Red Faction: Armageddon
Overview -
A decade ago, the gaming industry saw the release of a first-person shooter that brought more to the party than guns and ammunition. Entitled, Red Faction, it ended up being a very solid entry in the bullet-ridden genre. However, the game’s most talked-about factor was certainly its included GeoMod technology. It allowed players to tunnel through Martian mines and caverns, using explosive weaponry such as high-powered rockets. If you didn’t want to take a direct route from one point to another, then you didn’t have to.
Taking place within a mining community built on the red sands of Mars, Volition’s futuristic shooter told the tale of a worker revolution. Many miners abandoned their comfortable lives on Earth, in order to head to the red planet, in search of much-needed minerals. Having been promised healthy living conditions and an excellent working atmosphere, the workers’ spirits became diminished when they found out that was all a lie. Treated like slaves, they all lived in fear of a rampant plague that would slowly kill individuals throughout the large camp. Cue the eventual uprising.
Video Review
Using a detailed visual engine, Volition Inc. has created an impressive-looking game. Varied environments present different opportunities, with a surprising amount of depth added into its underground world. Although things are dark down below, they’re never overwhelming or muddy. Conversely, there’s a decent amount of colour shown aboveground, thanks to a unique location and some diverse storm effects. Both areas feature realistically crumbling structures, which can be used to take out enemies.
One of the more standout visual facets found of this experience is certainly its character design. Darius and his accompanying survivors are all very detailed with realistic facial animations that will help players sympathize with their struggles. I was quite impressed with how most of the included cut-scenes looked, especially ones that used a lot of close-up shots. When enemies were shown during these, or within action set pieces, they looked quite good with some nice variety. However, even those are similar to what is found in Dead Space.
Audio Review
It’s hard to fault Armageddon’s audio presentation. It marries quality voice acting and immersive sound effects, with an impressive original score. Composed by Brian Reitzell, the music found within uses a nice mixture of guitar work and loud, synthesized sounds. Its inclusion helps create some nice ambience within each of the dark and eerie caverns.
Despite having a bit of a lack of identity, Red Faction: Armageddon is a high-quality game. It presents varied game play elements throughout its eight-hour long campaign, all of which happen to be quite fun and engaging. Other than the aforementioned issue and a restrictive movement engine, it’s hard to find major faults within the experience.
Fans of the franchise will enjoy this one, especially if they liked Red Faction: Guerilla. However, this recommendation is only issued towards those who enjoyed the single player campaign in that previous release, since its quality online multiplayer is unfortunately absent. The two extra game modes built exclusively for this release are half-decent.
