Max Payne

Max Payne raised the bar for cinematic action in video games, appropriating the style of John Woo’s gun fu movies. Of course, we can’t talk about Max Payne’s innovativeness without referencing its bullet time mechanic – an ability to transform shootouts into slomo bloodshed. Max Payne’s bullet time was clearly indebted to The Matrix, and whilst it wasn’t the first video game to feature bullet time it was the first to do it with such effortless swagger.

System Shock

The ways in which System Shock was ahead of the curve are numerous: it’s exploration of prescient themes centring on artificial intelligence, transhumanism, ascension, and the human soul is still grimly thought-provoking; its physics engine revolutionised how objects act in 3D spaces; its morally grey antagonist grounded its fantastical setting; it’s emphasis on player choice and options to avoid combat via ground-breaking hacking abilities. System Shock is an all-time classic, inspiring Prey, Dishonored, Portal, to name a few.

Outcast

A fully explorable open world appearing two years before Grand Theft Auto III isn’t why Outcast is ahead of its time. No, this 1999 sci-fi cult classic delivered immersion by the bucketload, far above anything that had come before. NPC conversation was integral to the narrative, but each had daily routines to follow, opinions on each other, and opinions on you the player. An early example of a reputation system, NPCs will help or hinder you based on how well you’ve treated them. Enemy soldiers are progressively weakened by lack of food or resources too, the result of activities you complete for the leaders of each region.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Much like Outcast some two decades prior, Red Dead Redemption 2 set new precedents for immersive open world story telling. It’s gorgeous grassland plains, swamps, and misty mountaintops encouraged horseback exploration; fast travel was not the optimal way to get around. Rockstar deliberately culled the pace of Red Dead’s sequel, stuffing the open world with a smorgasbord of side activities and random encounters. Open world games released today are struggling to reach the levels of freedom Red Dead Redemption 2 presented.

Mirror’s Edge

Flowstate is a remarkable thing when it happens in games. The sense of body and mind working in tandem, fluidly, uninterrupted. Games had toyed with parkour before Mirror’s Edge but none elicited the serene flowstate Mirror’s Edge did. This is in large part to its first-person perspective, it’s almost texture-less clean lines and minimal, distraction free colour palette switching between bright white and bold primary colours. Dying Light comes close, but the innovativeness of Mirror’s Edge is tough to beat.

Metal Gear Solid

An absolute genre-defining masterpiece, Metal Gear Solid changed perceptions of what video games could be via its unashamedly cinematic approach to storytelling, it’s ground-breaking stealth gameplay, and ingenious fourth wall breaking shenanigans. Never had a video game toyed with the player as much as Metal Gear Solid; etching Meryl’s codec frequency into the game’s physical CD case, or – most famously – the Psycho Mantis battle requiring players’ switch controller ports to evade his mind-reading ability.

Shadow of the Colossus

Originally released in 2005 at a time when video game contingent was still debating if the medium could be considered art. Contemplative, bleak, beautiful, befuddling Shadow of the Colossus put that contest to rest via minimal storytelling told ostensibly through environmental puzzles masquerading as boss battles. There really was nothing like it at the time. A wholly unique experience with an ending, like some of the world’s greatest art, wide open to interpretation.

Red Faction

Remarkably ground-breaking for its Geo-Mod technology was Red Faction. It’s incredible how much destruction developer Volition managed to build into its gameplay, and whilst there was a multiplayer component to the game the single player campaign was treated to this bar-raising destruction tech too. Players could reshape the world around them with unparalleled freedom. See a locked door? Blast a hole in the surrounding rock. Want to infiltrate a guarded building? Fashion underground tunnels with rocket launchers. Prior games included scripted destruction, but Red Faction was the first to grant players pure unscripted world-altering capabilities.

Shenmue

Sure, Shenmue’s stately slice of Japanese life divides fans and critics to this day, but the developer’s ambition for what they hoped would become a sprawling series was certainly ahead of its time. Introducing the concept of open world game design to mass audiences (well, Dreamcast players at least), Shenmue heightened immersion through its day and night cycles, NPCs with jobs and routines, and dynamic weather. The interactivity inherent in its detailed world cemented Shenmue as a trailblazer too, ranging from mundanely examining the objects of a kitchen drawer to hitting the arcades for some vintage game time.

Prototype

Prototype’s Alex Mercer is the perfect anti-hero. It’s as simple as that. So many powers and abilities are stuffed into his skillset that there was no more powerful a feeling possible in games than raising utter carnage in downtown Manhattan and barely feeling a scratch from an army desperate to stop you. In blending shapeshifting, superhero-esque aerial acrobatics, offensive and defensive body augmentations, thermal vision, guns, tanks, and helicopters, Radical Entertainment risked Prototype being a sludge of mechanics. Instead, Prototype is a blast; combining so many combat mechanics seamlessly truly was an achievement ahead of its time.

Battlezone

Never had a game merged first-person action, real-time strategy, base building, and tank simulation as cohesively as 1998’s Battlezone. Whilst the similar-in-scope Uprising: Join or Die released a year earlier it didn’t have the same sense of finesse that Activision’s effort exuded. Battlezone dripped in atmosphere, featured dynamic missions inside an engaging dual-perspective campaign, and – crucially given its melding of disparate genres – a sleek interface innovative for its simplicity.

RAGE

You can debate until you’re blue in the face on the memorability of RAGE. It brought legendary developer id Software back from the brink of mediocrity, but it’s shooting, premise, enemies, story – all middle-of-the-road at least. A solid 7/10. RAGE though had an ace up its sleeve: megatexturing. This tech wasn’t new at the time, but thanks to game engine id Tech 5 RAGE’s environment artists were able to build in an endless stream of unique textures. Dynamic scaling based on PC capability kept the game running at 60fps too; another feature prevalent nowadays but none-too-common back in 2011.

Syndicate

1993’s Syndicate put you in command of four trenchcoated, mirror-shaded cyborgs undertaking a corporation’s nefarious dealings via the trigger of a minigun. Gameplaywise, you’d take to the streets – early examples of living cities – to assassinate, coerce, rescue, or destroy, depending on your objective and whims. There was intelligence beneath the bloodshed too, a satirical mirror exposing the tunnel vision of rampant consumerism. Grand Theft Auto took these themes and ran with it, but Syndicate was the first to do it.

Far Cry 2

If Far Cry 2 were released today, it might be criticised for an overly minimalist approach to open world game design that’s become much more commonplace than it was back in 2008 when it originally released. Thing is, it’s Far Cry 2 that arguably started this trend. A true pinnacle of emergent gameplay, zones aren’t acquired like a shopping list and NPCs don’t tend to function as quest givers. Instead, it’s up to you to head into the bush a cause your own trouble, but beware as guns often malfunction, exploded vehicles cause rampant bushfires, healing is strictly limited. Far Cry 2 had the confidence here to blend FPS with survival mechanics, with Metal Gear Solid V, Fallout 4, and The Forest to name a few taking many leaves out of its book.

Silent Hill 2

Dealing with mature, taboo, brushed under the carpet subject matter in such visceral ways; intrinsically linking a character’s innermost desires and torment to gameplay, to monsters encountered; in crafting an atmosphere so noxious it chokes you – these are all reasons why Silent Hill 2 is an ahead of its time masterpiece, and stands the test of time some 22 years later. In a way, Silent Hill 2 is experimental; for one, its story is told extremely subtly. A very hands-off approach which many developers, plus Konami themselves, haven’t learned from.

While it remains to be seen whether the full suite of Volition’s IP will continue to have a future going forward, two of them certainly will in the form of Saints Row and Red Faction. The same was confirmed by Deep Silver – the publisher of both franchises – in a Twitter message following up on the announcement of Volition’s closure.

“Our thoughts go out to everyone at Volition, past and present,” Deep Silver wrote. “We’re incredibly grateful for their unforgettable work on Saints Row and Red Faction, whose IPs will live on at PLAION.”

Incidentally, it was announced by Embracer Group earlier in 2023 that by next year, three of its publishing labels will be merged into PLAION, with Deep Silver being one among them.

Our thoughts go out to everyone at @DSVolition, past and present. We're incredibly grateful for their unforgettable work on Saints Row and Red Faction, whose IPs will live on at @PLAION https://t.co/15PKDs2kpc

— Deep Silver (@deepsilver) September 1, 2023

We know that for E3, publisher THQ Nordic has two unnamed games to show. based on their floorplans. The company has a wealth of IPs at this point, and there are rumors that the two games in question are a new Destory All Humans! and a new Darksiders. But it looks like another potential leak puts more hats in the ring, as a new entry in the Red Faction series could be coming.

Some eagle-eyed PC players on the Metacouncil forums happened to notice something interesting when looking at the compatibility list for Nvidia’s Ansel, a bit of tech that allows users to take 360° screenshots. Under the Rs, there is a listing for an as of now unannounced game called Red Faction Evolution. It’s since been deleted, but you can check out the screengrab below.

As of now we’ll file this under rumor, but a return of the franchise wouldn’t be too off the wall. It recently received a remastered entry in the form of Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-Mars-Tered, which is available now for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Speaking to OXM, Boone stated that, “The fact that they have had experience, and understand what it means to perform destruction, and what kind of compromises you actually have to make – maximising the opportunities that it presents from a design standpoint. I think you almost by definition have to be someone who has some experience in destruction so yeah, I’d totally be giving it up to DICE, if I could choose anyone.”

Given DICE’s experience with destruction in its video games, especially the upcoming Battlefield 4 which implements real-time reshaping of its levels for tactical supremacy, it seems like a good choice. Boone also remared about the “smarter” destruction of Frostbite compared to Volition’s GeoMod. “In Red Faction, I could destroy every single bit of wall I wanted to. In Bad Company, I could destroy one part of wall, but the outer edges would stay. And the gamer didn’t care.

“They just thought ‘I shot that wall and it blew up and that’s amazing.’ Not ‘I shot the wall right there and there’s a hole right there.’ Because DICE made that one compromise, everything else looked amazing. And I think that was a smart call, frankly.”

Battlefield 4 will be releasing on October 29th in North America for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, with next generation versions due in November for PS4 and Xbox One.

That doesn’t stop them from wanting to see a new one, some day. Speaking to IGN, associate producer Kate Nelson, “I still really love Red Faction. Especially our destruction engine. We no longer own the rights to that franchise but I still think maybe we could keep the dream alive at some point…I don’t know if we’ll ever actually be able to.”

The last game in the series, Red Faction: Armageddon, released in 2011 to middling reviews and commercial success. This is especially interesting given the awesomeness that was Guerrilla. Will there ever be a new game in the series? Never say never in the gaming industry.

However, in speaking to Eurogamer, Nordic Games Group owner and CEO Lars Wingefors thinks there’s potential for a sequel somewhere down the line. “The last game, I wouldn’t say it was a failure, but it was a set-back. It was a disappointment. We realise that. That is included in the price tag for it.

“However, there are millions of fans who really liked the first product. It’s a good concept. You just need to make it good.

On Volition, Wingefors stated that, “We have been approached by some good people today on that as well. It’s a top-notch independent European developer, which has the resources. I can’t say any more than that.”

Sweden-based company Nordic Games have picked up Darksiders, Red Faction and MX vs ATV for a total of $4.9 million. This contract also includes franchises such as Supreme Commander, Frontlines, Stuntman, Juiced, Full Spectrum Warror, Destroy All Humans and more.

Lars Wingefors, owner and CEO of Nordic Games Group AB, said, “First and foremost we are very happy about this deal which also turns over a new leaf for the entire Nordic Games Group. In the long term, we either want to cooperate with the original creators or best possible developers in order to work on sequels or additional content for these titles.”

He continued, “A very important point for us is not to dash into several self-financed multi-million dollar projects right away, but rather to continue our in-depth analysis of all titles and carefully selecting different financing models for developing new instalments of acquired IPs.”

THQ and Nordic Games are waiting for the US Bankruptcy Count to get the stuff going for sale on May 13th, 2013.

Check out the previous article regarding THQ bids here.

So does that mean that Darksiders finally has a bright future in the next-generation of gaming?

Find out more on GamingBolt as the story develops and leave any comments or opinions you have down below in the comment section.

Court documents show that of the 17 bids made, with final offers still pending court approval, the total amounts to roughly $6 to $7 million. As of now, it’s unknown who won the bids but we do know that TeamPixel lost out on trying to capture Homeworld, for which they’ll be refunding various backers.

IPs involved in the auction includ Darksiders, Red Faction, the MX series, and of course, THQ’s licensed software. Wrapping up of the auction’s proceedings was expected to be done by mid-May but it appears things will be well and truly over by May end. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for details on the new IP owners.

Here is the latest trailer for Red Faction: Armageddon which happens to relate to the ‘Ruin Mode’ in the game.  Now it looks like THQ and Volition have turned it up a notch with the Red Faction franchise as this trailer will explode in your face.  I am definitely interested in where they have taken the franchise, plus you can also check out our hands on preview at Red Faction: Armageddon right here.  The game comes out for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 as well as the PC on May 31 in the US and on June 1 in the UK.

Danny Bilson the SVP at the company revealed that the unnamed title will be 80 percent underground, and that it will be released in March next year.

Not only will the new episode of GTTV reveal the new Red Faction, but you will also get to see the world premier of the Crysis 2 gameplay, along with gameplay footage of F.E.A.R 3 and first footage of Vanquish.

Check out the promo for the next episode:

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