Downloadable Prequel Unlocks Content in new Red Faction

[Logan Westbrook]

Downloadable Prequel Unlocks Content in new Red Faction

A new downloadable Red Faction arcade title is more than just a game, it's also a key.

THQ has announced a downloadable prequel title for the Red Faction: Armageddon called Red Faction: Battlegrounds. Battlegrounds is a top down vehicular combat game with three different types of vehicles, and four player local multiplayer.

What's especially interesting about Battlegrounds though, is that not only does it act as a prequel to Armageddon's story, it also unlocks unique content in Armageddon as you achieve various goals. Don Whiteford, Creative Director for developer THQ Digital Warrington says that Battlegrounds is a "companion product" to Armageddon, and the goal is not to make a ton of money - he says that revenues are still fairly low for digital products - but to increase awareness and loyalty for the Red Faction brand.

There's no way that the content that Battlegrounds unlocks is going to be anything other than a little extra flavor, similar to the Normady crash site in Mass Effect 2 or the nudity code that came with Saboteur, so how you feel about it will largely depend on how you feel about downloadable content in general. It's believed that that Battlegrounds will be released on Xbox Live Arcade and PSN in either November or December, a few months ahead of Armageddon's March release.

Source: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/29911/GDC_Europe_THQs_Whiteford_On_Building_Red_Faction_For_Digital_Download.php]


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[Quiet Stranger]

They can only regain my loyalty WHEN THEY BRING BACK RF IN FPS MODE!

 

[TylerC]

I'm sure we'll be seeing much more of this going on, and it will be about the money. Hopefully it's not stuff on the actual disc you unlock, but a separate downloadable thing.

 

[Jared]

Now thats an intresting way to sell a game, it reminds me of the weapon code in the book for Fable? New way to generate revenue me thinks?

 

[felixader]

I would have thougth about it if it hadn't been an Top Down (probably Shooter) Game.

There are already too much of those. X-P

 

[The Rockerfly]

I suppose it keeps fans buying games in the series and as long as the item is not needed by players to finish the game then I am all for these sorts of ideas

 

[Darenus]

In all honesty, while I have mixed feelings about the franchise as a whole (I played and liked the first, I played and shook my head at the 2nd and I have yet to find interest in Guerilla after the massive panning it got all over) I can say that this idea is not at all a bad strategy.

Speaking personally here, I enjoy such small lil' timewasters of games, but often times I also wish they would offer a bit more to them. In this case the 'more' is less in the content of the game itself but more of the overal tone it will hopefully set to the core game that is yet to come. And while I agree that it looks like they try to take a stab at the Resident Evil 4 (not 5) and Dead Space type of games, explaining it flimsily with the fact that they just are on Mars and there was suspected life on Mars before, it still is a lot more than what I would expect from other companies that just boot out their games with a shallow story.

Wether or not this one will succeed in the end is still to wait out of course but I can not help but feel a slight peek in interest with me here.

Anyone got any idea how much it (is going to) costs? I haven't seen entries here in my local PSN so far.