History YMMV / RedFaction

* CatharsisFactor: ''Guerilla'' offers this in spades. There's no feeling quite like bringing down an entire EDF base with only your [[DropTheHammer trusty sledgehammer-]] and [[StuffBlowingUp gratuitous amounts of explosives.]] ''Armageddon'' offers up a bit more, though not nearly as much due to it's linear storyline. You can't fault it for trying though, especially when it gives you the option of reassembling what you just blew up with the [[NanoMachines Nano Forge]]... so you can ''[[UpToEleven destroy it again.]]''

* FranchiseKiller: People generally really enjoyed ''Guerilla.'' The franchise seemed quite revived. Then came ''Armageddon'' which abandoned the "rebels fighting oppression" recurring storyline for a generic BugWar plot, threw out the WideOpenSandbox of its predecessor for a linear third-person shooter game, and the ability to destroy terrain was often a ''detriment'' as you'd destroy critical paths and need to rebuild them constantly with the nanoforge. The game wasn't really ''bad'' but it was certainly not what anyone was hoping for and it sold so poorly that THQ said they no longer have plans for more Red Faction games for now. Of course, they said that about Red Faction 2, as well....

** For that matter, [[spoiler: why did Hale think he could tame the aliens, given that the only contact with them prior was an Ultor survey team that got ''completely obliterated?'' How ''did'' he tame that one alien, given that up to this point they'd done nothing but slaughter everything they came across? Why, as soon as that seal came off, did the aliens pour out and start murdering everything, when up to that point they'd apparently been perfectly fine underground? Hell, if Earth-like air is their one weakness, ''why did they not start massacring colonists when Ultor first colonized the planet?'']]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: In Armageddon, the concept of the Nanoforge is wonderfully realised in gameplay, but the plot almost entirely neglects it. The focus is entirely on the painfully unoriginal BugWar concept instead. The Nanoforge is literally the most scientifically advanced and ridiculously useful devise in the whole of creation, yet the Faction lets Darius run around with it. A power struggle between the new government, Darius and the cultists all over the [[MacGuffin Nanoforge]] and it's seemingly [[AppliedPhlebotinum limitless power]] would have made for a much more compelling plot. It would also have been more in keeping with the primary theme of the series: government oppression and civil war.

* CompleteMonster: The EDF officers in ''Guerrilla'' are varying shades of it. It's justified [[FridgeBrilliance if you think about it]]: They're fighting for the very survival of their civilization, and are getting more and more desperate as their hold on Mars gets less and less secure.

** In general The EDF in the third game seem to go past CompleteMonster and out the other side. They're so laughably evil that it's almost hard to take seriously.

* RootingForTheEmpire: The Earth Defense Force occasionally gets this. Partly because their brutality is so insanely overplayed that it skips CompleteMonster territory and just becomes implausibly hilarious, and partly because they get [[EvilIsCool cool uniforms]].

* LargeHam: EvilOverlord Victor Sopot in ''Red Faction 2'', especially in his big speech that plays during the game's title menu.

** Alec is a mortal avatar of Thor, God of Thunder, who has come to Mars armed with his hammer Mjolnir after doors killed his family. This is why the first new weapon is a LightningGun.
*** Shouldn't that be in WildMassGuessing?

** The third game arguably more so: instead of underground, the game is now set on the surface which is mostly comprised of desert, Mars is now occupied, its valuable natural resources exploited and its population oppressed by the vastly technologically and numerically superior army of a superpower (which routinely engages in killing of civilians and torture of prisoners) and you play as the member of a group of "[[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters freedom fighters]]" committing several acts of terrorism against the occupying forces. In other words, you're basically as obvious stand-ins for [[http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/09/24/wot-i-think-red-faction-guerrilla/ Iraqi insurgents]].

** The third game arguably more so: instead of underground, the game is now set on the surface which is mostly comprised of desert, Mars is now occupied, its valuable natural resources exploited and its population oppressed by the vastly technologically and manpower superior army of a foreign government (which routinely engages in killing of civilians and torture of prisoners) and you play as the member of a group of "[[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters freedom fighters]]" committing several acts of terrorism against the occupying forces. In other words, you're basically as obvious stand-ins for [[http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/09/24/wot-i-think-red-faction-guerrilla/ Iraqi insurgents]].

** The third game arguably more so: instead of underground, the game is now set on the surface which is mostly comprised of desert, Mars is now occupied and its population oppressed by the vastly technologically and manpower superior army of a foreign government (which routinely engages in killing of civilians and torture of prisoners) and you play as the member of a group of "[[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters freedom fighters]]" committing several acts of terrorism against the occupying forces. To be blunt, you're basically [[http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/09/24/wot-i-think-red-faction-guerrilla/ playing as Iraqi insurgents]].

** Admiral Lucius Kobel ([[EvilPlan who has been engineering the entire situation to take over from Roth]]) takes his bigass spaceship to Mars to put the Faction down via all out assault and orbital bombardment. The civilian population? ...''expendable''.

* DemonicSpiders: The railgun-wielding Merc Commanders in ''Red Faction'', who could kill you with 1 shot. ''From behind a wall.'' Those darned Elite Guards, too, who are MadeOfIron and dodge your shots like it's ''TheMatrix''.

* FranchiseKiller: People generally really enjoyed ''Guerilla.'' The franchise seemed quite revived. Then came ''Armageddon'' which abandoned the "rebels fighting oppression'' recurring storyline for a generic BugWar plot, threw out the WideOpenSandbox of its predecessor for a linear third-person shooter game, and the ability to destroy terrain was often a ''detriment'' as you'd destroy critical paths and need to rebuild them constantly with the nanoforge. The game wasn't really ''bad'' but it was certainly not what anyone was hoping for and it sold so poorly that THQ said they no longer have plans for more Red Faction games for now. Of course, they said that about Red Faction 2, as well....

** Admiral Lucius Kobel ([[XanatosGambit who has been engineering the entire situation to take over from Roth]]) takes his bigass spaceship to Mars to put the Faction down via all out assault and orbital bombardment. The civilian population? ...''expendable''.

* ThatOneSidequest: Ever wonder why Oasis is the most-requested sector for Demolition Master walkthroughs? Getting the pro time on one Demolition Master there involves demolishing a watchtower by hitting it with a batted exploding barrel. You have, at most, two shots before the pro time elapses and both of them need to have the precision of guided missiles to actually knock the tower down. With no consistent way to control the variables, especially the flight path and direction of the barrels, this is a nigh impossible LuckBasedMission.

* GameBreaker: In online multiplayer, the eponymous sledgehammer of ''Guerrilla''. There's a known bug in the game where the hammer's reach extends far beyond what it should ever be. Complaints filled the message board and the responses from the developers give only one concrete explanation for the phenomenon: [[{{ptitleueswu2fx0swd}} They Just Didn't Care]]. More charitably, online wasn't the main focus of development. Also Heal Packs: designed to keep you alive in the heat of combat by speeding up the rate you regenerate health, or [[TheJuggernaut as lot of players like to do, exploit its ability to make you invincible for its 30 second duration.]] There are also mods that include an assault rifle that shoots the explosions from singularity bombs.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: In Armageddon, the concept of the Nanoforge is wonderfully realised in gameplay, but the plot almost entirely neglects it. The focus is entirely on the painfully unoriginal BugWar concept instead. The Nanoforge is literally the most scientifically advanced and ridiculously useful devise in the whole of creation, yet the Faction lets Darius run around with it. A power struggle between the new government, Darius and the cultists all over the [[MacGuffin Nanoforge]] and it's seemingly [[AppliedPhlebotinum limitless power]] would have made for a much more compelling plot.

*** [[spoiler: the bugs are no aliens, they are a bioweapon created by the mad scientist in red faction 1 ]]

*** [[spoiler: the bugs are no aliens, they are a bioweapon created by the mad scientist in red faction ]]

*** the bugs are no aliens, they are a bioweapon created by the mad scientist in red faction 1