The main campaign of Red Faction: Guerrilla has received its fair share of accolades, chief among them our suggestion that it's one of 2009's most intense, satisfying experiences. The majority of its appeal comes not from story or character, but from using guns, missiles, trucks, even walking mech-tanks to annihilate buildings in the most destructively gratifying manner we’ve ever played. Very few games offer the primal satisfaction of firing up Guerrilla and, quite literally, "breaking shit."

Above: So, so satisfying

That's all Demons of the Badlands offers - more shit to break. Oh, there's a bit of background story about the main character's gal pal (Samanya, for those eagerly waiting for a name to drop), but honestly, no one cared a lick about the story in the first place. For ten bucks (that's 800 Microsoft goof dollars) you'll get about four hours of gameplay stretched through 11 instances on the map, none of which are new in any way. Defend this, liberate that, drive this back to base, destroy that, etc. Sadly, six of the 11 actions are super-demanding demolitions tests that had us ready to chuck the disc straight to Mars.

Above: Samanya, who was apparently a redhead before the main game

We know the core game is fun, that's undeniable. But, there's so much to do on the main Red Faction disc (even after beating the game), you should only grab this if you really, really want more buildings to break. It's too similar to the game you already paid for, and neither the three new vehicles nor the seven new weapons do anything to change the way you approach any of the tasks. The only tangible difference is how quickly the oppressive EDF forces jump on your ass - instead of waiting to see what you do (as in the main game), here they know you're up to no good and shoot on sight. This makes a few outings (namely the final story mission) excessively tough because you have almost no time to prepare for the onslaught of EDF thugs. This is of particular concern given Guerrilla's already notable high difficulty.

Fun, yes, but only worth paying for if you've exhausted the many missions on the disc, because that's all you're getting - more of what you already played.

Aug 25, 2009