Review: Red Faction Armageddon

Red Faction, more than any other video game franchise, has harnessed the power of the current generation of consoles to create a third-person shooter experience that greatly differs from the norm. Whereas some games have allowed players to manipulate or deform the environment in some capacity, the Red Faction series has given us the power to completely obliterate everything we see. Every structure was designed to be as physically realistic as possible, allowing us to destroy the base and send the whole thing crashing down. This gameplay feature was so well built you could spend hours wreaking havoc on the world without ever thinking about the mission at hand. Red Faction: Armageddon continues this brilliant gameplay style with the same level of destructibility plus the inclusion of a new feature that allows you to rebuild parts of the world that have been destroyed. Called the Nano Forge, this device emits a small bluish beam that reconstructs the environment in real-time, enabling you to walk across broken bridges, staircases and other pathways as they are being rebuilt. In addition to the aforementioned benefits, the Nano Forge can also be used as a defensive tool in combat. Ex: during one of the first boss battles, a large monster appears and destroys everything in its path, leaving nowhere to hide. There is nothing you can do to prevent this from happening, and fighting him head-on without any cover will only lead to your demise. With the Nano Forge, however, it is possible to rebuild the 10-foot barriers that were standing at the beginning of the level and use them for temporary cover. The monster will destroy them again, but you can keep repeating the reconstruction process until you've worked out a strategy to eliminate the threat. While the Nano Forge has become a big part of Armageddon, it must be said that it is not the game's primary feature, which is still environmental destruction. THQ THQI describes the game world as being a “weapon” – the player's weapon – and that is a pretty accurate assessment. But there are still a bunch of actual weapons to enjoy, such as the Maul (a sledgehammer), Nano Rifle (disintegrate enemies with the pull of a trigger!), rocket launcher, pulse grenade, and magnet gun. Armageddon also features more traditional weapons, including a shotgun, assault rifle, and dual-wielded pistols. Aiming to take its level of destructive goodness even farther, Armageddon features two highly explosive modes: Ruin and Infestation. The latter is a survival mode; stand your ground and defeat as many aliens as possible. Ruin mode lets you run wild in the game attempt to cause as much destruction as possible within the time limit. This mode is fast, challenging, and addictive. It also opens up the game to additional destructive possibilities, as you will destroy more structures and objects – and witness many more ways that those objects can be smashed, cracked and shattered. One thing is for certain: you will likely never see the same annihilation animation more than once. Red Faction: Armageddon is one of those great, upper-class sequels that the fans will love. At its core is a great third-person shooter, but on the outskirts is a game with destructive gameplay properties that you won't find in any other franchise. In terms of world design, this is the very definition of next-gen gaming – right here, right now, on consoles we've been playing since 2005 (Xbox 360) and 2006 (PlayStation 3).