Red Faction Guerilla: Demons of the Badlands

Red Faction Guerilla was all about insane, over-the-top destruction. There was a plot in there somewhere but it was all overshadowed by the fact that you could tear nearly every structure in the game brick by brick.

With Demons of the Badlands (DotB) – the downloadable content (DLC) for RFG, you can continue to do so with reckless abandon. DotB takes place nearly eight years before RFG and places players in the boots of Alec Mason’s feminine friend Samanya – a Marauder as she takes the fight to the EDF (Earth Defense Force).

The action this time round is restricted to Mariner valley, an area not connected to the first game (it’s still on Mars though). It’s pretty small compared to Mars and isn’t nearly as lively as the world from RFG but it’s packed with stuff to do so there’s never really a dull moment. Gameplay still remains unchanged which means you’ll have to indulge in a certain amount of side quests to unlock story based missions. These side quests, like RFG, basically revolve around blowing up EDF structures, rescuing hostages, delivering vehicles to various bases while on a timer and so on.

Volition has even thrown in a few new weapons and vehicles to the foray but none of them are revolutionary or memorable. In fact except for the fact that they’ve been designed to look Maurauder-ish, there really isn’t anything distinguishing them from the ones in RFG.

Demons of the Badlands isn’t as expansive as the Lost and the Damned offering only three story based missions. It also suffers from the same shortcomings as RFG; forcefully shoving side quests down your throat to unlock newer missions. The game can also get a bit overwhelming at times with literally hundreds of respawning troops up your backside. But at the same time it also benefits from all the cool stuff that made RFG a total blast so if you tripped out on Red Faction Guerilla and are itching to continue the destruction, go for DoTB by all means. If you’re expecting something revolutionary from this DLC, avoid it.