Freebie Feelers: Red Faction Armageddon

Freebie Feelers is a series where we download the free monthly console-specific or newly released free-to-play games to test their worth. This series will contain some useful information as well as plenty of personal opinion. While these articles may not be reviews, we hope that you will be able to use them to help decide whether that free download is worth it.

What is it?

From 2011, it’s the fourth, and final, game in the Red Faction series, and certainly one of the most different. A third person shooter, you’re on Mars as part of the local militia (the titular Red Faction), when something goes wrong and everyone is forced to live beneath the surface of the planet. Something goes even worse, and suddenly alien bug monsters from the bowels of Mars are killing everyone - who knew, Martians were real all along, and hungry for human flesh.

What did you think?

On it’s own, Armageddon is a fun game. Tons of guns, a robot suit and the ability to fling rubble (and aliens) long distances using the physics engine. If you’re a fan of Gears of War, this will float your boat. I, however, had never played Gears of War, but had played every other Red Faction game. The enemies being monsters instead of humans, and being limited to caverns with the occasional structure you could destroy were both unwelcome changes to the formula.

The gameplay itself is tight, and it has a few fun set pieces, but it would have been better to not be labeled as Red Faction.

Is it worth downloading?

If you’re in to third person shooters, then this will certainly scratch any itch you have. The weapons are cool, the enemies numerous and it is fun. Just don’t go in expecting Red Faction Guerilla, and you shouldn’t be disappointed.

Red Faction Armageddon is usually £24.99, so if you’ve ever wanted to play it, definitely grab it between 16th and 31st of August on Xbox 360.