

While the first two games did not re-invent the first-person shooter genre, their Geo-Mod Engine and rebellious story made both games a new step for the genre. The games include vehicles, pistols, rifles, explosives, and other traditional shooter weapons and features. The first two games were traditional first-person shooters with unique environmental destruction features that were praised in both games. This was enhanced in Red Faction: Guerrilla when it was applied to every building in the game making the game's entire environment (except for the terrain itself) destructible. Both styles share a common element, the series' unique environmental destruction features.

The first is a traditional first-person shooter element which was used by the first two games in the series, while the second is a third-person style of open world gameplay which was used in Red Faction: Guerrilla, and a third-person style of corridor shooter used in Red Faction: Armageddon. The series has had three unique styles of gameplay. Dave Samuel of Volition presenting at GDC 2012 on "Communication & Iteration of Visual Effects in Red Faction"
