Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Red Faction: Armageddon



Every year more sequels are pumped out by studios (movies, video games, etc.) and during the build up to an iterative release there is always a voice or two speaking of sequel exhaustion. Then comes the additional request for more first-time IPs. In the case of video games I think sequels should hold just as much hope for a good gaming experience as original releases. Most games have a dozen or two hours of campaign gameplay where a player is the character. When I finish a game, often times I'd like to see what happens next in the world, with or without that original character. So I equally welcome a sequel as well as new properties as long as the gameplay is solid and rewarding.

This brings me to Red Faction: Armageddon, the fourth game in the series. I became attached to the world on Mars I helped liberate in the last game, so I looked forward to a continuation of the time line. Armageddon takes place a century later, with the descendants of Alec Mason still fighting along side the Red Faction against the Earth government for freedom of Mars. So, apparently I, as Alec Mason, did almost nothing in the long run. I know there is a TV movie that probably explains all this, but at the start of this game a home-grown radical religious group, that hates the Mason family for some reason, sets about destroying the Terraformer that has maintained all the atmosphere on Mars for a century (or more).


You, Darius, are the latest generation of Masons to fight the good fight, not well liked by the Red Faction and apparently kind of a joke. In the course of the game you will become the hero your name represents. However, you still have the NanoForge as a full developed wearable tool, with a built-in AI (named Sam, a connection to the Marauder of the same name who helped in the last game), which gives you the power to destroy and rebuild in a matter of seconds. This makes you a better asset than any other character in the game, and you are treated as a joke and a pariah, which doesn't sit well with me at all. However, for the sake of gameplay it's a great addition. So is the banter between you and Sam, as the AI becomes the best realized character in the game, but that's not saying much.


There are other nice little references to the last game: a Taco franchise from Parker, the first sector you liberate; plenty of left over EDF supply crates just lying around; another female protagonist (Kara) that is a Marauder; the Ultor corporation comes up in the plot; you have the iconic sledge hammer, again; and many more. You still use Scrap as a kind of currency and it is way easier to see them against the background than before. Here, though, it seems out of place as barrels of scrap are just laying around everywhere and not contextually built into the game as before. You can use scrap this time to buy abilities for yourself like an RPG skill tree, with a growing progression of Rings that enhance your NanoForge talents. I really like this, but it doesn't mesh with the narrative again.


Speaking of plot, this is called Armageddon because you are tasked with saving the Martian colonial population from indigenous creatures that nobody knew about, except the aforementioned religious group that unleashes it. This removes the game from the standing theme about revolution and puts it right up against the likes of Gears of War. This is not an open-world game at all, but a third-person, plot driven shooter that has you move from one chapter to the next. No backtracking, no choices, no freedom. Red Faction and Red Faction II (both FPS's) were in this vein, but Armageddon seems uninspired from the step forward that Guerrilla represents. Halo 3, Gears of War, and Modern Warfare are all built on this structure, and each has its own unique take on the shooter genre. Armageddon comes off a bit bland; lackluster set-pieces, controls that are too jumpy to allow good targeting, and characters that are a little too generic and under-developed. The only interesting angle in the game that isn't explored is the fact you are killing all the actual Martians and the humans (all Martian-born at this point) are aliens.


Where Armageddon is strongest is in the physics engine. It is awe inspiring to watch structures shatter under your destructive control. You will very likely destroy a key element to your continuation so you also have the ability to rebuild things. This isn't utilized enough because it is quite fun. Odds are in the dank, dark confusing-but-linear level design you will get turned around by the same three creatures attacking through most of the game. To help you through this you have an instant GPS that gets you sorted out. This gets so repetitious, however, that there is an auto-target button to make it easier. This is to simulate another ability; that Darius has instant reflexes. He is head-and-shoulders better than every other human living on Mars. You will kill hundreds of native Martians, cultists and even fight a couple mechs hand-to-hand, and at the most desperate hour of the human race on Mars, you will be arrested because some officer doesn't like you. I should probably also point out the sounds of all your weapons are well realized, even to the point of making a rattling noise when your magazine is almost empty, to remind you to reload. Too bad many of the firefights are boring.

There are other things to do with this game than the single player campaign. An Infestation mode is included which is basically Horde Mode from Gears of War II. You need to survive 30 waves of the indigenous Martian horde coming at you or defending a spot as they try to destroy it. The fact that everyone playing can repair damage instantly actually provides a fresh gameplay mechanic to a boring implementation of someone else's idea. But as it is not strongly supported by achievements I didn't play much of this mode.


There is technically a Zero Day DLC in the form of Ruin Mode which is pretty fun as you are unleashed to destroy things in the environment. You have a time limit to do as much damage as possible, which in turn unlocks new boards. How you download it, however, is a bit misleading. This is one of those premium ideas designed to make you want to buy it brand new. You input a code, but it won't download. Since you can't download things while playing a game (unless it's Rock Band or Guitar Hero in my experience), Ruin Mode won't work until you quit out of the game, wait for confirmation, then start it again. Something is really sloppy here. The file in question is about 100KB, which means you are downloading a key to unlock content already on the disc, the worst kind of DLC. Not worth the effort to get it, even for free, without achievement support.

Lastly there is Mr. Toots. A secret weapon you unlock by finishing the game (even on Casual as I didn't see a point to playing it at a harder setting) that has to be seen to be believed. Very destructive and way out of place for a pseudo-Space Marine game. Picture how someone might use a My Little Pony as a beam weapon. But there is reason to play a second time through, called New Game Plus, that lets you carry over all weapons and unlockable abilities from the first run through, thus making Insane difficulty a little easier. Plus, there are new weapons and cheats to purchase that don't ruin achievement progression and make a second play more enjoyable.


My criticisms may seem a bit harsh as I found the game fairly enjoyable. Only a couple spots have weird shifts of gameplay that become chokepoints until you learn the new rules, but there are some great things happen during gameplay. I don't feel the game is worth the full $60, but as I got it on discount (see my previous blog), $40 seems about right. GameFly it or borrow it from a friend will work too. I would like to see the next game get back to its revolutionary roots. Maybe Red Faction: Vendetta where the "V" stands for "5"?

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