It appears a preview event embargo was lifted for Redfall, as several outlets and creators have published their videos today. They’re all full of the same b-roll, so the meat of this round of content are the opinions and analyses shared.
I’ve listened to a lot of them1 and my gamer sense is tingling. I don’t think it’ll be a dud but it also doesn’t sound like the kind of special Arkane has trained me to expect. The strong art direction is there but I’m also seeing a mixture of their weaker habits plus some common sins of big budget AAA gaming.
Starting with gameplay, Redfall looks a lot like Deathloop which, to me, means unremarkable gunplay and noticeably weak AI. The encounters in the provided footage don’t show much activity from enemies in combat. There are several instances where some are standing in place while being shot at and another where a player approaches one head on and they seem unaware of the threat a few feet in front of them. This is b-roll Arkane provided; they could have excluded these moments if they felt it didn’t represent gameplay.
There’s a tipping point in Deathloop where the intersection of its pedestrian AI and strong abilities evaporate any semblance of challenge and actively work against the diversity of approach Arkane games like to offer. When enemies are no longer a threat, a direct approach becomes the most efficient use of the player’s time. I’m curious how Redfall will handle this when there could be four players focusing firepower from endgame weapons and maxed out abilities on the same targets. The typical solve for this genre of game is larger health bars but that rarely leads to better feeling encounters.
More generally, I’m weary of how many checkboxes Redfall seems to be trying to fill in—open world, looter shooter adjacent itemization, always online single player (though they’re looking into changing that), RPG-lite skill tree progression, and game design that is balanced around multiplayer play. A game can be good if it makes those design decisions but so many that have gone out of their way to do so lie in the pile of disappointment.
It’s possible Redfall‘s moment to moment gameplay nullifies my concerns, like how Destiny‘s amazing gunplay makes its obvious flaws palatable. From what I can see, its success will be determined by the quality of its characters’ abilities, how much multiplayer enhances the overall experience, and whether its open world offers unique content. If it means anything, it already looks like a better game than Deathloop, which I wasn’t too keen on. Like most gamers, I hold Dishonored in high regard and hope Arkane can still deliver experiences like it. It doesn’t look like Redfall will be on that level but I’d be happy to be wrong.
1: IGN, jackfrags, GameSpot, jayvee, MrMattyPlays, JuiceHead, Eurogamer, Giant Bomb