Red Faction: Armageddon Review

Can anyone honestly say that they don’t like blowing stuff up in games? Maybe my psychiatrist was right and I am a deranged pyromaniac or perhaps there is just something in human nature that appreciates explosions. Either way, Red Faction: Armageddon truly packs plenty of structural carnage, but can it offer something more?

The Red Faction series has always been renowned for its dislike of buildings and walls, allowing the player to set about destroying level designers’ hard work since the first game way back in 2001. The latest instalment, Red Faction: Armageddon takes a different approach to its predecessor, Guerrilla, and abandons the open-world elements entirely. What takes its place is a linear story through various locations that is more reminiscent of the original game.

Armageddon follows Darius Mason, the grandson of Red Faction: Guerrilla’s protagonist, as he finds himself battling a series of deranged Martian cultists. They’re set on ridding the planet of their enemies and most wear what appears to be half a set of railings strapped to their backs, which is oddly reminiscent of a Lady Gaga fashion statement. It isn’t long before Mason is used by the cultists to open an ancient seal and unleash hordes of alien bugs that promptly set about killing everything in their path. From here he must try and make amends and stop the madness.

The gameplay is frantic third-person action that is occasionally interspersed with some vehicle sections to try and liven things up. The controls are thankfully fluid and responsive and operate as you’d expect, with one stick controlling movement and another operating the camera. However, the aiming system has a “Target Lock” feature which snaps your sights to any nearby points of interest. While this is a good idea in theory, especially for the consoles, the crosshair will often snap to a distant explosive barrel or piece of miscellaneous scenery and not the alien creature trying to rip your face off. It can get frustrating in the midst of a battle and, at times, will thoroughly annoy.

Mason has the traditional selection of weapons available to him including shotguns and assault rifles, which are rather bland but are surprisingly effective at killing your enemies. Thankfully to supplement these meagre offerings is a healthy roster of heavy ordinance including rocket launchers, the Nano Rifle and the particularly amazing Plasma Beam. These not only pack massive damage but devastate the surrounding landscape and help make the game more satisfying.

Perhaps the best weapon of your arsenal is the Magnet Gun which is as satisfying at Half Life 2’s famed Gravity Gun. This device fires a first shot that attaches a magnet to either a building or an enemy. A second shot then attaches a second magnet that will attract the first which is where the real fun begins. The Magnet Gun allows you to send enemies flying, let buildings crash onto them or, best of all, to fire magnets into two separate enemies and watch them smash into one another in an explosion of limbs. It’s a great addition that helps to add a real sense of sadistic fun and freedom to your encounters and you’d be mad not to have it on you at all times.

Alongside these conventional weapons are the abilities of the Nano Forge, a wrist mounted device that looks a lot like the gauntlet from Singularity. The Nano Forge offers you a series of abilities that can be purchased that really help when facing off against your alien foes. You can unleash a simple energy blast that destroys scenery and inflicts damage which you’ll find yourself using a lot on the weaker bugs. There are some other nifty abilities such as one which boosts damage for a set period of time that can be extended by killing. On the harder difficulties you’ll be dependent on a Shield that can protect you from damage and, eventually, reflect it back at the aliens or cultists.

Darius’ enemies are reasonably varied with around 10 different types of alien to face, who often require different tactics to deal with. Their design is relatively clichéd and many appear like a cross between the Necromorphs of Dead Space and the insect foes of the Starship Troopers universe. Many areas are filled with Spawning Pods that churn out endless numbers of bugs until they are destroyed. This has the unfortunate effect of making many fights simply about finding these spawning points and getting rid of them. Particularly at the end of the game it can be a nightmare with dozens of difficult enemies being thrown at you while you try and stem the flow.

This is perhaps the biggest flaw in Red Faction: Armageddon’s campaign that it is just one enemy encounter after another and it never feels different. Even some vehicle sections can’t really spice up the variety enough and it soon becomes repetitive quickly. Most of the bugs you face will be the two default types, small critters and larger projectile enemies, and this soon gets tired. In one mission you go above ground where the weather is hostile, but this is far too brief and never has time to impact meaningfully on the gameplay. It’s a real disappointment as the gameplay formula is fun but samey.

The plot is subject to every science-fiction cliché imaginable and is at times painfully formulaic. When this is coupled with repetitive gameplay it can get tedious and makes you wish for some more original characters. There are one or two slight surprises in the story, although they do not make up for a lacklustre and irritating ending which completely undermines everything that went before it.

Similarly, the in-game currency necessary to upgrade Darius is generally acquired from blowing everything up in an area and then trawling through the wreckage to collect the pieces. It becomes a real slog and at times feels like a chore but is necessary to keep you alive, especially on the more challenging difficulties. This becomes better towards the end of the game when this is done automatically, but it begs the question why it wasn’t the case from the beginning. Thankfully developers Volition have taken the great step to make character upgrades persistent between single and multiplayer which is something that too few games do.  

Alongside the single player mode is a Gears of War 2 style Horde mode homage called Infestation where up to 4 players can fight off waves of aliens. It is incredibly similar to virtually every other “wave-of-enemies” mode out there, but is a nice diversion. The difficult curve can get quite steep quickly and is far more rewarding in a group of friends than alone. Thankfully Volition have included Ruin mode (with new copies of the game) that allows you to just satisfy your desire to cause destruction and it is both satisfying and shows off the great demolition engine.

Red Faction: Armageddon is an enjoyable, if very generic third-person shooter. The unique hook of being able to cause unparalleled damage remains, but the combat rarely offers anything new. That said, it is never dull and does retain a degree of fun. It’s a title which allows you to largely switch off and just kill some aliens. If you can ignore most of the plot and characters and just concentrate on collapsing buildings with enemies inside them, disintegrating insects with a Plasma Beam and using the Magnet Gun constantly then you’ll certainly have a good time. Yet, don’t expect an immersive and diverse experience. Instead, focus on satisfying your inherent desire to blow stuff up and, in that sense, you won’t be disappointed.