PC version is being ported by a third party, much like SR2. X360 version is looking better and better. If you pre-order the 360 version at Gamestop you get 4 extra "wrecking crew" maps. Wrecking crew is a competitive multiplayer mode where you cause as much damage as possible in a given amount of time.

I do hope there's some sort of infinite-time sandbox mode. I want to set up some nice, intricate explosions.

Really liked the demo. Will buy.

The forums say that not all enemies are automatically hostile toward you, so it's possible you'll be able to use stealth (at least a little bit). Apparently they don't think it's all that unusual for a miner to be walking around with a sledgehammer so as long as you have that out and you aren't somewhere you're not supposed to be, they're less likely to open fire.

Chtulie wrote:
First off, EVERYTHING is destructible.

Really everything? Really really? ;)

Well, mostly (harmless) everything.

BTW, if your having trouble with the control config, I'd suggest switching to the 1st alt. control option.

With it, you pull up your gun's over-the-shoulder zoom mode with the L-Trigger and melee attacks are mapped to the R-stick click. It's a lot more intuitive that way, imo.

LobsterMobster wrote:

The forums say that not all enemies are automatically hostile toward you, so it's possible you'll be able to use stealth (at least a little bit).

Yeah, I was able to get pretty far on the map before people started shooting at me. Mind you, it kind of makes the game more difficult because you start being swarmed by guys you could have taken out one by one by that point.

Wonder if triggering hostile fire has anything to do with moving into "no trespassing" zones.

Aaron D. wrote:

Wonder if triggering hostile fire has anything to do with moving into "no trespassing" zones.

I specifically avoided those and still got shot at, while just holding the hammer. Whatever, I'll play it like Merc's.

Hot damn, I just played the demo and it is really cool. Consider my interest piqued.

This is the kind of game that cheat codes were invented for. STOP SHOOTING ME AND JUST LET ME SMASH THIS FENCE AND GIGGLE IN PEACE!

I'm really curious to see how good the multiplayer is this time around.

I remember getting pretty addicted to the multiplayer in the first Red Faction back in the day. Nothing like playing CTF and blowing a hole in a wall to get to the flag. The GeoMod engine really allowed for some different tactics.

Also curious to play around with the jetpack. Hopefully it will be reminiscent of Tribes.

Multiplayer will also add a weapon called the "reconstructor," which - as the name would imply - lets you reassemble destroyed structures. So you can patch that hole in the wall.

Last night I unlocked "Hard Mode" somehow. I don't know if it's because I beat normal so much or what. It didn't seem all that different from normal, except the chase at the end was slightly more punishing.

I was also cruising around in a stolen APC when it took one hit too many. It caught fire and I lost control, and as I went to bail out it ramped off a hill. I finally got out and landed on the hill while the APC landed right on top of this power station-looking thing and exploded.

Just played the demo through a few times. Tearing through buildings is a hoot.

Edit: This has quickly become my 'go to' demo for when Peggle seems to sweet and Lost Odyssey a bit too much work. All the mechanics in the game are very solid (the delayed mines set off with the B button are my favourite weapon.) The camera is very good. It's great when you are tearing through a building and the camera is squeezed in between the ceiling and the top of your vehicle.

I've stopped playing for now. The game comes out in a month and I don't want to get all destructioned-out.

nukacola23 wrote:

Liking the idea of the game and the destructible environment but I'm having a hard time with the actual shooting. Seems like the cover system is way too weak and I have no idea at time whether I'm in cover or not.

This was my experience too. "Hey I'm getting shot better get behind something. Hey I'm still getting shot, where did those guys behind me come from?"

It might be small consolation but in the full game you get much more health and armor.

Everyone on ListenUP this weekend had pretty much glowing things to say about RF: Guerrila. This'll probably be my first full-priced purchase since I got RE5 and Madworld on the same day back in March.

Blind_Evil wrote:

Everyone on ListenUP this weekend had pretty much glowing things to say about RF: Guerrila. This'll probably be my first full-priced purchase since I got RE5 and Madworld on the same day back in March.

That's part of my hesitation. I am already on the hook for UFC and Infamous coming up, and I'd like to do something this summer besides games.

Liking the idea of the game and the destructible environment but I'm having a hard time with the actual shooting. Seems like the cover system is way too weak and at times I have no idea whether I'm in cover or not.

I heard this on a podcast (can't remember which one) and wish I had said it first: destroying buildings feels a lot like Blast Corps for the N64 which was very satisfying.

Multiplayer demo hits on the 21st. Includes 14 unlocks but no word on if you get anything extra for the full game by playing it or anything.

Took a nice big bite out of the demo. I don't know if it's the game mode or what, but I think I'll be sticking to single player for the most part.

In the Damage Control multiplayer mode, the only one available, the object is to capture and hold three points. The "destruction" theme of the game is a little forced; you turn a point neutral by destroying it and capture it by repairing it with a "reconstructor." The problem is, it's REALLY easy to destroy one. You can do it in one attack if you hit it right. The destruction elements don't really come into play elsewhere. There are walls you can break through with very little difficulty, and structures you can go in (and on) but there are only a few buildings that make a difference to how the level plays except in very specific ways. Like if you're on top of a building and it collapses, you can't use that building anymore. If you were just standing next to it, it has no effect on you at all. The levels in the demo also include a good deal of open space that can't be smashed at all, which is a bit disappointing.

The weapons also need a lot of work. The hammer is basically the only weapon you need since it's a one-hit kill and hits a surprisingly large area around you. Just get in close, swing, and you probably just won the fight. So everyone just uses the hammer unless they have the missile launcher, which is kind of like a hammer you can shoot at people.

So the easy-to-capture points combined with the ubiquitous insta-kills mean that defense is pretty much pointless. It's easier to stay on the offense since if there isn't a point you could be attacking right now, there will be in a few seconds. You can apply a good number of custom rules which can alleviate this a bit; on one server, reconstructors were not default weapons so you had to actually find and pick one up before you could capture points. It slowed the action down to a more manageable pace.

The backpacks do set it apart a bit, but only a little. They're basically special abilities you can pick up. One lets you run fast, one lets you fly, one is a generic stealth camo deal, one creates a shockwave around you, and my favorite lets you charge through just about anything. The problem with that one is it almost always destroys a control point in a single hit, yet it's not as lethal to other players as a hammer (after all, nothing is).

When they said there were some 180 unlocks I was pretty interested but I've found that they have an extremely generous definition of the word "unlock." One "unlock" lets you get points for getting a kill assist. One lets you get points for a killing spree. That's right, you need to unlock ways to gain experience. Others include new character skins, new hammer skins, and new options for the style and color of the little badge by your name in the lobbies. You can't customize your weapons other than the hammer since that's all determined by the map, and you can't customize how your characters look other than picking immutable skins. If you were expecting CoD4-style create-a-class unlocks, you will not find them here.

Speaking of unlocks, you do get them quickly. I got 2-4 every round I played. It takes about 1,000 points to unlock all that are available in the demo, and it's not that hard to get 100 or even 200 points in a single round, even if you don't win. While it's nice to get all these carrots now, there's no way you'll keep getting them at that same rate and I don't know if grinding an hour so you can use a new icon in lobbies is really going to motivate me. Your mileage may vary, since I know some of you unlocked everything in CoD4 2, 3, 4, 10 times to get pretty little icons by your names.

What I didn't notice was lag. Even though the levels are sparse they still do have stuff collapsing all over, so silky smooth multiplayer on the day the demo launched is pretty impressive. I also never had any real trouble getting into a game and the auto-join screen is surprisingly informative. It tells you how many servers it's found and goes through them one by one trying to connect. If it fails, it instantly tries the next but shows a little message next to the server number to let you know why it failed, which could be helpful in diagnosing connection problems.

All told, it feels like a generic multiplayer version of a singleplayer game. Not bad but nothing spectacular. Maybe the other game modes will be better.

Hello all, my first post (I think). I have to strongly disagree with Lobster on this one. I had an absolute blast (Groan) in MP last night with a buddy. Blowing a building up which then crushed an enemy to death? Planting limpets on the support legs of a building, blasting it and watching it topple with enemy players inside? And all silky smooth with no noticeable lag; very impressive.

Approaching a well defended enemy position with 4 other players with jump packs, all jumping over the hill together raining down various types of death... it just felt like Tribes again. And that's saying something.

Back packs
The obviously decided that cover in MP was kind of useless - since it could be destroyed so easily - so went for back packs. I tried stealth (great effect - stealth + hammer = fun), rhino (short burst; great feeling of power when you activate it), jet pack (TRIBESSS! Vertical tactical advantage can't be over stated), concussion (KO enemy, ripe for a beat down), fleetfoot (a speed on, great for flag runs).

Weapons
Um, hammer? It's a melee device; if you get that close you SHOULD be using the hammer. It's kinetically enhanced, it's part of the back story. However, if there's 10ft+ between you and the enemy you better have a fricking gun. The guns in my opinion are great; the sniper provides a red outline when the enemy is behind cover (great for intel), the peacekeeper (shot gun) is good at medium range. The rocket launcher is a blast. I had a great moment with the SMG; an enemy jetpacked over my head and behind; I tracked and took him down as he went - he landed in a heap behind me; top stuff.

It's worth mentioning the constructor. You don't just use it to rebuild the control points; you can use it to rebuild anything. A defensive wall been knocked down? Rebuild it with the constructor. An awesome effect too.

Engine
Jaw dropping, smooth and silky - how they get this tech to work - let alone over a network - is beyond me. Totally fantastic. Shooting a gas barrel and watching it blow out the side of a building is NOT going to get old.

UI
Perhaps a little cluttered, but it did make the status of the game very clear; and for some reason the big ass UI in the top right didn't detract from play much. Hmm... maybe I should always attack someone from their 2 o'clock?
There is clearly auto-aim, which some consider nasty - but I kind like it. Head shots appear to count, so players with more skill will benefit over numpties like me who rely on the auto-aim a little more.

Maps
21 maps? That's impressive in a launch title. They probably just took areas from the open world; but even so, big thumbs up.

The MP "wrapping" (lobby, party support, unlocks) are just icing on the cake.

Pre-ordered!

I'm really wanting to give this a shot, the multiplayer looks pretty fun to me.

PS: Madfish is not a plant, sometimes new people just like things. I know, how dare they.

I found the demo quite hard at first, failing out 7-10 times. The endless waves of enemies made it so that I had to keep moving and taking things out on the go instead of tactically taking out groups of enemies and clearing large areas. I guess playing Far Cry 2 had me in that mode of scouting, gameplanning, and taking out each enemy before moving through to the next area. This was completely opposite--although not necessarily bad.

I was pretty well sold by the single player demo, and damned if I'm not super sold by the MP demo. Sorry Lobster.

I try to approach games with a "review what's there, not what isn't" mindset, so the lack of create-a-class (maybe it's a later unlockable?) isn't really a big deal. People sure seemed to enjoy L4D and TF2 without it (not me, ironically).

I agree with Madfish on most points. I usually don't preorder stuff, but I might if there's a cool bonus...is there? >.>

Yea the multiplayer seems pretty damn fun. The first time I took out a camping sniper by taking out the foundations of the building he was camping the roof of was just awesome.

There's no demo for us PC gamers so I hope they'll give me an incentive for a day one purchase. You know, besides being a good game. The multiplayer is definitely the most attractive thing about RFG to me. The variety is so crazy. I can see myself playing for years, much like tf2 or l4d.

I'm really looking forward to this. I've been playing a lot of Infamous (which is really good) and I think i'm ready to start running through buildings instead of climbing over them. Plus I just found out I had a bunch of reward points on my credit card so I bought this and no more heroes with them.

Mercs 2 was one of my favorite games last year even though parts of it were borderline broken. Mercs 2 + Total Recall sounds like a perfect game. Sometimes you just need to wreck s***.