Redfall is one of the most eagerly anticipated Xbox exclusives, so it’s understandable that people were upset last year when it was announced that it wouldn’t be making its 2022 release date, and would be delayed into 2023.
Developer Arkane Studios (now a Microsoft studio after the Bethesda/Zenimax acquisition) has kept working on the game, with rumors suggesting it could be hitting shelves in May this year, and will be out on Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Also, in a recent interview with GamesRadar, the team behind Redfall explained how the game might be different to what gamers might be expecting… This is because Redfall has been drawing comparisons to games like Left 4 Dead, given that it features four player co-op gameplay. It also pits you against the undead, while the game’s four distinct protagonists are vampire hunters too.
However, Arkane thinks this is rather game which should be compared to Ubisoft’s Far Cry games.
“But, in terms of the way that you play and experience Redfall, it’s not like those games at all. Redfall is more like loading into Far Cry”, said studio director Harvey Smith of Arkane Studios in the interview.
This is interesting because it means Redfall will be Arkane’s first true open world game. Their previous games like the brilliant Dishonored and its sequel, were mostly linear experiences, so it’ll be great to explore an Arkane Studios’ crafted open world for a change then…
There’s also the fact this will be a smaller, but likely denser open world (unlike that of recent Far Cry games), as there will be no vehicles in the game.
“In terms of freedom, there’s what you would expect from other open worlds, but Redfall is an on-foot game – the scale and the pace is a little slowed down in that respect”, said creative director Ricardo Bare.
It will also be interesting to see how the game’s different factions (the vampires, cultists who worship the vampires and Bellwether Security) interact with the player and each other, as conflict can breakout between them too in the New England tourist town that serves as the game’s setting.
If there’s one caveat, is that Arkane Studios might be overreaching with Redfall, something which Harvey Smith admitted in the GamesRadar interview.
“Maybe we stretched too much this time – we probably should have picked either an open world or cooperative multiplayer. But if Redfall comes together at the quality level we think it will, then it will be a different beast”, said Smith.
It would be a shame if Redfall’s single player experience suffer due to the focus on co-op, especially taking into account that Arkane is known for its top-notch single player experiences like Dishonored and the more recent Deathloop.
Either way, here’s hoping that the game does live up to the hype when it comes out in a couple of months’ time, even if it will be facing stiff competition with many other superb games hitting the shelves this year.