Is Redfall Game Worth it? Review

Redfall game is a four-player co-op looter shooter that pits players against vampires and their cultists in a city overturned by them. It is a classic Arkane-style game that has failed to land its mark. It is not like the usual Arkane game like Deathloop and Dishonored. Redfall is mostly about run-and-gun fights with AI enemies. The game is full of bugs at launch that overshadow what little positive points it has. The concept of the game feels undercooked and it seems like it still needed some time in the oven. The spark of Arkane is there but the game fails to fully manifest it. It still lacks a lot of good points that could have turned it into an amazing experience.

The gameplay loop is pretty straightforward and open. It is a coop shooter in which you chose one of the four quirky characters. Each of them has their own unique abilities. After selecting the character players go out into town taken by the vampire and start liberating it. Players can do it in a single-player mode or co-op the choice is up to them. The abilities of different characters complement each other which makes co-op more fun. Redfall is a co-op game that wants to show its Arkane-style gameplay in co-op but does not live up to the expectation.

Plot and Setting (Spoiler Free)

Redfall follows the story of 4 slayers who are liberating the town from vampires and their armed cultists. The game has a looter shooter narrative which gives little room for the proper story. It fails to loop everything together and make it into an interesting scenario. Your characters have some static cut scenes with voice over here and there. Every character has an intro which is a little different than others. There is some lore and the main vampires have a good story to them.

The story has some interesting lore but it fails to leave the mark. Most NPCs look nothing more than cardboard. They will just stand there talking to you without showing signs of life. There is no life to them. It seems like the game wants to be a looter shooter so badly that it has forgotten what it wants to be.

Setting

Maps are big and the developers have failed to fill with enough stuff. Often you along with others will move on barren beaches with nothing interesting to offer. Empty forests are little more than camps. Most of the locations are not filled with enough stuff. The second map is notably better than the first but even that is not completely there. There are ways to get around the map in a fun way like Arkane’s other games but they are far between. It is mostly about killing enemies then progressing to the next area and repeating. This strategy of progression is evident throughout the game. A little more variation could have made it a lot better.

The strategy of going around the town of Redfall game is simple. It mostly involves you fighting the enemies in town and eventually finding your way to the town’s fire station. After that, you go out and find landmarks in town. These landmarks can be used as fast travel points to move around the map. As you progress and unlock bigger safe houses, you will not only be able to use it for fast travel but resupply as well.

Eventually, you will get the side missions through exploring the world and finding out stuff from the world. You will have an interior to explore and mysteries to solve, special vampires to take down, and things like that. The more you play the more stuff you will find. Though the secrets and exploration are not even close to the level of Arkane’s other games.

Combat

Most of the combat is frontal in all encounters even when you are playing creatively in stealth. The game has not given any thought to stealth as most enemies won’t even notice if you pick off an enemy near them with a sniper. Picking off an enemy with a sniper will not alert the enemies nearby. They will remain unfazed by the death of their allies.

In combat, enemies will take too long to shoot or will struggle to take cover. It seems like developers have not given proper AI to the enemies. Even vampires will use attacks that can sometimes easily be countered. Such a combat situation makes all that these characters are doing an afterthought. These characters are supposed to be strong but they are not.

Stealth

There is no stealth attack in the game but the game has stealth attack. It is just a normal attack with no animation that acts as a stealth attack when done from behind. Some enemies will even survive the stealth as the attack will not even register as a stealth attack. Shooting does not feel too bad and most enemies are mindless. Enemies don’t offer much competition. Shoot an enemy in the head and the others will barely notice. Redfall is not like the usual Arkane game as it is mostly run-and-gun and fighting AI enemies. The game has a lot of bugs and glitches at launch.

The Imbalance

Wrecking too much havoc will spawn tougher enemies but even they are not up for the challenge. They can be taken down with one or two shots from the Stake Launcher on normal difficulty. The Stake Launcher is a powerful weapon that eliminates the need for other weapons. Even tougher enemies such as Nest or vampire rooks are not up for the challenge. They can easily be taken down. Most of the time overwhelming force results in death and rarely in balance. The Stake Launcher is too powerful which nullifies the use of other weapons when fighting tougher enemies.

Fighting humans and vampires at the same time can be messy. Vampires will force you to move around and change up your tactics. They can feel dumb at times due to the way they react. Combat does feel good as your fight vampires and take them down. You can start from a low-level vampire and reach a high level. So difficulty can go up and down while playing the game.

General Gameplay

The core gameplay is about leveling up and getting skill points. Find more weapons to take down more vampires. So the loop of having the proper gear is pretty straightforward. Remnants of enemies provide different buffs with vampires giving high-level buffs. You can kill more powerful enemies to get more powerful stuff from them. So the basic idea of looter shooter is not bad but the rest of it, guns, skill tree, and gunplay is getting left behind. Gunplay is fun and it is responsive though not as responsive as competitive FPS but it is good enough.

As A Looter Shooter

The game has a looter shooter system but fails to properly implement it. Usually, the loot in the game works on a rarity system. Redfall game also has a rarity system but has no order to it. An epic loot might drop with the common loot. There is no proper structure to the loot system. Any rarity loot can drop at any time which messes up the entire structure. You can get any loot type at any time.

The game shows the creation of vampires in a creative way. You can even play it in complete single player but it feels like the game was developed to be played in CO-OP. The abilities of your characters will not even function properly if not paired with another character. It seems like the game wants you to rely on each other for a better outcome.

Town of The Redfall

You have to take down vampires by finishing them with stakes after eliminating their health. The game runs at 30 fps and that’s the only option the game has. FPS can drop to a single digit during the finishing animation. The game might not look as good as other recent games but it is good enough. There are empty areas in the town of Redfall but some of the areas are good as well.

From time to time, you will come across detailed interior areas. Some of these areas are full of stuff while others are empty as mentioned earlier. These areas can have a design and you can complete side objectives in these areas. Some areas have quite a bit of detail with the mansion having libraries, a kitchen, and things like that. These areas look good even if what you do in them is not good.

Verdict

You start with four different quirky characters each having their own personality and abilities. After selecting one of them you can start exploring in single-player mode or multiplayer. The choice is up to you. Jump into town taken by vampires and their cult followers. The game shines when you are working in team play. Redfall game has some major glitches which should not have been a problem. It is a bad looter shooter compared to others. One can see the spark of Arkane but the game is not there.

Redfall game needs some work from a technical standpoint. It’s not like a great game is being overshadowed by the problems. The basics of a good Arkane game are there but it just doesn’t have the caliber. Character design and level design pops up from time to time. The developers have made it nothing more than a looter shooter and failed to make it even a proper looter shooter. Some glitches bugs and crashes create further loops in the story and gameplay. It is not a good-looking game and does not even have a 60 FPS option.

The game does not try hard to present itself as a good game. It can find some fans but at its current stage, it is hard to give thumbs up to it. If you have Game Pass then play it from Game Pass as it is available on it. I can’t find myself recommending it in any other way.