Way back in 2001, which seems like a lifetime ago now, I was fortunate enough to cross paths with a game that came out of nowhere and surprised me with its excellence. Featuring solid first person shooter action, a massive campaign that took you across the surface of Mars, a range of weapons and convincing AI enemies who were very satisfying to kill, Red Faction was already a great shooter in its own right. However, when you factored in the at the time revolutionary Geo-Mod technology, which allows you to blast through walls, ceilings, floors and objects in order to carve your own path through each location, it was elevated to greatness. Red Faction II inevitably followed, perhaps too quickly at the end of 2002, and while it featured better graphics, it lacked the atmosphere of its predecessor and consequently proved to be a reasonable but disappointing follow up.

I was surprised to hear of Red Faction's return nearly seven years after the sequel, and intrigued to see how the developers would evolve the concept and move the series into the next generation. What they've created is far more than mere evolution, however; they've gone back to the drawing board to create a game that is shaping up to be something very special, rebuilding everything from the ground up so that all Red Faction: Guerrilla really shares with its predecessors is its Mars setting and the Geo-Mod concept.

Upon loading the demo, my first impression wasn't good; the opening intro movie is of the old school variety, featuring a cliché-ridden voiceover delivered in that familiar, deep, gravel-like tone. The action looked okay but even some fairly spectacular set pieces seemed uninspired, while the standard 'liberate the workers from the oppressive government' storyline is old hat by now to say the least. However, once I was into the single mission that the demo offers, all was forgiven. The mission you're charged with is to liberate a walker - a large, two-legged machine with mighty arms that can be swung for devastating destruction - and while the mission itself is hardly original, the way in which you go about completing it certainly is.

In an era where many shooters are criticised for forcing you down a single path, with their few multiple routes giving only the illusion of choice, Guerrilla offers true freedom in a graphically spectacular open-world environment. Forsaking the first person view of the older games, Guerrilla utilises a third person view to give your identikit everyman hero a bit more personality. The movement is solid and the crosshair accurate, allowing for satisfying gunplay as you blast your way through the troops in your path.

Upon gaining control of my character, I went about hacking down some civilians with my pickaxe (you're trying to liberate various colonies of miners) and was immediately informed that morale had dropped, while other nearby civilians fled in my path, reacting in a convincing way to my unwarranted assault. I was not prepared for what happened next, though; I ran towards a building and swung at its wall, breaking right through with a couple of swipes to create my own entrance. A few explosive charges later and I had levelled the entire building, blowing chunks from its walls and ceiling until the whole thing came crashing to the ground. Now that is more like it! There are no set graphical routines here, either; you can destroy any part of pretty much any structure, with masonry exploding outwards in spectacular fashion.

I was even more surprised when I was able to hop into a heavy duty vehicle and just blitz my way all the way through to the walker, running down troops, barraging through blockades and smashing through the front door of the garage where it was secured. In a later replay, I took an entirely different approach, sneaking around via a less direct route, blowing up the foundations of a bridge to bring it crashing down, taking cover behind walls and buildings as I worked my way towards the garage, blasting down enemy troops and snatching up the ammo from their discarded guns. The open world is very convincing, a versatile environment that allows you to approach your task in whatever way you see fit. There are no invisible barriers, either; if you wish, you can go in the opposite direction, hijack a passing vehicle and drive away from the walker, at which point a countdown begins and the mission ends if you abandon your cause and do not return to the mission area in time. This is another excellent design choice, which makes the open world playground that much more believable.

Once I was into the walker however, things got even more exciting. I charged out of the garage, wreaking a path of havoc and chaos as I smashed armoured vehicles out of my way with ease, knocking them flying through the air or hammering my heavy arms down to blow them to bits. I crashed my way through multi-tiered structures, bringing them down in a shower of dust and rubble behind me. Once I reached my destination, a truck to load the walker onto, I automatically took position on a rear cannon while my AI partner drove us out of the danger zone, pursued by swarms of vehicles that were blasted into oblivion by the powerful gun at my fingertips. As we sped away, every part of the scenery could be brought crashing down; fuel tanks exploded in flashes of brilliant blue and green, wind-powered turbines toppled over onto pursuing vehicles, and guard towers were reduced to smouldering wreckage by a barrage of lethal blasts. The amount of mayhem you can cause is outstanding, and very satisfying indeed.

With my mission completed and hard mode unlocked, I went back in to find that things were indeed much tougher; there were more enemies on foot and they worked together very well, constantly attempting to flank me as they ran between cover points and approached from all directions, working in groups as they moved in on my position and attempted to overwhelm me. Your health regenerates after a short while, which isn't a realistic design choice but it is a smart one, removing the need for constantly searching for med-kits. The amount of damage you can cause with your pickaxe is also totally unrealistic; at first it seems ridiculously over the top given that you're just an average Joe without superhuman strength, but you soon find yourself suspending disbelief as you smash your way through walls and other obstacles with relish.

The graphics are very impressive too, with high levels of detail making the dusty, Martian landscape surprisingly appealing. The rag doll physics when you lay into a foe with your pickaxe or blast them into the air with a mining charge are also very convincing, with limbs flailing around and guards who survive a nearby blast scrabbling around on the floor before hauling themselves to their feet and running for cover. Another great touch is the way you hop into the cabs of the many vehicles you encounter, and when you park the walker on the back of the truck, you see your character move seamlessly out of its driver's seat and leap down to the rear cannon, unfolding it in one smooth motion.

In many ways, Guerrilla could be called Grand Theft Mars; you can hijack any stationary or passing vehicle, you can kill civilians if you wish, and you have a massive, open environment to explore, with hidden goodies like ammo, weapons and shining wreckage to collect, the latter presumably used as you progress to upgrade your equipment. Killing several guards in succession puts you on a killing spree, while the amount of destruction you cause to property belonging to the EDF (the force whose oppressive reign you are trying to end) is tallied, adding extra incentive for destroying everything - not that you need any when it all looks this great! There are key structures to destroy on missions giving you sub-objectives, and you will be working your way across the landscape, liberating one territory at a time, in order for your rebelling Red Faction to gradually take control of the entire game world. The final game boasts a staggering one hundred and twenty missions, with over thirty vehicle types and twenty weapons to get your dust-coated hands upon, as well as sixteen-player multiplayer in six modes across twenty-one maps.

Given the quality on offer in the demo, Red Faction: Guerrilla seems destined for greatness, standing above the crowd with its fully formed playground of destruction and its outstanding Geo-Mod technology that allows you to create your own path and decimate virtually every structure you come across. The game engine seems robust, the graphics are excellent, the AI is convincing and the level of destruction is far beyond that of pretty much any other game I've ever played. Taking inspiration from the likes of GTA and Mercenaries but creating a unique identity of its own, as well as providing what will hopefully be some compelling multiplayer action on Xbox Live, I for one can't wait to see what lies in store when the game hits the shelves (and then brings them crashing down) in June.

Previewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).