Red Faction: Armageddon

Red Faction: Armageddon is an upcoming 2011 third-person shooter video game developed by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volition,_Inc. Volition, Inc.] and published by THQ. It is the fourth installment in the Red Faction series and is due to be released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and on Microsoft Windows

Gameplay
The game will retain several elements from its predecessor, Red Faction: Guerrilla, such as fully destructible environments. Also similarly to its predecessor which had the player liberating settlements from the Earth Defense Force, the player must now reclaim cultist fortifications on the disaster-ravaged surface of the planet and free colonists from alien cocoons. Players can also hunt for artifacts to create new alien weapons such as the new Nano Forge, Tremblers and Rhino Charges. Although the planet's surface is no longer habitable, gameplay will not be restricted to only the underground caverns of Mars and can still explore and fight on the surface of Mars against the aliens. The game also features a new extermination mode which has four players teaming up to fight against infinite waves of attackers.

Plot
Like the first and third games of the series, the game takes place on the planet of Mars. The game takes place in the year 2170, half a century after the events of Red Faction: Guerrilla, since the end of the third game the surface of the planet has become uninhabitable. This occurred when the massive Terraformer on Mars which supplied it with its Earth-like air and weather had been destroyed, causing the atmosphere to turn to chaos with super-tornados and lightning storms engulfing the planet. In order to survive, the Colonists were forced to flee to the underground mines of Mars, building a network of habitable caves under the surface of the planet.

The game begins five years after the relocation underground and follows the story of Darius Mason, grandson of Martian Revolution heroes Alec Mason and Samanya who were the main characters of Red Faction: Guerrilla, who runs a lucrative series of businesses based in Bastion, the underground hub of Colonist activity, including mining, scavenging and mercenary-work. Only a few sane people venture to the now-ravaged surface of Mars, apart from contractors like Darius and smugglers who smuggle goods between settlements. Darius is tricked into reopening a mysterious shaft in an old Marauder temple which releases a long-dormant evil race of aliens causing an Armageddon on/in Mars. Colonist and Marauder settlements alike are torn apart by the new enemies with Darius and the Red Faction having to save the Martian population once again

E3 2010 Revelations
The magnet gun is "a deceptively simple concept; Darius fires first at one object, then at a second object, and then the first object rockets toward the second. Producer Jim Boone calls this the game's "signature weapon," and it shows in its versatility. "I watched as the developer giving our demo fired at the side of a building, then at one of the game's new alien enemies, only to see the side of the building tear off and collide with the alien, sending it flying across a cavern." Volition also demonstrated how the magnet gun can work the other way, launching enemies through buildings and other structures."

The Nano-Forge is continued in this game, now a bit of a relic of the Mason family, having been passed down through two generations. In that time, it has been modified from a rifle used to dissolve objects, vehicles and people to a tool of repair and creation. "Using the Nano-Forge on destroyed objects and structures will reform them, allowing Darius to construct cover, fix machinery, and other uses that Volition remains cagey about." It was also stated that upgrades such as disintegration will be available as the game progresses.

Finally at E3, Volition debuted the Exo, "a robotic suit with powerful weaponry whose biggest strength nonetheless appears to be its ability to crash through structures with little effort. Darius piloted the Exo at full speed through a horde of aliens, splattering them on contact, and then brought down an infested building by crashing through its walls."

Development
The game was first announced in the form of a short teaser trailer which debuted worldwide on June 4, 2010 on GameTrailers TV. The game was also showcased at the E3 2010 from June 15 to 17, 2010. There will be a downloadable game before Red Faction: Armageddon which will be released before the game is released in March 2011. The downloadable game will be available on PSN and XBLA (no word on PC version) in November or December, 3 or 4 months before release. Additionally, there will be a direct-to-television movie set between the events of Guerrilla and Armageddon, tentatively titled Red Faction: Origins. It is due for release in March 2011.

Release Dates
March 2011