This became clear when one mission stood out from the pack by asking me to infiltrate a cult’s camp, not just kill a target or collect something. The only real interaction I ever had with Redfall’s world was pointing and shooting. Immersive sims - a subgenre that puts an emphasis on player choice and freedom - are all about interaction. ![]() Various classes of vampires shake fights up by teleporting and striking with more powerful melee attacks, but my playthrough was a disappointing breeze on the game’s default difficulty setting.Īrkane is barely playing to its strengths in Redfall.Īrkane hasn’t advertised Redfall as an immersive sim as much as its previous games, and I can see why. AI struggles to spot me and aim correctly, even in single-player (Layla’s umbrella ability felt useless at times because enemies right in front of me would just stare at me and not shoot when I had it active). Loot and a deep skill tree give a constant feeling of progression, but the enemies never feel that tough. aesthetic setting stands out, its world design is much less inspired as I joylessly explore my surroundings to follow objective markers, fight bullet-spongey enemies in empty open spaces built for multiplayer, and am forced to do repetitive side missions to progress the main story. It’s not as good at making open-world games, though. With this and Deathloop, Arkane has proven it has fine-tuned the first-person shooter genre when it comes to game feel. These powers, as well as Redfall’s variety of guns, all feel great to use. I played as Layla, a college student with magical powers that include spawning an umbrella to block bullets and deflect their energy back, creating an elevator that will boost her into the air, and summoning her vampire ex-boyfriend to help her fight. Players fight back as one of four superpowered individuals, each of which has unique powers. In Redfall, a group of big pharma billionaires have turned into vampires and taken over a small Massachusetts fishing town. Despite that, a design identity crisis and a bevy of technical issues make this a surprising disappointment from a development team that’s capable of so much more. Redfall’s writing and gunplay are competent and build upon Arkane’s expertise. And while multiplayer is inherently more fun, lots of little annoyances stack up to make it an inferior choice compared to much better co-op shooters on the market. ![]() ![]() The ideas don’t mesh well design caveats made to accommodate multiplayer suck the blood out of Redfall’s single-player experience. It’s trying to be an intense, emotional, and political immersive sim about vampires, but also an endlessly replayable co-op, open-world shooter. Redfall is conflicted about what it wants to be. That’s why it’s a shame that these are two of the only scenes in which Redfall captures that magic.
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