Red Faction: Armageddon

If you missed out on 2009's Red Faction: Guerrilla, go and rent it or buy a used copy. It's a fun open-world game where you're encouraged to destroy everything and it never gets old. I was hoping this kind of fun gameplay would carry over to Red Faction: Armageddon, but boy was I wrong.

In this sequel to one of the more underrated games of the past decade, you play as Darius Mason, grandson of Guerrilla's main character, Alec Mason. The Mars colonists have been forced to live underground after the fanatic Alex Hale destroyed the Terraformer. Darius is tricked by Hale into awakening alien monsters in the depths of the caves of Mars, which threaten to drive the colonists out of their underground sanctuaries. Darius must now stop the chaos, hunt down Hale and clear his name before it's too late.

The biggest disappointment I had with this game was that it wasn't an open-world game like it's predecessor. There's no time to wander around and look for things to destroy. And while destruction is still available and fun to do, there doesn't seem to be much encouragement to do it. Instead you're supposed to run through long, narrow hallways and shoot down wave after wave of monsters, which gets old after a while.

The story is also boring and way too short; roughly 5 or 6 hours, depending on what difficulty you play on. There's no time for any character development, which makes them uninteresting and easily forgettable.

The game is still kind of fun with its good variety of weapons, ranging from new ones like the magnet gun, to old favorites like the sledgehammer. There's also plenty of vehicles in story mode that allow you to quadruple the mayhem you cause. The controls are pretty solid, especially the ability to auto-aim. Another new ability is Nano Forge, which allows you to instantly repair damaged buildings. So if you accidentally destroy something you actually need, like a bridge, a staircase or some cover, you can restore it right on the spot.

But if you really want to have some fun, play the two mini-games: Extermination and Ruin. Extermination is an online survival game for one to four players who must either survive waves of enemies or protect a structure for as long as possible. Ruin captures the true essence of the Red Faction series: destruction. You're given a specific amount of time to cause as much damage as you can in a certain environment. Sadly, this mode is only available through an online purchase or through a code included with a purchased copy of the game.

Bottom line, if you haven't played Red Faction: Guerrilla, go and play that first. Afterword, if you still want something more, rent Red Faction: Armageddon.

Available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Rated M for Mature. Published by THQ and Syfy Games, developed by Volition, Inc.