After the success of Red Faction: Guerrilla, it was relatively obvious that THQ and developer Volition would be putting out a sequel post-haste. And while the next title in the series will be revealed in full at E3, the game’s official announcement will take place on tomorrow night’s GameTrailers TV, airing on Spike TV at 12 a.m. EST.
Of course, that means it’s now time to put speculation caps on and decide what the future holds for the Mars-bound franchise. And if the rumors true, what’s coming for the series is nothing short of Armageddon.
According to Destructoid, the new game has been confirmed as Red Faction: Armageddon, according to trademarks made by THQ earlier in the year as well as some Armageddon-related website registrations made by the publisher. The site also says that the game is expected to be released in March of 2011.
Of course, Guerrilla was a huge change for the once extremely-linear underground FPS, switching genres to an open-ended third person sandbox title. If rumors are to be believed, the game will be going halfway back to the way things were, with the terraformed surface of Mars giving way to the series’ trademark linear environments beneath the surface. Whether or not this is a good thing will is yet to be seen, but the franchise’s switch to mass destruction was a welcome change, not to mention extraordinarily satisfying.
However, it would be an issue if Red Faction returns to the other side of its roots, going back to a first-person shooter. The genre is clogged enough with plenty of franchises, new and old, and putting yet another into the mix will force Armageddon to get lost in the shuffle. While purists may want the series to make a triumphant return, keeping the series third-person allows the game to stand out while still appeasing the fans.
And please, don’t get rid of the jetpacks. They were sweet.
