The Red

The Red is a first-person shooter with tower-defense and adventure elements. You play an indentured security associate on Mars, tasked with protecting a megacorporation’s extraction operations while trying to pay off your debt and earn enough to return to Earth. You collect valuable soil, called FabriClay, and receive a fraction of its value as wages.

Extract and defend

You prospect for FabriClay deposits, use specialized equipment to find locations with high resource density, and build extractors to collect the material. You repair damaged extractors and periodically empty their collectors. The resources you extract can fund additional equipment and extraction operations.

You defend the main base and extraction points against waves of enemies. Place turrets, light-walls, proximity mines and energy shields at strategic locations, and use first-person weapons to help protect the facilities and their high-value assets. Local wildlife threatens you, while your employer’s life insurance policy gives the corporation another reason to put you in danger.

A dangerous job

The game starts at a fast pace that builds into mayhem. Dying often is expected, even on the easiest difficulty; the hardest is intentionally unfair and may be unbeatable. You can also uncover horrifying secrets by breaking the rules, though what you find may not be welcome.

Your earnings depend on how much FabriClay you collect and whether you survive to return. Paying off your debt can take only a few days, but spending at the company convenience store can delay your return to Earth.