Red Faction: Demons of the Badlands For the Xbox 360

Red Faction Guerrilla: Demons of the Badlands is a nice mini-prelude to Volition’s Red Faction Guerrilla. Featuring ‘Sam’ Sammy as the main protagonist of the game, Demons of the Badlands takes you back in time, much before Alec Mason’s arrival to Mars. This mini-expansion DLC strays away from the original Red Faction but promises the same intense battles with new weapons and upgrades.

The story in Red Faction Guerrilla: Demons of the Badlands takes place in Mariner Valley, an entirely new atmosphere not seen in any Guerrilla missions. It delves deep into the actions and history of a mysterious rebel faction called Marauders. You step into the shoes of ‘Sam’ Sammy, one of the lead protagonists and chief mechanic of Red Faction: Guerrilla. In RF: G, She creates advanced weaponry and upgrades for the Red Faction members.

Sam is the female lead protagonist in Demons of the Badlands, who fights against the ever-oppressive Earth Defense Force along with her sister Vasha, leader of the Marauders. The story revolves around Sam’s association with the Marauders in their struggle to fight EDF in the initial missions and her eventual disassociation from this mysterious group, leading to a superb climax in the ending missions.

The plot in Demons of the Badlands is much interesting than RFG, but brief as it is merely an expansion pack. The initial mission gives you the task of infiltrating the heavily fortified base of the EDF and rescuing Vasha from the clutches of a public execution. The final missions revolve around the Marauders’ evil plans to which Sam does not agree and escapes their base.

Red Faction Guerrilla: Demons of the Badlands is a mini expansion pack with four intense story missions divided onto multiple stages. While it may seem very easy, the missions are quite challenging than the parent game. There’s no salvage-collecting mess, instead the game focuses more on weapons and upgrades. The Guerrilla Actions involved here is much difficult than Red Faction: Guerrilla. Just try the Demolition Master yourself and you will understand the type of difficulty I am referring to.

The game adds seven new weapons from the high velocity-shooting Spiker Rifle to rocket-launcher type powerful Marauder shotgun. You can also carry several remote charges to destroy buildings and vehicles. One of the best parts of Red Faction Guerrilla: Demons of the Badlands is the reward system. Every little progress you make in the main and side missions will reward you with upgrades and new weapons.

The initial mission is easy and takes only 10-15 minutes to complete. But later missions, particularly the final prisoner-rescue mission, are difficult and challenging. The final story mission has all the ingredients of a true sci-fi action game, including rescue antics and sabotaging equipment. There are few side-quests like the Marauder Raid and Heavy Metal that add more excitement to the parent missions.

The Martian landscape in Red Faction Guerrilla: Demons of the Badlands looks beautiful. Mariner Valley, which resembles an oasis in the huge Mars planet, houses interesting architecture. The Marauder buildings give a new perspective to the game, an aspect which was missing in the parent game. Weapons and vehicles are perfectly rendered, some giving a perfect rusty look. The Mariner Valley design, with its buildings, rock formations and huge cliffs, is visually appealing than the terrain and buildings shown in RFG. The heat wave of the hot Martian terrain looks very realistic.

The sounds of weapons echo their strength and ferocity. Explosion sounds gives you a thrill of destruction and sense of achievement, especially when you employ those daring Guerrilla Actions. Although the main game did not give much importance to voice works and conversations, the expansion pack does have few conversations with Marauders. You will also hear Sam’s internal long speech within the game to explain her struggles and some history about Marauders.