So it’s with some excitement that we came to play Demons of the Badlands, the downloadable single-player campaign that adds another few hours to the already lengthy Guerrilla experience. How could more of the same possibly be a bad thing - more buildings to blow up, more EDF to smash with our sledgehammers and more weapons to unlock? However, the first sign that not everything was going to turn out as we’d hoped came with the realisation that (spoilers ahead) Demons of the Badlands is a prologue to the game proper, taking us back to a time when the marauders and the Earth Defence Force (EDF) were fighting for control of the red planet. Alex Mason had yet to lay waste to the EDF command centre on Mars and had yet to vaporise the menacing Hydra spaceship thingy, so players wanting to continue the smash-and-grab fun with the same character and upgraded weapons will be a bit disappointed. Simply put, this downloadable pack doesn’t extend the existing gaming world, but rather works as a standalone prologue campaign that you need to access separately from the game menu. Think of it as a stripped back mini-version of Guerrilla and you you will know what you're in for.
The Slipknot concert was about to end in tragedy.
You now control Samanya, who has yet to defect to fight for the Red Faction and is still fighting alongside her sister, the angry Slipknot-loving leader of the marauders. You have one sector to liberate as opposed to the six in the original game, and most things remain the same. For example, you will still take part in the standard side missions to reduce EDF control, such as rescuing hostages, transporting a vehicle to a destination in a certain amount of time, and destroying buildings. The gaming world also looks pretty similar to the original game, which it should. Fortunately, it’s generally more geographically interesting, and many of the populated areas are built in and around cliffs and rock walls, giving the new area its own unique feel while keeping the sense that you’re still playing an area of Mars.
The currency of the original game, scrap metal, is not used in Demons of the Badlands, which will annoy some people. Instead, you’ll receive upgrades and new weapons by merely completing side quests and the main missions (of which there are very few). Each completed mission unlocks around two or three bonuses. While this provides a nice streamlined approach, it also diminishes the value of the majority of the weapons. Most players will only use the boom-sticks that make the biggest mess, which makes most of the early weapons pretty useless. It also removes a certain amount of the addiction; acquiring scrap metal and only being able to spend on certain upgrades made you choose and work out your strengths. Plus there is no jet pack in the backward marauder world. We want the jet pack, dammit!
The main quests also work much the same as the original, having you destroy target X, rescue person X and drive to place X. While the original story was hardly awe-inspiring, Demons of the Badlands does do a nice job of fleshing out the role of Sam and her defection, as well as how the marauders came to be spiky helmet-wearing, Mad Max freaks they are today.
One in five marauders suffers from premature shooting.
Normally we would be happy with more of the same from a DLC pack, but that isn’t really what you get here. You get more of some of the things that made Red Faction: Guerrilla so enjoyable (namely, blowing stuff up), but less of the some of the other elements that also made it fun (such as finding scrap metal and strategically spending it and flying to the top of buildings in the jet pack to destroy them from the top-down). Some bugs have also crept in, such as intermittent sections where the game decides to stop for half a second, particularly while you are driving.
While we understand the need for Demons of the Badlands to be separate from the main game, we still can’t help but think it would have worked better as something you actually had to play before the full-length campaign, or was somehow incorporated into the game proper so that you could actually still access other parts of Mars. As it stands, Demons of the Badlands feels a bit like a light version of the original game. It seems a bit redundant for players who have already enjoyed and conquered the main game to go back to the start and play a shorter and less interesting version of a game they've already played. However, credit where credit is due to Volition for giving us a new single player experience with new weapons and vehicles, instead of the standard multiplayer packs that most games release. And this campaign isn't without its charm for completists who want to experience all the Red Faction universe has to offer. Just don't expect very much and you'll get your wish.
Worth buying? Maybe
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Downloadable content ratings system
We've given a 'buy' rating of 'Yes', 'Maybe', or 'No'.
Yes means that the content is either great value or brings some substantial additions to the game, or possibly both.
Maybe means that the content may be fun while it lasts, but may either be too short or not enough to fully justify the price tag.
No means that we don't recommend downloading this insubstantial content.
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