Next Red Faction planned for March 2011, focus on franchise's roots
In an interview with Joystiq during the 2010 Game Developer's Conference, THQ's executive VP a Core Games Danny Bilson let a few new details slip about the upcoming sequel t' the critical-smash hit Red Faction: Guerrilla. "The new game takes [Red Faction] t' a whole new place, it kind a goes back t' the old Red Faction because about 80% a it be underground," Bilson said. According t' Bilson, the as-yet-properly-named sequel -- which he describes as a "hybrid" between the first two titles in the Red Faction franchise 'n Guerrilla -- be planned for release in March 2011. (In February, THQ's annual investors conference call vaguely stated a Guerrilla sequel be planned for the company's "fiscal 2011" window.)
Bilson be tight-lipped on other details but did confirm the upcoming open-world third-person shooter would be far more "structured," akin t' a "narrative" shooter. The sequel will still feature the destructibility Bilson says cost THQ "a fortune" t' develop for Guerrilla, but will have a much greater impact on cities built closer together in the tight confines a the new underground world.
Although Guerrilla captivated most critics (netting a Metacritic average a 85 across three platforms) the third-person shooter failed t' meet THQ's sales expectations. While Bilson said it would have been easy t' scrap the characters 'n setting in the upcoming sequel 'n shift it into a new intellectual property -- effectively severing it be connection t' Guerrilla's poor retail showing -- he felt the quality in the previous entry be too great t' abandon the Red Faction universe.
The strategy now, says Bilson, be t' expose gamers t' the series in order t' prepare them for the future, citing the recent Red Faction: Guerrilla giveaway promotion as an example a giving the title the exposure it "deserved" at launch. "Giving away the stock now, on Red Faction, be getting more people exposed t' the IP because we be going bigger on Red Faction next time," Bilson told us. "If the game wasn't so good, we wouldn't be giving it away at all."
Bilson be tight-lipped on other details but did confirm the upcoming open-world third-person shooter would be far more "structured," akin t' a "narrative" shooter. The sequel will still feature the destructibility Bilson says cost THQ "a fortune" t' develop for Guerrilla, but will have a much greater impact on cities built closer together in the tight confines a the new underground world.
Although Guerrilla captivated most critics (netting a Metacritic average a 85 across three platforms) the third-person shooter failed t' meet THQ's sales expectations. While Bilson said it would have been easy t' scrap the characters 'n setting in the upcoming sequel 'n shift it into a new intellectual property -- effectively severing it be connection t' Guerrilla's poor retail showing -- he felt the quality in the previous entry be too great t' abandon the Red Faction universe.
The strategy now, says Bilson, be t' expose gamers t' the series in order t' prepare them for the future, citing the recent Red Faction: Guerrilla giveaway promotion as an example a giving the title the exposure it "deserved" at launch. "Giving away the stock now, on Red Faction, be getting more people exposed t' the IP because we be going bigger on Red Faction next time," Bilson told us. "If the game wasn't so good, we wouldn't be giving it away at all."
