Last night THQ rented out a portion of Mars 2112, a mars-themed restaurant just north of Times Square to show of "Red Faction Guerrilla" for the last time before it releases next week. Though it's not exactly the sorta place I hang out (if you're from New York, Times Square is usually the last place you ever want to be), I guess I'll concede that the "Red Faction"-being-on-Mars cross-promo was just too good to pass up.
Anyway, THQ and the developers at Volition had two stations set up in the bar, showing off the PS3 and 360 versions. It might've been the TV hook-up, but side-by-side the PS3 version looked a bit muddier than the 360. Both versions played identically, and contained all the same features, but we'll have to wait until the final copies come in before we see if there's any major visual difference on our set-up.
While there we spent some time chatting with Eric Arnold, one of the game's programmers, who has been working on the intense physics engine for 4 years now. "It took 2 years before the artists could even use it," said Arnold.
He went on to say that the game's physics (which govern every structure in the game, determining what should stand and what should crumble) allows for some pretty creative gameplay techniques. The singularity bomb, for example, can be placed at the base of a giant smokestack, which will rip said smokestack out of the ground and toss it like a tornado. Sounds like fun!
The game launches next Tuesday, but initial impressions are positive. Honestly, I just want to blow crap up.