Red Faction: Armageddon Announcement Trailer

Like a couple of kooks, THQ and Volition have today announced the new game in the Red Faction franchise, subtitled Armageddon. Check the links at the bottom of the page for the game's first trailer and a handful of screenshots.

Although it's a bit of a random announcement, especially so close to E3 and on a Saturday no less, it's not that surprising. After all, Red Faction: Guerrilla garnered critical praise and sold in excess of a million copies, so a sequel is still a real win.

They've also released some details about the game's plot, quoted below. The game is set over fifty years after RF:G (so... circa 1984, right?), with the protagonist being the grandson of rebel rebel engineer Alec Mason. There seems to be some big changes in the strength of the plot, which is only a good thing.

Half a century after the Red Faction resistance and their Marauder allies freed Mars from the brutal Earth Defense Force, harmony on Mars is again threatened but this time by a lethal force shrouded in mystery.

When the massive Terraformer that supplies Mars with its Earth-like air and weather is destroyed, the atmosphere turns to chaos, super-tornados and lightning storms engulf the planet. To survive, the Colonists flee to the underground mines and build a network of habitable caves.

Five years later, Darius Mason, grandson of Martian Revolution heroes Alec Mason and Samanya, runs a lucrative business from Bastion, underground hub of Colonist activity. Mining, scavenging, mercenary work--if the job is dangerous, Darius is your man. Few sane people now venture to the ravaged surface, aside from contractors like Darius and the smugglers who run goods between the settlements.

When Darius is tricked into reopening a mysterious shaft in an old Marauder temple, he releases a long-dormant evil and unleashes Armageddon on Mars. As Colonist and Marauder settlements are torn asunder, only Darius and the Red Faction can save mankind. The battle will take them across the storm-blasted planet... and below it, to the very heart of the unspeakable threat.The classic Red Faction levels of destruction never get old, so it's comforting to know that heroes at Volition aren't changing that formula at all this time round. But they have announced some new features to expect from the game, quoted again below:

• Hell on Mars - Darius Mason can only watch as the surface of Mars is destroyed. Seeking solace underground, an even greater threat emerges against humanity.

• Nano Forge - Unleash the devastating force of the Nano Forge with concussive blasts, core-shattering tremblers, and bone-crushing rhino charges.

• Extermination Mode - Four players can team up online to battle back the relentless tide of attackers as the mysteries of the ancient threat continue to unfold.

• Full Destruction - Tear down separatist outposts, rip apart alien monoliths, and reconstruct colonist defenses with Geo Mod 2.0, the most advanced real-time destruction engine to date.

• Fight for Survival - Free colonists from alien cocoons, reclaim cultist fortifications on the surface, and hunt for artifacts deep within alien hives to create unthinkable advanced weaponry.Enough of these damn words! How about some actual footage? Sweet thing, earthlings! Get ready for some fascination, here's an amazing trailer for you to peep your eyes on: http://www.thq.com/uk/thqtv/index?movieId=4037. Not only that, there's also four screenshots you can check out here: http://www.thq.com/uk/game/screenshots/6004/1

Red Faction: Armageddon is set to ship in March 2011. It's also scheduled to make some sort of appearance at E3, so I'm sure there will be more details in the coming weeks.