red-faction posts

There are a few things we expect from Red Faction: high-tech weaponry, excellent destruction physics, and plenty of enemies to kill. This trailer for Armageddon shows off all three, albeit through the lens of a supporting character (Kara). There's lots of running, witty commentary, blowing apart structures, and being generally violent. While it's definitely lacking in the in-game footage department, it's got us excited for the greater role story has in the single-player.

Download Red Faction Armageddon 'Kara' Trailer
Check out all Red Faction Armageddon downloads

Red Faction Armageddon was already scheduled to be released sometime in the month of May 2011. Today the game's publisher THQ confirmed that the fourth and latest entry in the Volition-developed sci-fi shooter series will indeed be released in May, at least here in the US. North America gets the game on May 31 while the Europeans will have it a few days later on June 3.

As we pointed out earlier this month, May 2011 is looking like it will be filled to the gills with major PC game releases. Indeed Red Faction Armageddon is coming out on the same day as Dungeon Siege 3.

[Via email press release]

Red Faction Armageddon is due out this May and this week its publisher THQ released the box art design for the upcoming third person shooter title. You can check out the entire design after the jump but one thing that caught our eye was the "Syfy Games" logo on the box front.

The Syfy cable TV channel is creating a prequel movie for the game, Red Faction Origins, that will also be shown on the network this May. However this is the first indication that the game itself has some backing from the cable TV network. Big Download emailed THQ for comment and a PR rep replied, "Nothing new to announce at this time. Red Faction: Origins is still in production and we look forward to sharing more in the future."

The Red Faction movie is scheduled to start production this week and today publisher THQ and the Syfy cable TV network announced the line-up of actors for the film, Red Faction: Origins. It's filled with a ton of veteran sci-fi actors, lead by the T-1000 himself Robert Patrick as Alec Mason, the main character from the last game in the sci-fi shooter series Red Faction Guerrilla.

The movie will also star Brian J. Smith, who played Lt. Matthew Scott in the recently canceled TV series Stargate Universe. He plays Alec Mason's son Jake Mason who in the movie is trying to find his lost sister on Mars. Jake Mason turns out to be the father of Darius Mason, the lead character (shown above) in the upcoming Volition developed third person action game Red Faction Armageddon.

Other actors in the movie include Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh and, as it turned out, a Cylon on the Battlestar Galactica revival series) and Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones of Torchwood), The movie is set to be shown on the Syfy network in May, around the time Red Faction Armageddon is scheduled to be released.

Steam's big holiday sale continues today with a new batch of price cuts for PC games from now until 1 pm Eastern time Sunday. In addition to today's Steam deals, GamersGate ends its daily sales event with Men of War Red Tide for just $5.49. Also the streaming PC game service OnLive has put several games on sale for as much as 75 percent off from now until January 2.

The games on sale today on Steam today are as follows:

Batman Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition - $7.50
Splinter Cell series - Save 50 percent off all games in the series or save 60 percent off of Splinter Cell Conviction if you own Splinter Cell Double Agent.
Red Faction series - save 75 percent off all games in series.
X Superbox (all games in the X space sim series) - $19.99
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 - $29.99
Dragon Age series - save 50 percent off all games in series
Monkey Island Special Edition 1/2 - $3.75
Altitude - $2.49
Shank - $7.49
Flatout series - save 90 percent off all games in series
Civilization V - $37.49
Tropico 3 Gold Edition - $6

As they sometimes do, the Steam PC game download site has a new week of PC game sales from a specific publisher, with each sale lasting a day. This week, Steam will put a number of THQ PC game titles on the price chopping block.

For the first daily sale, Steam has cut the prices of the first three games in developer Volition's Red Faction sci-fi shooter series. The first two games in the series are priced at just $2.49 each while the most recent game, 2009's Red Faction Guerrilla, is priced today only at a mere $4.99. All three games are priced at 75 percent off their normal prices until 1 pm Eastern time on Tuesday.

The next Red Faction game will be coming out a bit later than first announced. Publisher THQ announced today that the sci-fi shooter Red Faction: Armageddon, originally due for release in March 2011, will now be coming out a couple of months later in the May 2011 time frame. No specific reason for the delay was announced.

This move by THQ pushes the game out of the company's current fiscal year which ends on March 31, 2011. Because of this change THQ has lowered its revenue expectations for the fiscal year. Previously it had said it expected revenues between $845 million to $865 million. It now says that it expects revenues to come in between $800 million to $825 million for the fiscal year. it also expects to post a loss for the entire fiscal year versus its previous predictions of a break even fiscal year.

THQ also announced today it plans to release the third person action game Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine in the summer of 201. In addition, the next game in the Saints Row open world action game series is due out in the fall of 2011.

Gallery: Red Faction Armageddon Screenshots

It's nice to see a developer talk about their games, and this video interview (trailer? diary? what should we call it?) of Danny Bilson reveals more about THQ's plans for the upcoming Red Faction titles. We loved Red Faction Guerrilla, so the tidbits mentioned in this interview have us excited. Granted, this is not from Volition, but rather THQ, but the sentiments are still the same. After all, THQ is funding the series!

There's no big reveals in the interview, but there is certainly info to get thrilled about. THQ is partnering with Syfy to launch a television series and collection of webisodes, titled Origins, that get into the events between Guerrilla and Armageddon. There is also the downloadable title Battlegrounds, which is multiplayer and unlocks content in Armageddon when played. Bilson's excitement over the property is infectious, and we can't help but get more pumped for the game.

A follow-up interview with Jacques Hennequet is after the jump, and details a few of the changes that have been made to the Red Faction world and gameplay. Once again, it's not really anything we haven't heard before, but it's great to get it straight from the developers mouth. Some of our favorite bits: lakes of ice and lava, inclusion of the nanoforge, and the aliens.

THQ's Volition development team stays very busy. The team is already working on two projects; the third person shooter Red Faction Armageddon and Saints Row 3, the next game in its popular open world action series. Now it looks like Volition is branching out into an all new game franchise.

According to a new job listing on Volition's web site the developer is looking to hire a Design Director for "for a new action role-playing game." The listing adds that Volition is "collaborating with a high-powered creative talent in the entertainment industry to develop this original, unannounced franchise." Hmmm ... could this have something to do with the rumored signing of film director Guillermo del Toro for a game development project by THQ?

Last month, publisher THQ went all out at the San Diego Comic-Con to promote the upcoming third person shooter Red Faction: Armageddon. One of its promotions was a give away of a free 0 issue of a Red Faction: Armageddon comic book created by DC Comics' Wildstorm line.

Unless you purchase the comic on eBay there's no way to get a physical copy of the free giveaway. However DC Comics has now offered the entire issues as a free download via its DC Comics iPhone app. The comic serves as a prequel to the events of the Volition-developed game which is due out in March 2011. There's no word yet if Wildstorm plans to release a full fledged Red Faction mini-series.