Red Faction: Guerrilla

In the wake of the Iranian uprising, not to mention years of Iraqi and Afghani insurgencies, it's a little weird playing Red Faction: Guerrilla, a cinematic sci-fi epic about overthrowing a fascist regime on the red planet. "Prison camps, torture, death squads," warns your brother as paramilitary types kick down doors. Would've been nice if he'd warned you before you shuttled off to Mars for a mining gig, but soon enough he's dead and you're roped into an insurgency that you once considered terrorists. Further muddying the political waters, your main weapon is a sledgehammer — might as well have a sickle as a sidearm. The game's open-world structure lets you liberate the planet on your own terms, but more importantly it has an open mind. Mars may be light years from the Middle East, but this latest, greatest Red Faction game should do a lot more to foster understanding than that federally funded FPS America's Army.