Red Faction: Armageddon

Red Faction: Armageddon
File:RFAcover.jpg Cover art depicting protagonist Darius Mason
Developer(s)	Volition, Inc.
Publisher(s)	THQ Syfy Games
Series	Red Faction
Engine	Geo-Mod 2.5
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Onlive
Release	UK: June 10, 2011
Genre(s)	Third-person action Sandbox
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer

Red Faction: Armageddon is an upcoming 2011 third-person action video game developed by Volition, Inc. and published by THQ. It is the fourth installment in the Red Faction series, and is scheduled to be released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Onlive and Windows in various countries around the world between June 7th and June 10th, 2011.

Gameplay

Armageddon will feature no competitive multi-player modes. Instead it will focus on a Horde-mode style of game called Infestation. However, the game will carry over many other elements from its predecessor, Red Faction: Guerrilla, such as the focus on fully destructible environments. Unlike its predecessor which had the player liberating settlements from the totalitarian control of the corrupt Earth Defense Force, players must now reclaim cultist fortifications on the disaster-ravaged surface of the planet and defend colonists from hostile Martian creatures in the ancient mines and chasms beneath it, cleansing infestations from all structures and freeing humans from imprisonment in alien cocoons. Guerrilla's open-world approach has been done away with, in exchange for more linear and directed gameplay, a better progression of the narrative, and a sense of suspense and tension when traversing the sometimes claustrophobic interiors in the game.

Armageddon will be modifying the previous game's vast repertoire of tools and weaponry. The Magnet Gun is "a deceptively simple concept; Darius fires first at one object, then at a second object, and then the first object rockets toward the second. Producer Jim Boone calls this the game's "signature weapon," and it shows in its versatility. "I watched as the developer giving our demo fired at the side of a building, then at one of the game's new alien enemies, only to see the side of the building tear off and collide with the alien, sending it flying across a cavern." Volition also demonstrated how the Magnet Gun can work the other way, launching enemies through buildings and other structures. Players can also hunt for alien artifacts to create new 'hybrid' alien/human fusion technology weapons, such as Tremblers and Rhino Charges. The Nano-Forge, a relic in the Mason family, returns, having been passed down through two generations. In this time Darius' father has incorporated the tool with a function that reverses any and all destruction dealt to man-made objects. "Using the Nano-Forge on destroyed objects and structures will reform them, allowing Darius to construct cover, fix machinery, and for other uses that Volition remains cagey about." The Nano-Forge will also feature an ability known as Impulse, which discharges an incredibly powerful burst of force which can blow away structures and throw enemies off their feet. The accurate and devastating Nano-Rifle will return.

The iconic Hammer and Singularity Bomb will be returning in the form of the Maul (featuring lethally destructive yet silent motorized gyros) and Singularity Cannon (featuring ranged capabilities). The matter-slicing Plasma Beam will be making a comeback.

Darius' Nano-Forge, weapons and armor will all be upgradeable, improving their efficiency, unlocking new abilities, and altering their appearances.

Finally at E3, Volition debuted the LEO exosuit, "a robotic suit with powerful weaponry whose biggest strength nonetheless appears to be its ability to crash through structures with little effort. Darius piloted the LEO at full speed through a horde of aliens, splattering them on contact, and then brought down an infested building by crashing through its walls."

The game features a new co-operative Extermination mode, which has up to four players teaming up to fight against unrelenting waves of increasingly challenging alien attackers.

Plot

One of the new areas of the game is underground, in the abandoned Ultor mining complex, with sinister beasts among the antagonists.

Like first and third games in the series, the game takes place on the planet Mars. It is set in the year 2170, fifty years after the events of Red Faction: Guerrilla. Since the liberation of Mars, the surface of the planet has become uninhabitable. This occurred when the massive Terraformer machine on Mars which supplied it with its Earth-like atmosphere was destroyed following the strike of a huge meteor, causing super-tornados and violent lightning storms to engulf the planet. In order to survive, the Colonists were forced to flee to the underground mines of Mars built by their ancestors, creating a network of habitable caves under the surface of the planet and setting up colonies there.

The game begins ten years after the relocation to the mines in 2170, and follows Darius Mason, grandson of Martian Revolution heroes Alec Mason and Samanya, the main characters of Red Faction: Guerrilla, who runs a lucrative series of businesses based in Bastion, the underground hub of Colonist activity, including mining, scavenging and mercenary work. Few sane people venture to the ravaged surface of Mars, apart from contractors like Darius and smugglers who transport goods between settlements. Darius is tricked into reopening a mysterious, vast shaft in an old Marauder temple by a fanatical Marauder priest, which awakens a long-dormant race of Martian creatures, causing an Armageddon on Mars. Colonist and Marauder settlements alike are torn apart by the new enemies, and the blame for the whole disaster is placed on Darius, soon inciting several angry colonists to form mobs and attack him in their fury. Now Darius must join the Red Faction to clear his name and save the people of Mars, as his grandfather did before him.

Development

The game was first announced in the form of a short teaser trailer which debuted worldwide on June 4, 2010 on GameTrailers TV. The game was also showcased at the E3 2010 from June 15 to 17, 2010. A downloadable vehicle-based multiplayer game called Red Faction: Battlegrounds was released in April 2011. Additionally, the SyFy network will debut a direct-to-television film that bridges the story gap between Guerrilla and Armageddon, tentatively titled Red Faction: Origins. It is due in May 2011.

A playable demo for the game was announced in April, and was released on May 3rd, 2011 for the Xbox 360. The PS3 is still awaiting release due to the PSN being down.

External links

• Official website