Protagonist Darius Mason tries to make “Red Faction: Armageddon” an exhilarating adventure. He wields a gun that fires scientifically implausible singularities, pilots a spider mech that “accidentally” tramples an entire underground city, curb stomps anyone that dares stand in his proximity, and knows just when to spit out an angst-filled taunt at an alien that clearly doesn’t understand English. For an encore, he uses a unicorn’s flatulence as a weapon of mass destruction. All of these awesome experiences can be yours if you don’t mind choking down hours upon hours of repetitive gunplay.

I spent most of my time annihilating five or six different alien types within caverns that all look strikingly alike. I started getting far too excited over the most insignificant environmental differences, like one cavern having a crystalline stalactite formation or another replacing the typical rock path I’d traversed with destructible steel grating. The environment, as drab as it is, provides creative ways to attack foes — such as the magnet gun’s ability to hurl large chunks of metal across vast chasms — but I had to go out of my way to make the firefights entertaining. Most of the aliens, who look like giant insects from a Roger Corman science fiction movie, can be downed with little effort. This includes wildly flailing a hammer.

The genocidal repetition is periodically broken up with a great vehicular sequence. Darius jumps into an Iron Man-like suit that packs plenty of firepower and can lower its shoulder to dash through heavily fortified structures. A few levels take place exclusively from a mech’s cockpit, where Darius rains swarm missiles down upon armies and their fortresses. The most surprising vehicle is a spacecraft heavily inspired by Descent (another of the company’s beloved franchises). The time I spent in the vehicles was my favorite part of this game. Challenge is practically non-existent in these moments, but each craft controls beautifully and the vast amounts of destruction they unleash created dazzling spectacles.

Most of the destruction is crammed into suffocating caverns, so you won’t see as many giant towers toppling over as you did in “Red Faction: Guerrilla.” That said, weapons like the singularity cannon and magnet gun still allow players to artistically pick apart buildings and set up carnage-filled chain reactions. The arsenal packs more of a punch than “Guerrilla’s,” and the destruction it delivers is more satisfying, but most of the game’s structural damage is not tied to objectives. “Guerrilla’s” amazing demolition puzzles and faction-crippling structural assaults against the EDF are nowhere to be found in this game.

“Guerrilla” favored open-world exploration and side quests. “Armageddon” is a linear shooter bogged down by mundane gunplay. Although it is a sequel of sorts, it’s a much different game, sharing more in common with a “Call of Duty” campaign than any other “Red Faction” game. Should Darius somehow lose his way on a narrow, straight path, or, heaven forbid, spend a few seconds gawking at the gorgeous texture work and detailed space-age technologies, large, glowing arrows appear in front of him, leading to the next uninspired alien bug fight. Even the game’s newest addition, the ability to repair objects, is used mostly to fix stairs and bridges.

“Armageddon” is an unimaginative shooter, showing more creativity in Darius’ tribal tattoos than in any of its combat scenarios. If you’re looking for a memorable “Red Faction” experience, you’re better off playing “Guerrilla” again.

‘Red Faction: Armageddon’

7.25 (out of 10)

PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

THQ, Volition

ESRB rating: M for Mature

Weekly download

‘Kinect Fun Labs’

For: Xbox 360 (Kinect required)

From: Good Science/Microsoft

ESRB Rating: E for everyone

Price: Free

When Microsoft first unveiled Kinect in 2009, it hinted at the possibility of some wild tricks that go well beyond simple motion control. By itself, “Kinect Fun Labs” isn’t a complete validation of that promise: As a collection of experimental gadgets, it isn’t really a complete anything. But “Labs” provides the first opportunity consumers have to go hands-on with some of the ideas it teased two years ago. In “Kinect Build a Buddy,” for instance, you can scan a real-world object (a toy, for instance) with the Kinect’s camera and bring that object to life as a laughing, dancing, jumping being. “Bobblehead” and “Kinect Me,” meanwhile, allow you to scan yourself in and let the software transform your face, body and clothing into a bobblehead doll or video game avatar, respectively. The software is far from foolproof but it works, and some of the surprising detail the camera picks up is really cool. “Labs” doesn’t have any functionality beyond general amusement and the ability to download and share pictures and videos of your experiments online. But for the price of zero dollars, the simple thrill of putting your hands on the future is enough.

— Billy O’Keefe, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

New game releases

The following titles were scheduled for release the week of June 12:

• “American McGee’s Alice” (X360, PS3)

• “Operation Flashpoint: Red River — Valley of Death” (X360)

• “Magic: The Gathering — Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012” (PS3, X360, PC)

• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Stealth Force Edition)” (3DS, Wii)

• “Record of Agarest War Zero” (X360)

• “Hyper Fighter” (Wii)

• “Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection” (3DS)

• “Crazy Machines” (Wii)

• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon — Decepticons” (DS)

• “Cubic Ninja” (3DS)

• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon — Autobots” (3DS)

• “Record of Agarest War Zero” (PS3)

• “Alice: Madness Returns” (X360, PS3, PC)

• “Duke Nukem Forever” (PS3, X360, PC)

• “Child of Eden” (X360)

• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (X360, PS3)

• “Wipeout in the Zone” (X360)

• “Fallout: New Vegas — Old World Blues” (X360)

• “Wii Play: Motion” (Wii)

• “Hidden Photo” (DS)

— Gamespot.com

Top 10

PLAYSTATION 3

The editors of Game Informer Magazine rank the top 10 PlayStation 3 games for June:

1. “L.A. Noire,” Rockstar Games

2. “Infamous 2,” Sony Computer Entertainment3

3. “DiRT 3,” Codemasters

4. “Portal 2,” Valve

5. “Mortal Kombat,” Warner Bros. Interactive

6. “Outland,” Ubisoft

7. “Dungeon Siege III,” Square Enix

8. “Crysis 2,” Electronic Arts

9. “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters,” EA Sports

10. “SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs,” Sony Computer Entertainment

— McClatchy-Tribune News Service