Even though Volition is closing down for good, fans will always remember the great games it made.
From its home base in Champaign, Illinois, Volition had been making games for thirty years. They are known for making action-packed series like Red Faction and Saints Row. But in August 2023, Embracer Group, which owns Volume, decided to close the studio for good.
As Parallax Software, the company has been making and releasing 18 games since it opened in June 1993. Their last game, a remake of Saints Row, didn’t do as well as they had hoped, but the company left behind a lot of great games that people will enjoy for years to come.
The Punisher
Release Date |
January 18, 2005 |
Genre |
Third-person shooter |
Platform(s) |
Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox |
But Volition has also made games based on other well-known properties. They were known for creating a lot of their own worlds. This is very clear in their third-person shooter The Punisher, which came out in 2005 and was based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name.
As the Punisher, players take on the role of an outlaw who wants to get back at the Mafia for killing his family. The main way to play is to explore levels, find enemies, and kill them by either killing them quickly or making them suffer so you can get information.
Summoner
Release Date |
October 26, 2000 |
Genre |
Action role-playing game |
Platform(s) |
PlayStation 2, Windows, macOS |
An action RPG called Summoner, which came out first on PlayStation 2 and then on PC, was made by Volition. It has some sci-fi elements, but it also has some fantasy elements. The story is about the playable character Joseph and a group of people who go on a journey with him.
The story goes in a lot of different directions, starting with when Joseph was a child and used his Summoner skills for the first time. Things went wrong. There are both real-time and turn-based parts to the game’s combat system. Players take turns doing actions, but they can move without using menus.
Red Faction: Guerrilla
Release Date |
June 2, 2009 |
Genre |
Third-person shooter |
Platform(s) |
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch |
The first game in the Red Faction series was a first-person shooter, but the second game turned it into an open-world third-person shooter. But while the sequel had some problems, Red Faction: Guerrilla, the third game in the series, was seen as a step up for Volition because it was played from a third-person view.
Players will take control of Alec Mason, a Red Faction member who wants to fight the Earth Defense Force. They will have to explore Mars and fight enemies in all six of the planet’s districts. In Guerrilla, the environments can be destroyed, and you can even destroy buildings and other structures while you’re in fight.
Saints Row 4
Release Date |
August 20, 2013 |
Genre |
Action-adventure |
Platform(s) |
Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch |
When Saints Row 4 came out, it was the most crazy game in the series. There is a playable main character in Drive Mad who can be changed and is in charge of the Saints, a famous gang. The player is also the President of the United States.
An alien race has taken over the world and is trying to simulate it. This is the basic plot of Saints Row 4. The player will not only have a lot of tools to help them with tasks in the open world, but they will also get superpowers that will make it even harder for enemies to stop them.
FreeSpace 2
Release Date |
September 30, 1999 |
Genre |
Space combat simulator |
Platform(s) |
Windows |
After changing their name to Volition, Parallax Software made a shooter game series called Descent that was based on space battle. But about a year after the first one came out, Volition released FreeSpace 2, which is still the best space battle simulator. It is also one of the few Volition games that can only be played on PC.
An experience where a person controls a spaceship and fights Shivans, who are aliens. As part of a mission, you might have to fight huge ships with all the available weapons or lead a friend through a dangerous area. The first-person view of the game makes the player feel like they are inside their ship while they fight.
Red Faction
Release Date |
May 22, 2001 |
Genre |
First-person shooter |
Platform(s) |
PlayStation 2, Windows, macOS |
The first Red Faction is still the best game in the series, even though Volition kept making games in the series for almost a decade. Thanks to its Geo-Mod technology, the first-person shooter was one of the first to let players change the surroundings.
As a miner who joined the fight against the Ultor Corporation, players will go through different levels trying to kill enemies while also having the power to destroy everything they see. There is also split-screen gameplay in the game, which includes a deathmatch mode.
Saints Row The Third
Release Date |
November 15, 2011 |
Genre |
Action-adventure |
Platform(s) |
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S |
People thought of Saints Row as nothing more than a copy of Grand Theft Auto for a long time. But Saints Row: The Third was the first game in the series that really felt like it was its own thing. Comparing that identity to a brand in GTA that was a bit more serious, it was becoming a lot less serious.
The Saints are stuck in one city because of a group called the Syndicate. They spend the game trying to build up their gang to bring peace back to the place they live. In Saints Row The Third, there are a lot of normal, strong weapons, but there are also some strange ones, like a fart-in-the-jar bomb and a dildo bat.