Red Faction

Geo Mod, which is short for "geometry modification," allows formerly permanent elements of a game's background to change in real-time. For example, if a player were to shoot a rocket at a stone wall, the wall could crumble or have a hole blown clean through. The best that previous games could do is to change the texture of the wall and leave it looking charred.

While most gamers would applaud any advance in realistic graphics, Geo Mod looks to also influence the way first-person shooters are played. If the world of the first-person shooter can be altered, the game makers point out, then the world itself becomes a weapon at your disposal. More than just shooting opponents through walls, players should be able to cause a ceiling to collapse on an opponent. With the right tools, players will be able to destroy bunkers, block escape routes, and otherwise flush players out of their well-defended positions.

Obviously, it's Geo Mod that has gamers so excited for this game, so other game components might be easy to overlook in the excitement. Red Faction's story is set on a Martian mining colony, where workers, buffeted by abusive guards and a deadly plague, revolt. In the single-player game, you'll run around the tunnels of Mars in a first person view and use 15 weapons to destructively deform the environment as well as your foes. You can also hijack land, sea, and air vehicles to aid your revolt. --Porter B. Hall (Review copyright Amazon.co.uk)