Red Faction

Dave Samuel of Volition presenting at GDC 2012 on "Communication & Iteration of Visual Effects in Red Faction"

The series has had three unique styles of gameplay. The first is a traditional first-person shooter element which was used by the first two games in the series, while the second is a third-person style of open world gameplay which was used in Red Faction: Guerrilla, and a third-person style of corridor shooter used in Red Faction: Armageddon. Both styles share a common element, the series' unique environmental destruction features. This was enhanced in Red Faction: Guerrilla when it was applied to every building in the game making the game's entire environment (except for the terrain itself) destructible.

The first two games were traditional first-person shooters with unique environmental destruction features that were praised in both games. The games include vehicles, pistols, rifles, explosives, and other traditional shooter weapons and features. While the first two games did not re-invent the first-person shooter genre, their Geo-Mod Engine and rebellious story made both games a new step for the genre.

Rather than the traditional first-person shooter style of the first two games, both Guerrilla and Armageddon utilize a third-person style of gameplay. Guerrilla takes place in an open world environment on the planet of Mars allowing players to freely roam across the environment. Armageddon is a more linear experience, largely moving through corridors and caverns from objective to objective. In the games, all environments are fully destructible which means that every single building in the game can be destroyed. Players are usually equipped with four weapons, the primary weapon is a sledgehammer with three more weapons of the player's choice. These weapons are mainly purchased using salvage, the main currency of the game, with the exception of the remote charges and assault rifle, both of which are given to the player by default at the start of the game. Purchasable weapons include an Arc Rifle, Grinder, Rocket Launcher, Proximity Mines and a Nano Rifle, the last of which is effective for remote demolitions. Players go around completing missions for the Red Faction and perform guerrilla actions to liberate various sectors of Mars from the control of the Earth Defense Force.

In each game for the series, an engine called Geo-Mod, short for "Geometry Modification" technology, is present in some form.[1] The Geo-Mod engine enables the player to destroy parts of the walls, floors, and other features of the levels in a non-predefined manner using various explosive weapons. For Red Faction: Guerrilla, the engine, now based on the Saints Row engine, was originally planned to be called RED, short for Realtime Environment Destruction, but later renamed as Geo-Mod 2.0, which allowed for the free-form destruction of buildings and other structures.[2] Geo-Mod was updated to version 2.5 within Red Faction: Armageddon. Though Volition had planned to include Geo-Mod in Saints Row: The Third, it did not make it into the final game.

On December 19, 2012, THQ filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy leading to an auction of THQ's properties that was held on January 22, 2013. While developer Volition was picked up by Deep Silver along with Saints Row, Red Faction was not a part of the transaction. On April 22, 2013, Red Faction was purchased by Nordic Games in the final transaction of THQ's assets.[8] A fan community has organized to petition for the development of a new title in the series.[9] After its purchase, Nordic Games CEO Lars Wingefors stated they either wanted to work with the original creators or best possible developer to work on sequels or additional content. After hearing of the Red Faction IP purchased by Nordic Games, Volition's general manager Dan Cermak expressed much relief that Red Faction is in comfortable hands but has stated Volition will no longer continue the Red Faction series.[10] In February 2018, Deep Silver was bought by Nordic Games,[11] which had since renamed itself THQ Nordic. In May 2020, the rights for the series were transferred to Koch Media thus returned the rights back to Volition.[12]

To tie in with the release of Red Faction: Armageddon, Volition released a downloadable mini-game. Red Faction: Battlegrounds is a top-down twin-stick vehicle-based shooter which is available via Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. The mini-game was produced by Juice Games for Volition.[13] The release date was April 5, 2011, beta invites were sent to a select group of PlayStation Plus subscribers on September 21, 2010. The Xbox Live version became backwards compatible on Xbox One on June 23, 2016.[14] Red Faction: Origins is a feature-length television movie produced by Syfy that coincided with Red Faction: Armageddon. The channel announced the film on April 16, 2010.[15] Volition confirmed the title of the film and its May 2011 release date on July 19, 2010.[16] The film is set in-between the events of Red Faction: Guerrilla and Armageddon.

The series has generally received positive reviews, with the original Red Faction and third installment Red Faction: Guerrilla getting the most acclaim, while Red Faction II and Red Faction: Armageddon received lower scores. Some common flaws are that the graphics are considered behind their time or unremarkable. Also, the scattered story and limited interactivity in the levels have been criticized overall. On the positive side, the series has been deeply commended for its unique geometry modification capabilities, intelligent AI, and prevalent storytelling themes.

Praised for its long play time, great gameplay, and smart AI, Red Faction was generally given average to great reviews by critics. The game was also criticized for its scattered story and mediocre graphics. GameSpot gave the game a great review saying, "It's a great big game with much to explore and enemies tough enough to make it worth playing through more than once." GameSpot awarded the game with an 8.9, giving it a rating of "great".[29] GameSpy awarded the game an overall score of 89/100 and called the PC version, "the best and most well-rounded first-person shooter released in a long time."[30]

Red Faction II's short campaign and lack of online multiplayer has diminished reviews by many critics. However, redeeming features include dual wielding, great multiplayer (split screen), and improved graphics. For these and other reasons, GameSpot awarded the game an 8.3/10.0, earning it the rank of "Great".[31] IGN's positive side of their review called the game "a very solid, well-produced first-person shooter", but their complaints stated that: "Volition still shows some room for improvement when it comes to level design, spots of AI, and implementing the vast potential of the Geo-Mod concept". Despite their complaints, IGN gave Red Faction II a 9.2/10, an "Outstanding" ranking.[32] The PC version of Red Faction II was far less well-received, with IGN criticizing the port's average looking graphics and incredibly short, though enjoyable while it lasted single player mode.