#REDFALL ARKANE PLUS#

You start each session in a safehouse with various weapons and supplies and travel out into the town doing missions that usually boil down to either “go here and kill thing” or “go here and secure thing,” while occasionally coming across an enemy-populated outpost to clear out. Objectives don’t do much to mix up the game play, either. Sure, I got more unlocks from the grindy skill tree, but Redfall just felt more and more monotonous as it went on. This is how 90% of my encounters went down. You pump rounds into them and swap to a weapon with a bayonet (usually a shotgun or rifle) and stake them to finish them off rinse and repeat. They have spotty AI, acting like normal cultists who have the ability to teleport around. And when you do finally encounter the blood-sucking undead, little about your tactics change. I thought this would open up opportunities for cool air combat such as popping off headshots while airborne but instead it feels so heavy that she came crashing down to the floor after only a second or so. I chose the character who was able to summon a telepathic elevator that allowed her and allies to fly through the air. Not even unique abilities can make it feel more lively. Gunplay is very clunky and there’s never a proper sense of speed or momentum when in encounters with enemies. This wouldn’t be a problem if the game felt good to play. Arkane games are usually known for multiple methods and player freedom when it comes to gameplay, but Redfall comes out of the gate saying “we don’t do that here.” Most encounters boil down to loud gunfights, especially when you start to realize that sneaking past enemies and encounters awards no XP.

Notice something missing? There’s little emphasis on stealth and player freedom. The previous encounter showed me that I could sneak past enemies or engage them on the way to my objective and this one taught me there’s more than one way of engaging them when I do. This early scenario is a prime example of Redfall’s seams showing nearly right away. Both options lead to a big gunfight regardless so I kicked the door in and started blasting. To take back the game’s first safehouse, I had the option of sneaking to the roof and taking out the cultists from above, or going in absolutely guns blazing. The tutorial establishes early on that since this is an Arkane game, most objectives can be completed in multiple different routes. Redfall is not only one of the most disappointing games of 2023, it’s also one of the worst.Īfter a brief introduction and character selection you’re thrown into the town of Redfall, filled with cultists and vampires. I went into Redfall with excitement and an open mind, eager to explore the horrors that Arkane had crafted for me in their latest adventure.

#REDFALL ARKANE PLUS#

Sure it may sound different from anything else Arkane has made in the past, but their history has proven time and time again that they make nothing but quality titles plus it’s a game with goddamn vampires and that’s an absolute rarity in today’s landscape. They then enter Redfall, Massachusetts where a cataclysmic event has caused the town to be overrun with vampires and the sun permanently blocked out. Redfall is a co-op looter shooter in which players pick one of four characters with their own unique personalities and abilities. At this point, an Arkane Studios release has a certain level of pedigree and expectation, lending an air of excitement to their latest project, Redfall. Dishonored honored the legacy of games like Thief, Prey played as if it was a modern take on System Shock, and Deathloop showed they could take these ideas and concepts and apply them to an original approach, damn near mixing them with a rogue-like. First-person games where the player is usually given a large toolset and environment to allow them to come up with multiple solutions for particular problems and goals.

Arkane Studios are perhaps most known for their takes on the Immersive-Sim genre.

Redfall arkane