THQ giving up on Red Faction after "disappointing" Armageddon

An obituary for the just-cancelled franchise

Words: Tom Goulter on July 28, 2011

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TheVoid - July 28, 2011 7:33 a.m.

Maybe, just maybe, those that are damning the series because Red Faction: Battlegrounds and Origins were "middlingly-received" is because "middlingly-received" is a nice way of saying "sucked". And as for Armageddon, I have not played it yet because I am still GLUED to Guerrilla. In fact, when I heard the sequel was moving underground, I was immediately discouraged, but enough positive reviews suggest that I will pick it up eventually. And that's your problem right there, THQ: You didn't let Guerrilla finish it's shelf life before thrusting Armageddon upon everyone which suffered due to a) "too soon" syndrome and b) you moved the goalpost with the "underground vs aliens" setting. Guerrilla was a bonafide hit and THQ went all "Angry Birds" with it, throwing us a less-than-entralling "Battlegrounds" and a lackluster movie in some poorly received but probably wildly expensive attempt at "keeping the image relevant". I'll tell you what, THQ, fire the hell out of your marketing staff and use those assets to focus on a Red Faction: Guerrilla 2. It's what the fans want and fans will ultimately dictate what sounds good - not some horseshit advisor. Sorry THQ, but the problem was that Guerrilla was still turning heads, let alone the significant amount of replay value that it offered. It's a game that will stand tall in many collections for many years to follow, and for that you should be proud. So slow the hell down, think about it, and get back to us when you've figured out the only proper course of action: Red Faction Guerrilla 2.
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kor2disturbed - July 28, 2011 6:50 a.m.

I'm sad if any game series calls it quits, and I still play Guerrilla, from time to time, I remember when my dad showed me this game, I couldn't get past the first level. (I was 6)
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Deathdeisel - July 28, 2011 6:32 a.m.

I actually love nemesissurprising's idea. Completely take the exact story from red faction one, and make it into as good of graphics of even COD: MW and id be happy. The first was really a blast, and if they remade the original, id buy it up first day garunteed.
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Tranquilbez34 - July 28, 2011 6:28 a.m.

Why couldn't Armageddon be open world! Saints Row the Third better be Good!
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BlitzIzDaShitz - July 28, 2011 5:41 a.m.

The pic you used for this article on the front page is a perfect metaphor for the article lol
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therawski - July 28, 2011 4:29 a.m.

Those fucking bastards couldn't just make a Guerrilla 2
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NanoElite666 - July 28, 2011 4:29 a.m.

*sigh* First Legends 3 gets canned, and now there isn't going to be any more Red Faction. This past week or so has been pretty crappy...
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QWERTYCommander - July 28, 2011 3:45 a.m.

Sad to see the series go. Unlike other people here I actually liked Armageddon a lot. Nothing beats splattering an alien against the wall by sticking a magnet on him. I also thought that Guerilla was a pretty awesome game.
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Yeager1122 - July 28, 2011 3:29 a.m.

I did really like Guerilla but i didnt like the look of Armageddon but i am sad to see the series go.
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Kage_No_Shi - July 28, 2011 3:26 a.m.

Any sort of lackluster sales of Armageddon could at least be partially blamed on the Linearity of the world. THQ regressed, going from open world (Guerrilla) to linear (Armageddon). That definitely turned off a lot of people, I'm sure. Mr Toots was great though XD Same thing happened with Final Fantasy XIII neh? A lot of people got bored of the game because of its excessive linearity.
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Enclave84 - July 28, 2011 2:09 a.m.

I have to admit I was a bit dissapointed in Armageddon, they took out the fun stuff that made the game exciting to play in Guerrilla, even if my step-brother hated guerrilla for a reason I can't understand. The other problem with Armegeddon is it's short...to short. I hope they don't give up on the franchise but they do need to forget about making it like armegeddon and go back to the Guerrilla way of making Red Faction. Atleast THQ still has Saints Row, hopefully they'll make the third on just as good as the second one
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RedHarlow - July 28, 2011 2:04 a.m.

They should have stuck with first person. At the very least, the shouldn't have continued the Mason-family story line, Alec was so boring of a character in Guerrilla. Red Faction was really the best of the series, Geo-Mod was cool, local multiplayer was really fun, sweet weapons, etc.
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Tomgoulter - July 28, 2011 2:03 a.m.

@LordZarion: Thanks for your valid counterpoint. Mr. Goulter wouldn't venture to comment on the individual reception of a title beloved, by its very nature, by people with an affinity for blowing huge holes in things. While the game, as noted, wasn't all that warmly received (scores tended toward the seventies, which in game terms is basically saying a title is on par with only having ONE of your feet run over by a truck), your well-articulated enthusiasm is evidence of the "passionate niche following" that sadly wasn't enough to save the series. It's always nice to hear someone defend an underloved game.
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inkyspot - July 28, 2011 1:59 a.m.

Some Red Faction Guerilla DLC on XBLA now at a good price. I bought Armageddon, I liked a lot of things about it, but it felt like a different game, very linear. I will more likey trade it in for some money on a future game at Amazon. Oh Well, good buy Red Faction.
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Manguy17 - July 28, 2011 1:57 a.m.

Kinda deserves it, dont know what they were thinking with armageddon " hey lets remove the the best bit of our game ( free roam destruction) for linear shooting stuff!" but its still a shame, because if used correctly it could be really good, hopefully they will bring the destruction back in other games. and give the devs new jobs in making of said game
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nemesisuprising - July 28, 2011 1:55 a.m.

@Deathdeisel lol wow me too, I remember playing the old one for hours, trying to see if we could use rockets to find the boundaries of the games maps...we never did :( lol, I wish it wasnt broken anymore, and this is kinda sad, but hey what are you gonna do? although a hd re-make of the old one WOULD be totally amazing
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D0CCON - July 28, 2011 1:42 a.m.

If they wanted the game to have a chance, they should have made it more like Guerrilla. That one was pure fun (when played on easy, the massive troop numbers override the joy of blowing shit up on hard).
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Plan10FromOuterSpace - July 28, 2011 1:31 a.m.

I haven't picked up Armageddon yet but ive been a fan of Red Faction since the original game and the recent Guerrilla was a riot to play with probably the most fun destruction engine used in any game, ever...so I am a little disappointed to see the series end, however im sure they wont just throw away the fantastic physics engine..fingers crossed for some sort of 'spiritual successor' then?
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Felixthecat - July 28, 2011 1:30 a.m.

Aww man, this is bullshit. Red Faction is such a great franchise. This is sad news :(
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LordZarlon - July 28, 2011 1:17 a.m.

Mr. Goulter clearly doesn't know what he's talking about! The first Red Faction was fantastic! Sure the environments weren't completely destructible. It came out in the first couple of years on the PS2. For those of us who didn't own an XBOX we were quite content with terrific shooters like Red Faction and Time Splitters. The second game wasn't very good but Guerrilla turned out to be the best of the series. It's too bad that Armageddon didn't turn out the way we hoped. It seems like THQ is ditching a lot of franchises these days. I don't see them lasting to much longer with increased competition from EA, Activision and others.
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