When the massive Terraformer supplying Mars' atmosphere was destroyed, the surface of the planet became inhospitable. All the human colonists were forced underground into the tunnels carved out by their ancestors.

Sheltered from the storms that ravaged the red planet's crust, for years a relative peace engulfed the survivors. But as they dug deeper and deeper into the core of the planet, a new threat revealed itself.

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Tricked into re-opening an abandoned shaft in an old Marauder temple, Darius Mason (grandson of RF: Guerrilla's Alec) inadvertently unleashed a long-dormant alien infestation upon the colony. In three days it wipes out all but a few. Along with the rest of he must now follow in his family's heroic footsteps and save mankind.

Whereas was all about the dusty, of Mars' surface, Armageddon returns to Red Faction 1's underground setting. By doing so, this fourth entry in the series promises to offer a far more focused, linear experience than its occasionally aimless predecessor.

The series' trademark destruction remains, however. Employing Volition's own Geo-Mod 2.5 engine, Armageddon promises to improve upon Guerrilla's beautifully realised devastation. Again, if it's on screen, it can be blown-up, collapsed, crumbled, crumpled and exploded.

But while flipping remote mines onto load-bearing walls and watching as buildings concertinaed down was Guerrilla's only real draw, Armageddon attempts to add a few tweaks and tricks of its own.

The first noticeable change comes in the shooting, which appears to be greatly improved. Red Faction: Guerrilla's rifles and pistols felt weak and ineffective. In our demo, the manner in which Darius dispatched a gang of diminutive Creeper aliens with his meaty assault-rifle suggests they may just have nailed it this time out.

But that's the least fun of Darius' new toys. The best of the bunch is the Magnet Gun, able to turn anything in the environment into a projectile. To use this new weapon you must first fire a shot at an object, then another shot at its intended target. This rips the object from its moorings and throws it towards the second.

There's versatility there too. In our we were shown Darius firing the Magnet Gun's first shot at the side of a building, while the second was aimed at an approaching alien. Rather than move the entire structure, the Magnet Gun instead ripped a chunk of masonry off and flung it at the enemy, sending it careering through the cavern.

It works the other way around too. You can also use the gun to throw aliens straight at buildings, splatting them like flies on a windscreen. It looks immensely satisfying. No wonder are calling it Armageddon's "signature weapon."

Elsewhere, the series' Nano-forge technology has been re-imagined. You can now use it to issue shockwaves that stun nearby enemies and throw them into the air. Which is fine. Rather more interestingly, however, you can also use it to repair partially collapsed buildings and structures.

In the demo we were shown, Darius ripped open a container using the Magnet Gun and rushed inside. Once there he used the Nano-forge to repair the container around him, offering complete cover from the large Ravager aliens that threatened to overwhelm him outside. It was all very nifty, but we have the suspicion Volition have some far more interesting uses for Nano-forge up their sleeve.

The last of Darius' new toys shown in the demo was the Exo suit. It's a mech, basically, albeit a surprisingly nimble one. With the suit equipped Darius was able to dash around shoulder bashing multiple enemies into a bloody mist, while firing off a powerful rail gun and volleys of heat-seeking missiles. The Exo suit would seem to leave you all but invincible.

Armageddon's only real disappointment came in the form of the its supposed horror elements. From what we saw, it's basically just not scary. The aliens bear a passing resemblance to some of those found in Dead Space, admittedly, but it was that game's setting that bought the chills. Scattering the odd silhouetted dead body around just isn't enough.

But then perhaps it's unrealistic to expect scares when you are as powerfully equipped as Darius Mason. With a toybox of destructive weapons this versatile and potent, you've really got no reason to fear anything. Rather the opposite. The demo suggests we'll be willing more and more enemies on screen so we can off them in increasingly creative ways.

We'll see. There's plenty more to be revealed about Red Faction: Armageddon. But based on what's been revealed so far, we're highly optimistic.

By Lee Bradley