redfalla vampire shooter out this week for Xbox and PC was developed by Arkane Studios, the same team behind classics like dishonored And prey. It’s one of Microsoft’s exclusive first-timers for 2023, a big release for the company’s Game Pass subscription service. And by most accounts, it sucks.
We’re currently playing the game together for our own impressions, which will be released soon, but in the meantime – because I find the reception so exceptional given the scope (and price) of the release – I thought I’d summarize some of the impressions and review pieces out there from outlets that managed to get code in advance red falls release (we obviously don’t) or have updated an article over time that is currently being reviewed.
Let’s start with GameSpotwho reviewed the game and gave it a 4/10 rating:
Ultimately, Redfall is a game that shouldn’t have been released yet. Its litany of bugs hampers the gameplay loop of exploring its world with friends, and that loop itself feels compromised with elements that are poorly executed and unsuitable for the team implementing it. I can’t pretend to know if arcane chosen to make a loot shooter or was assigned making a loot shooter, but I can tell you how it feels: one of the best game studios in the world suddenly toothless.
GamesRadar gave the game 2.5 stars of 5:
Ultimately, Redfall falls short of Arkane’s usual standards. It feels rushed, unfinished, and unsatisfying to play. Single player is hampered by a squad-based open-world shooter structure, multiplayer is held back by odd decisions, and decent gunplay is marred by uninspiring mission structures. It’s a confusing game full of contradictions and the result isn’t fulfilling.
IGN’s ongoing review is not a positive and mainly deals with constant bugs affecting both single and multiplayer:
With Redfall arriving at IGN just a few days before its official release date, we haven’t had enough time to do a final review – certainly not without becoming a nocturnal monster of your own and staying up all weekend. Having said that, I have to admit that after several sessions – alone, in co-op with a friend, and also in a group of three – I’m completely overwhelmed by Redfall’s vanilla missions and its lifeless world, and very disappointed by the long list of visual bugs.
Redfall fails to impress on almost every level, not only in its uninteresting story, but also in its all-too-familiar gameplay. Not only does Redfall feel like a game from yesteryear, its performance is also disappointing.
Eurogamers First impressions are actually quite optimisticAuthor Christian Donlan prefers to reserve final judgment until the game is finished, but I found his anecdote at the end here a pretty good synopsis of the game’s graphics:
So how is it ugly? It’s technical stuff, I guess, and while I’ll leave that to Digital Foundry, I’ll say that the edges – technical term – are a little rough. Textures sometimes show up late or not at all, so those beautiful trees always spring to fiery life a little too close, and at one point the classic immersive sim storytelling graffiti on one wall was oddly pixelated. Character models are silent and strangely lit. I should add here that I’m trying to be objective, which is always a mistake. I think the mottled textures – yes, I’m really saying that – give the city a slightly impressionistic flair. The waxy characters are wonderfully waxy, the kind of thing you might encounter while traveling through a haunted presidential hall. Still, it’s unmistakable that as I was playing, my wife came into the room, looked at the screen in horror and said, “Jesus! What happened to Fortnite?”
I shouldn’t notice all Ratings and impressions pieces are so below! If you go to Metacritic you’ll find some outlets – which I’ve literally never heard of but nonetheless – have positively reviewed the game, How We’ve got that coveredwho rated it 4.5 stars out of 5Saying:
With rich, beautiful open worlds, a variety of weapons, and a variety of enemies to face off against, Redfall amazes. Players will have no regrets claiming Arkane’s latest masterpiece.
OK. Enough of the professional reviews. Let’s see what people paid for the game – and if you bought it instead of playing on Game Pass, it was $70 full price Release, an important point to remember here – must say. Here’s a selection of some of the best Steam reviews at the time of publication:
Aside from the performance issues, this game sucks. The AI is pathetic, even on the hardest difficulty. The controls are clunky. The graphics are average. The world is empty. I don’t understand why these companies think they can start charging $70 for unfinished junk. I couldn’t stand even an hour of this game.
Extremely average and unfinished game. Poor performance on PC and full of bugs and glitches.
I’ve heard great things about Arkane, but that’s not it. I played with two friends who also refunded. I’m going to try the $10 PC Game Pass tonight instead. But for that first hour, it was clear to me: This isn’t a $70 AAA release.
I’ll finish with the latter because, having played it for most of yesterday, it comes closest to my own experience of the game. This plays like a remaster of a PS3 shooter. It’s an unfinished concept piece, a pitch project that somehow found its way into retail.
It’s hard to explain how raw the whole thing feels without playing it yourself. Even the fonts look like placeholders. Arkane is a studio responsible for some of the most important first person games of the past decade; seeing her name on it just blows me away.
Anyway! Like I said, our own impressions will come soon, so check back to see if our team (not me, I live on the other side of the moon) thinks differently after a few days of multiplayer madness reviews.
