Red Faction: Armageddon

About Red Faction: Armageddon

Red Faction: Armageddon lands on Mars in 2175 as the fourth entry in Volition's series. Set fifty years after the previous game, this shooter drops you into a chaotic future where the atmosphere turned hostile after a massive Terraformer exploded. You play as Darius Mason, a smuggler who accidentally wakes an ancient evil beneath the planet's surface. The story forces Colonists and Marauders to stop fighting each other while facing a new threat that tears their settlements apart. It released in June 2011 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. The game leans heavily on its destruction engine to handle combat and traversal across storm-blasted terrain and underground caves.

Gameplay

You control Darius from a third-person perspective while blasting enemies with heavy weapons. Combat feels weighty because you can destroy almost any cover or building around you. The game lets you shoot out support beams to collapse structures on top of opponents or create new paths through the map. A typical session involves driving vehicles across the surface while dodging lightning storms and super-tornados. You switch between on-foot shooting and vehicle sections to navigate the ravaged landscape. The campaign offers single-player action with a co-op mode for two players. Multiplayer lets you fight in various deathmatch and objective-based modes. Controls feel responsive even during large-scale environmental destruction sequences where chunks of Mars fly everywhere.

What Players Think

Players on PlayPile rate this title at 72.4 out of 100 based on 99 ratings. The community mood leans toward mixed feelings about the story but appreciates the combat mechanics. Average playtime sits around 8 hours for a main campaign run, though completionists spend more time hunting down all 58 achievements. Review snippets often mention the game's pricing as a strong point since GOG lists it at just $1.99. Users note that the historical low price matches the current cheapest offer, making it an easy buy for shooter fans. While some critics found the narrative repetitive, the community agrees that the physics-based destruction remains the standout feature. Many players return to multiplayer modes to test how their builds handle the chaotic environments.

PlayPile's Take

This game is worth a look if you want cheap access to solid third-person shooting mechanics. The $1.99 price tag on GOG makes it a no-brainer purchase even if the plot feels thin. You will spend most of your time destroying buildings and fighting through storms rather than exploring complex puzzles. The 58 achievements offer plenty of side goals for completionists who enjoy grinding in multiplayer modes. It is not a masterpiece but delivers consistent action without demanding a full price tag. Skip this if you hate physics-based destruction or prefer tight narrative pacing over chaotic shooting. Grab it now and play through the campaign before the servers fade away completely.

Storyline

Half a century after the Red Faction resistance and their Marauder allies freed Mars from the brutal Earth Defense Force, harmony on Mars is again threatened but this time by a lethal force shrouded in mystery. When the massive Terraformer that supplies Mars with its Earth-like air and weather is destroyed, the atmosphere turns to chaos, super-tornados and lightning storms engulf the planet. To survive, the Colonists flee to the underground mines and build a network of habitable caves. Five years later, Darius Mason, grandson of Martian Revolution heroes Alec Mason and Samanya, runs a lucrative business from Bastion, underground hub of Colonist activity. Mining, scavenging, mercenary work--if the job is dangerous, Darius is your man. Few sane people now venture to the ravaged surface, aside from contractors like Darius and the smugglers who run goods between the settlements. When Darius is tricked into reopening a mysterious shaft in an old Marauder temple, he releases a long-dormant evil and unleashes Armageddon on Mars. As Colonist and Marauder settlements are torn asunder, only Darius and the Red Faction can save mankind. The battle will take them across the storm-blasted planet--and below it, to the very heart of the unspeakable threat