Red Faction Armageddon Review

By: Michael Bee

Red Faction Armageddon is a hard game to review. There are so many good things in this game that I loved and want to see more of, then there is that little devil on my shoulder that chimes in with, “Guerilla was better.” I want to look over and shout, “Fuck you!” But he's right.

Red Faction Guerilla was the kind of game that people seemed to either love or hate. I was one of the former. I couldn't get enough of the great open world and the brilliant destruction. That's why as much fun as I have with Armageddon, it somehow still lets me down.

The first thing I need to talk about is the magnet gun. I want to give Armageddon a nearly perfect score for that gun alone. It is, in my mind, one of the most incredible weapons ever devised for a video game. The magnet gun allows you to attach two magnets on separate objects, enemies or buildings, and the first magnet will race toward the second one, bringing with it all types of debris or even enemies. It is absolutely brilliant to see in action.

Now that I have my magnet gun love out of the way, lets get to the rest of the game. Armageddon sees you filling the mining boots of Darius Mason, grandson of Alec Mason from Guerrilla. The game opens with Darius, as a member of Red Faction, attempting to regain control of the terraformer on Mars from Adam Hale and his cultists. Needless to say, bad things happen and your character is tricked into destroying the terraformer. Oops. The game picks up a few years later and you get tricked once again by Hale (Is Darius a bit of an idiot). Because of this deception, Darius inadvertantly unleashes a horde of creatures that have been trapped under the surface of Mars for...well, I have no idea how long, but they seem pretty pissed, so I’m guessing it’s been a while. It is then that the real adventure takes off and you, as Darius, must help to save the day, naturally. Like I always say, plot is not the strong point of action-packed shooters.

Let me be the first to tell you, when I saw the original teaser trailer for Armageddon, I think I wept a bit. Seriously. I had tears rolling down my cheeks, and they were not tears of joy. I was looking forward to more Guerrilla-style, open world destruction. What I saw was all underground, with minimal destruction and tons of....creatures? I just knew then and there Volition and THQ were killing something I had grown to love. Well I am man enough to say, I was wrong. They did not ruin it, as Armageddon is very fun and enjoyable in its own right, but they did not come close to topping Guerrilla. That’s the simple fact, at least in my head (which is filled with cobwebs and half-chewed strips of beef jerky).

Every bit of fun I had with Armageddon was followed by a moment of realization, that it would have been so much more enjoyable to me if it had been more like Guerrilla. I guess it’s true; expectations really are a bitch. But don’t fret, because I did have a blast playing Armageddon. I enjoyed every moment I ran through a swarm of creatures, explosions on every side, debris flying about. It was great fun. But it was great fun with a disclaimer; a disclaimer that said “Guerrilla was more fun.”

For lack of a better word, the graphics in Armageddon are great. The lighting in some of the underground areas is eerie, vibrant and beautiful all at the same time. The creatures are well-designed and interesting. The dancing about of real-time shadows adds a nice touch of creepy without turning it into a horror game. It really is good stuff, especially when you add in the beauty of Armageddon’s destruction. Although there is less emphasis on tearing shit down in Armageddon, the destruction has gotten better. Buildings break apart even more believably, and the physics perform fluidly. It really is a sight to behold.

The gun play in Armageddon is also solid. I found myself favoring the assault rifle, magnet gun, rocket launcher and the pulse grenade launcher, which damaged enemies without ripping apart structures, but the game features of plethora of interesting weapons. There’s also a nano rifle that disintegrates anything it touches, a rail gun that allows you to see through walls (a nice nod to Red Faction 1), dual-wielded Banshees, remote charge launcher (taking the place of the simple remote charges), a plasma beam gun that will blast through and disintegrate anything in its path, the almighty hammer and many more weapons.

Making a return in Armageddon is a mode called Ruin, in which you are allowed a certain amount of time to cause as much destruction as possible. It’s a mode I had quite a bit of fun with in Guerrilla and I also had fun with it here. And while there is no competitive multiplayer, Armageddon features a mode called Infestation. It’s a cooperative mode where up to four players face off against an onslaught of Martian creatures. Trust me, you won’t be spending much time playing that game mode. It might be fun for a few minutes, but then you will quickly want to move on.

The single player campaign is not lengthy, but it’s not as short as many modern games. It took me about seven hours to complete on normal difficulty. And although it is a fun game, the extreme linearity of it will likely prevent many from making a second run through the campaign. There are sections of the game where you can pilot a mech suit, walking tank and a fancy flying ship to help break up the on-foot action, but those sections are mostly lackluster.

So there you have it. To be blunt and vulgar, I enjoyed the shit out of Red Faction Armageddon. Had I never played Guerrilla, I reckon I would have fallen in love with this game. Ignorance is bliss as they say. Let this be a warning to all developers I guess. Once you go open world...........