What Red Faction: Guerrilla demo? Err, it's not actually out in the U.S. yet. It's just been released in Europe today...one of the (extremely) rare perquisites of editing this column while temporarily residing abroad.

That said, the single solo-play level only takes a few minutes to clear, the replay lure being an option to bump the difficulty level a notch. Otherwise it's you against some helmeted police force goons prowling around a bunch of militia-like structures framed by bleary Martian rocks and ridges. The Earth Defense Force (the bad guys) have reportedly confiscated a bunch of Walkers, i.e. mech-style robotic exoskeletons. Your job's to infiltrate the complex and bring one back, or as the guy giving you orders over a radio at the outset proselytizes, "liberate the sector." You know, "don't let the miners down," dear comrade.

The original 's fame-claim involved getting to blow up stuff you hadn't been able to previously per Volition's trendy-sounding GeoMod tech. Knock a hole in a wall and the game replaced the affected area with an "empty space" object. Not really physics, but impressive eight years ago.

Add physics, a third-person angle to help you ogle the demolition, and what Volition's calling an "open world," and you get Grand Theft Mars...I mean Red Faction: Guerrilla.

Back to the demo. What's the first thing I do after the game hands over the controls? Turn around with my axe-hammer-thing and wail on a bunch of steel barricades. Whoom-whoom-whoom, down they come. Simple enough, point made, and mildly satisfying.