Introduction

Red Faction: Armageddon brings you back to the fourth rock from the sun many years after the revolution that took place in the last game. You play as Darius Mason, descendant of the Guerilla’s protagonist and ex-member of the Red Faction. Following a terrorist attack on the planet’s enormous terraforming machine, extreme weather and other unfavorable conditions on the surface lead most of the humans on Mars to migrate underground, where abandoned mining colonies are refurbished into something at least moderately civilized. Darius and his friend-who-happens-to-be-a-girl Kara spend their days as miners, scavengers, and/or mercenaries out of Bastion, a major subterranean settlement which serves as a hub for the surrounding areas.



One of these “business” arrangements brings Darius to the surface of Mars, where he meets the shady organization that hired him at gunpoint. Undoubtedly regretting his “no questions asked” policy, Darius descends into the depths of an ancient temple with his mechanized excavation suit. He smashes open what appears to be a magical seal atop an ominously dark shaft, Darius is told to plumb its depths. He then realizes he’s fallen into a trap set by his old nemesis, the fanatical cultist leader long thought dead, Adam Hale. As it happens, you’ve stumbled into a nest of indigenous creatures that were sealed away centuries ago, for good reason, and inadvertently brought about Armageddon on Mars…


Volition, Inc.’s latest release combines a newer version of their GeoMod destruction engine and the third-person shooter elements of Red Faction: Guerilla with the more carefully directed and story-driven gameplay of the original games in the series. Armageddon for PC brings with it support for higher screen resolutions, DirectX10 and 11 on supporting hardware, and improved aiming controls with the mouse, all at a lower price point than its console counterparts. How does the game fare overall? Turn the page and find out!