While we were down there, we had some hands-on time with the single-player aspect of the game (along with a number of other modes) and also had the chance to interview Eric Barker, Manager at Volition Inc. While the hands-on impressions aren’t quite ready to go live yet, we figured you might like to read the interview, featured below. Don’t forget, if you see anything you find interesting, post a comment in the section below. Thanks, enjoy!

Game Rant: Hey Eric. Could you explain the story of Red Faction: Armageddon, for those of our readers who might not yet know the game’s plot?

GR: Earlier this week, at GDC, Clint Hocking asked the question “How do games mean?” Not just looking at a game’s story, but focusing more on how your character, and the game’s dynamic, affects your experience of the narrative. What would you say about the game’s character, in particular, or the way that you play the game, is the real meaning behind Red Faction: Armageddon? What is that you would like players to come away having experienced?

GR: It seems to me that you really want people to think about the environment. But is at that the expense of the main character? Because if you’re thinking always about the environment – if you’re always thinking “Oh man, I could cut that bit in half, and then repair it! Then I could run over there and blow that thing up!” – then surely, because you’re experiencing this game as yourself, as a player, but looking at Darius from a third-person perspective, he might become lost amongst the environment.

GR: You just mentioned the “deep story moments.” When I was just playing the game, it seemed to me that the way the main character was portrayed, he came across as somewhat of a – to use a vulgar term – a “dudebro.” There seemed to be a large dissonance – sometimes he would be the guy making a smart-alec-quip, similar to a Nathan Drake or John McClane character, and then moments later, he would be reminiscing over fallen comrades, “a lot of men died here… good men.” Do you not think that, as a lot of this was triggered by your movements through the environment, and the timing was all entirely controlled by the player, that sometimes that the two might collide with each other? This funny, smart-alec is also this soft character? Do you think that perhaps they can’t mesh too well?

GR: Fair enough! You mentioned earlier how Red Faction: Guerrilla was more open-ended and Armageddon is much more linear. During the single-player demo, we heard the character Kara say “Don’t go to the Market! Don’t go to the Market!” But Darius doesn’t hear it. Even though we, the player, can hear it, there’s a sort-of dissonance there. We have to run to the market. How do you think the forcing narrative in such a linear fashion affects the story you’re trying to tell?

GR: Because, personally, if I was in that situation, I’d say “Fine! I won’t go to the market! Let me find an alternative route!” Laughs In Guerrilla, you really could find alternate routes and different ways to approach a problem. In Armageddon, you have no choice – you have to run through a place where Kara specifically told you not to!

GR: If we take a step back for a moment, and look at the series as a whole: destruction. It’s a huge part of the Red Faction series, but why? Why choose destructible environments to be such a draw?

GR: Thanks Eric, now last question. Obviously, you’ve been playing the game for a while now. Without spoiling anything, what would you say has been your favorite experience with the game so far? There must be some story you can tell, something you want to tell people in order to entice them into buying the game.

GR: Thank you very much for your time, Eric!

–

For more information on Red Faction: Armageddon, look out for our hands-on preview, coming soon to Game Rant.

Red Faction: Armageddon will be destroying your concept of a third-person action game on May 31, 2011, on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.