Redfall Analysis – Vampires are on the loose in the city

The new title from Arkane Studios and Bethesda is coming exclusively to Xbox.

Redfall was one of many surprises announced during the Showcase of Xbox and Bethesda in 2021. described as “an open-world first-person shooter in which we have to face vampires” and that it came from the hand of the creators of Dishonored, Prey and Deathloopthe phenomenal cinematic trailer for this presentation looked like it could bring something new to an already packed genre of games like the latest and greatest Back4Blood.

After spending a lot of time with Redfall over the past few days, I would describe Arkane Studios’ latest title as an interesting experience that may have needed a bit more time to cook properly. Although he has a phenomenal art section and it’s a fun experience to play alone or with friends, some aspects look dated and very similar to what we have already seen in other games like the legendary Left4Dead saga.

welcome to redfall

Redfall is set in the fictional seaside town of Red Fall, Massachusetts, in the typical American city that we have seen a thousand and one times in horror movies. Shortly after a failed science experiment, an invasion of vampires ensues, leaving the city under siege with no chance of escape for the survivors. the four protagonists trapped on the island when everything goes haywire are as follows (Taken from the official Redfall website):

• Jacob Boyer: A former member of the army’s special forces as a sniper, Jacob became a mercenary after his release. He ended up on the charming island of Redfall on a contract with defense services provider Bellwether Security; his orders were confidential. When Redfall succumbed to vampires, Jacob encountered one of the vampire “deities” who currently control the island; as a result of this unpleasant encounter, he has a mysterious eye and an accompanying spectral crow.
• Layla Ellison: Before Redfall was thrown into chaos by vampires and creatures they consider deities, Layla Ellison was studying biomedical engineering at Redfall Technical University. Unfortunately, studying was a huge financial burden, and to deal with student debt, Layla decided to participate in a medical study by Aevum Therapeutics. However, something terrible happened in Aevum and Layla gained telekinetic powers. Now she can use her umbrella as a shield, create lifts with her mind, and summon her ex-vampire, Jason. They always get along well and he is always ready to lend a hand when there is a fight. With help from Jason, his trusty telekinetic umbrella and quick wit.
• remi de la rosa: A member of the Navy’s elite rescue team, Remi is the quintessential action star of the group. Having spent her life in combat, she is equipped to face the myriad monstrosities of Redfall. However, she is also an engineer and has brought along a robot companion, Rascal, who will help her work more delicately.
• Devinder Crousley: Think of Devinder as essentially all four Ghostbusters rolled into one: he has the scientific expertise of Spengler, the genius of Stantz, the cool demeanor of Zeddemore, and the wit of Venkman. A filmmaker and author with an audience interested in the paranormal, his kit revolves around the inventions he created to find and document supernatural entities, but now he had to upgrade it to kill them as well.

At Redfall, we have the ability to play solo with one of these characters or team up with three other friends. All players keep their hero levels, abilities, weapons, ammo, gear, etc. However, campaign mission progression only applies to the host player, since some missions are optional or non-sequential. This has become common practice in similar games of this genre, so keep that in mind before deciding to play with others. Arkane mentioned that two additional heroes will be added to the game on exit to further enhance the overall co-op experience.

Some vampires are loose in the city

Vampires are not the only enemies you will have to face in this game. From the moment you start playing the game and gain access to weapons, you will have to face the human cultists determined to grant the wishes of their vampiric bosses. In some cases, you can take a stealthy approach and avoid these confrontations altogether.

However, as you progress through the campaign, these fights are inevitable and you will have to be well equipped to kill them all. Defeating human opponents requires a lot of firepower, while you will need bladed weapons such as pious face the vampire. You can also use certain environmental objects to your advantage, such as propane cylinders or electric machines. Each player also has special abilities. which can be unlocked and improved as we progress through the game.

The plot of the game is quite simple and sometimes predictable. while we play we will learn more about the history of our heroes (everyone has a different emotional baggage) by interacting with the secondary characters of the game. This provides a broader view of this interesting world, but unfortunately not so exciting or imaginative like any other project Arkane has worked on before. We notice from the start that this project is an experiment on which they intend to build something new and it’s something players will love or hate.

Like the story, Redfall’s game structure is also very simple. The first mission is to visit a nearby fire station, eliminate all enemies in the area, restore power to the station, and rescue any survivors trapped inside. From there, the fire station becomes your central base of operations and the people you save provide you with weapons, health, etc. for a price. It is strongly reminiscent of another Xbox exclusive game such as state of decay 2. You also have the ability to take on story-related side quests, and as you venture out into the world you’ll find safe houses that are great for fast travel around the game map.

In this point, the game starts to get repetitive, since you will have to fight for these shelters and restore power to access them. Other than that, the main missions serve to tell a bit of the game’s story and basically defeat the final bosses. While there are many areas to explore, items to collect, and materials to read throughout Redfall, the stories told about what happened and who was affected by the invasion are a bit bland and they don’t seem to offer anything unique outside of what’s been done before.

Technical and sound section

On top of all that, it was recently announced that this game will be released with the Quality mode on consoles, keeping it at a rocky 30 FPS until a later option is released 60 FPS in Performance mode. This may not matter to some, but in a shooter of these characteristics it is quite noticeable. Performance on Xbox Series X is very stable and without noticeable frame drops, which is at least appreciated. As a negative note, we have the problem that many textures take time to load a moment, which blurs the final result a bit. In Xbox Series X, the title runs at 4K/30FPS and on Xbox Series S at 1080/FPS.

The world of Redfall has much of the flair and charm that Arkane is known for., but it still feels like a half step from the amazing worlds they’ve created in Dishonored, Prey, and Deathloop. All of these games gave the feeling that the team had invested a lot in an artistic vision and an approach to the atmosphere that corresponded perfectly to what it felt like to be part of these universes. In Redfall, while the art style and color scheme used is fantastic, the general feeling is to be a step backwards cited titles.

As for the sound section, as every Bethesda title comes dubbed in english with the same quality we are used to. The rest of the sounds and music accompanies the title correctly and without fanfare.

conclusions

In few words, Redfall is a cooperative open-world first-person shooter, which is fun enough to play, but doesn’t add anything new.. While we certainly have plenty of fun times playing alone or with friends and the setting is phenomenally accomplished, the repetitive mission structure and lack of consistent creativity throughout the game prevent it from being a standout title. in the genre.

If we add to this that it is an exclusive game for the new generation, no 60 FPS performance mode option available for consoles at launch, one wonders why it couldn’t have been delayed a bit longer. Major post-launch updates shouldn’t be common practice in games today, but they will continue to be as long as those in power are more interested in making money than releasing titles. high quality and fully functional from day one.

Redfall is available for Xbox Series X/S and Windows. You can enjoy it in Xbox and PC Game Pass and is exclusive of Xbox for consoles.