Red-Faction-Guerrilla
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Red Faction: Guerrilla trailer shows off tools of destruction
If you like weapons and exploding buildings, then you'll likely enjoy the latest trailer from Red Faction: Guerrilla. Either that, or you're an action hero. Unless your driver's license says Bruce Willis, however, then it's safe to bet you just like action, and don't find yourself as a regular participant in its chaos. The same cannot be said for folks on Mars, as action finds them on a daily basis. Don't believe us? Watch the trailer past the break, which depicts the everyday violence happening on the red planet. Here's what we've learned from said trailer: Quaid managed to start the reactor, but Kuato's rebellion hasn't won yet.%Gallery-19834%
Volition QA staff lost in THQ restructuring [update]
THQ's wild swings have finally brought the axe down on Red Faction and Saints Row creator Volition, reportedly culling the bulk of the Champaign, IL studio's QA staff out from the developer's ranks. Speaking with Kotaku, a THQ spokesperson confirmed that Volition lost 86 employees in the cut, including 47 temporary workers and 39 full-time staff. The numbers represent the lion's share of the QA department's 102 employees, with quality assurance duties now "primarily" falling to "THQ's centralized QA facilities, with a small staff remaining on-site in Champaign," according to a THQ statement. The layoffs are part of THQ's larger move to eliminate nearly a quarter of its jobs in an effort to cut costs and keep analyst bankruptcy predictions from coming true. Update: THQ's Julie MacMedan chimed in this afternoon to clear the air as well as any confusion regarding these layoffs, which according to the corporate communications VP only affected the publisher's QA facility in Champaign, IL and left Volition's "core development teams" untouched. "This will result in the eventual closure of the facility with a transfer of sixteen employees to Volition," wrote MacMedan in an email statement. "It will not result in any layoffs within the core development teams at Volition. Volition remains a key development studio within THQ and will continue to employ 236 staff." Confirming earlier information, she added: "The layoffs include 47 temporary employees who will not be having their service extended. Unfortunately, fluctuating headcount among the temporary staff is common based on when our games ship. In addition, 39 full-time staff will be laid off." In conclusion, and in a refreshing change of pace to these sorts of reductions, MacMedan wrote: "All laid off employees (both full-time and temporary) will be given at least sixty days' notice. We will do what we can to assist them in finding work in the community or elsewhere in THQ."
THQ's new strategy is to make a few 'core' titles yearly
THQ CEO Brian Farrell has revealed that the company plans to only release one or two hardcore titles as part of its "significant business realignment." According to Gamespot, Farrell stated at a recent conference that the new model would cut the publisher's previous development expectations in half and focus on quality over quantity.Don't expect to see the changes until at least 2010. THQ already has four core titles set for 2009: Red Faction: Guerilla, Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2, Darksiders: Wrath of War and Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor. Saints Row 3 could become one of those two 2010 titles, considering the game is currently in development.
THQ reveals 'Significant Business Realignment'
No, it's not a new game title. It's the real-life struggle of THQ, which made word of internal studio closings and significant layoffs official today, as it reported losses of $115.3 million in its fiscal Q2. In total, five studios will be shuttered and 250 employees released (approximately 17 percent of the publisher's workforce), and the company will reduce its forecasted development spending by $100 million in the fiscal 2010 year. "THQ plans to focus on fewer, higher quality titles, and to align its organization and cost structure accordingly," outlines the quarterly financial report. "We will dominate the fighting category!" added CEO Brian Farrell during today's conference call, plugging upcoming WWE and UFC titles. As for those "higher quality titles," THQ has pushed Volition's Red Faction: Guerrilla into the first quarter of fiscal 2010 (April-June 2009) and Darksiders: Wrath of War into the second quarter (July-September 2009). Also absent in the short term, CFO Colin Slade will be taking an unspecified medical leave of absence. "I'm looking forward to returning to THQ as soon as possible," said Slade before retiring from the call.
Create-an-achievement, Red Faction style!
Feeling creative? The team at Volition have recently announced a community contest to name the final multiplayer achievement for the upcoming shooter, Red Faction: Guerrilla. Asking players to think outside the box instead of the standard "Kill X amount of bad dudes," the top five entries selected by the developers will receive prizes. Top prize will see their suggestion added to the game on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, receive a copy of the Collector's Edition and another unnamed surprise.Red Faction: Guerrilla is the third title in the established franchise which began on PC in 2001 but marks the first time the series has shifted to a third-person perspective. Recently, an exclusive Xbox 360 multiplayer beta ended for Red Faction: Guerrilla garnering mixed reactions from testers.
Red Faction Guerrilla beta drops
Not too long ago Fileplanet announced that the Xbox 360 beta for Red Faction: Guerrilla was being offered exclusively to paid subscribers and we ignored it. Who wants to pay for a beta, anyway ... except for everyone who initially bought Crackdown, that is. Today we finally want to talk about the Red Faction: Guerrilla beta because it is now available for anyone who signs up for a free account and completes a short registration questionnaire on Fileplanet.Download the 652MB beta today and let us know what you think![Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Red Faction: Guerilla beta open on 360 for IGN Insider and FilePlanet subscribers
If yesterday's video extravaganza for THQ's upcoming shoot-'em-up Red Faction: Guerilla tickled your ludological fancy, then a tip we recently received might interest you. Apparently, the Guerilla multiplayer beta from which yesterday's footage was gleaned is now open for Xbox Live Gold subscribers through FilePlanet -- though you have to be either a FilePlanet subscriber or an IGN Insider in order to gain the access code necessary to conjure the beta onto your 360 through Live Marketplace.There is a beta application to fill out, though we don't think they would turn their precious subscribers away. It's of little importance to us, however, as we make it a point not to subscribe to things that aren't the Oprah magazine.[Thanks, Kyle.]
Red Faction: Guerilla multiplayer beta video dump
We love jet packs. Let's get that out of the way right now. We can't get enough of the things, whether they be on 1930s superheroes, cargo pilots, or in this case, hilariously named online multiplayer combatants. GameTrailers recently hit the motherlode of gameplay videos from Red Faction: Guerilla -- in addition to the jetpackery you see above, there's four more videos posted after the break. We like what we see -- the action looks frantic, the destructible environments look fun, and the jet packs are... well, jet packs. Need we say more?
Joystiq E3 hands-on: Red Faction: Guerrilla
Volition's decision to change the perspective in Red Faction: Guerrilla from the first to the third-person couldn't have been an easy choice to make, but it seems to be the right one, something that even now feels strange to put to words. Even as a fan of the developer's terrain-deforming original, it's difficult to look back on Red Faction without qualifying my enthusiasm with the promises and potential of what might have been. However, after sitting down with Volition senior artist Jasen Whiteside over a hurried E3 lunch and actually playing the title, it's evident that action game fans shouldn't feel at all awkward about adding Red Faction: Guerrilla to their list of titles to look forward to in early 2009.%Gallery-19834%
Red Faction devs find PS3 potentially more powerful than competition
A developer at Volition, group behind the upcoming Red Faction: Guerrilla, joins the camp of developers who attest the PS3 has unbridled power beneath a rather complicated shell. Jeff Carroll, associate producer for the game, said other developers will struggle at first with the PS3, but when they figure it out, there's a very powerful system there.As for the needless comparison between 360 and PS3 versions, Carroll said "We've got the PS3 running at a similar frame rate to the 360. We're finding some of the challenges of the PS3 beneficial. We feel like we're doing rather well with the PS3." He goes into some specific benefits the PS3 brings to the table, like the increase in running speed once they moved animations and physics from the CPUs onto the SPUs. Potentially, Carroll said, the PS3 will push out better graphics than the 360. Since he says this game is pushing the PS3, maybe we'll see results that support his claim!
Joystiq hands-on: Red Faction: Guerrilla (360/PC/PS3)
At a recent THQ game event, another writer asked me about the original Red Faction. I told him it was one of the first games to use destructible environments. And then as I kept talking, I added qualifiers and backed off from that statement. Eventually, I rambled on to say it was also the first not-fully-successful game to do that in a long line of unsuccessful games. It was still cool -- smashing through a window was impressive -- but it didn't give the destroy-anything sense that the developers pushed.Due late this year, Red Faction: Guerrilla could finally deliver on that promise, although it has caveats of its own. Still on Mars, this time you play almost the entire game above ground. I had fun smashing holes into buildings and even destroying them with a sledgehammer. But I missed the underground, mining elements of the original. If everything is supposed to be destructible, why not the ground, too?On a technical and design level, it makes sense that a destructible ground would be a lot to ask. But it sure would be satisfying. Even without that option, Red Faction: Guerrilla could be a great game%Gallery-19834%
Red Faction III named, announced, detailed
According to Shack News, THQ has today officially announced Red Faction III which will be released under the title Red Faction: Guerilla. The news of a Red Faction sequel was let slip quite recently when it was mentioned during a THQ conference call to investors. Times have changed since the last incarnation of the Red Faction series was on the PS2 in 2003 and the gameplay of Guerilla, as a result, will be very different to the previous games. Set on Mars, Guerilla will feature an open-world and the game will be controlled from a Third-Person perspective. That's right, it's another Grand Theft Auto clone - but this one is set on Mars! It will also "expand the signature destruction elements of the series", so expect plenty of next-gen environment destruction. Expect the game to be released sometime during THQ's financial year of 2009 (which begins April 2008). We look forward to seeing more.
