Redfall (Xbox)
By: Bethesda
With billions to be made off a successful live-service game, it’s easy to see why every developer wants in on the act, hawking skins, weapons and dances to FOMO-stricken teens. But online co-op looting and shooting isn’t exactly in the wheelhouse of Arkane, purveyors of classics such as Dishonored, Deathloop and Prey – and it shows. With Redfall, the masters of the single-player sim have churned out Fortnight meets Salem's Lot for, ironically, a vampire game ruined by the stake-holders.
Opening on a boat full of corpses, Redfall’s tale of small-town innocence lost in the wake of something sinister is full-on Stephen King, right down to its red 80s title font (hello, Stranger Things). Cut off from the rest of America and with the sun blocked, Redfall is overrun with bloodsuckers, and it’s up to the player as one of four unique characters to save the New England town’s unwitting fang-fodder across two modestly sized maps.
While the majority of enemies are human cultists and gun-toting soldiers, the meat of the action comes from battling Redfall’s various vampires with creative weaponry like stake launchers, flare guns and UV lights. Take out too many, though, and you’ll anger the vampire gods, leading to mini-boss battles against the Rook and his lightning storm before you can fast travel again.
Arkane's stock-in-trade world-building is second-to-none, and even when the accountants are pushing for modern multiplayer trends, they can’t help but create a melancholic, autumnal world, where the last breath of warm air kicks up leaves and pumpkins decay against clapboard houses. Redfall feels like a once-vibrant burg, and a poke around its buildings reveals notes and diary entries that veer from wryly humorous to outright devastating.
It's just a shame that all this is in service to a shallow shooter that encourages teams to rush from A to B, like drive-through Shakespeare. Its loot and levelling-up are close to pointless, and with no match-making and host-only progression (ruining the point of joining another’s game), Redfall is best-played alone. But even solo, you can dander for miles without encountering enemies, and when you do, dumb AI makes them more inconvenience than challenge. The last time vampires were this unthreatening they were counting stuff on Sesame Street, while a clout to the back of the head is enough to take out its super-soldiers.
Missing the jugular with multiplayer looter-shooter trappings and always-online technical bugs, you suspect Redfall was released prematurely to please Microsoft's accountants. Failing as both a solo adventure and multiplayer shooter, it may be technically “free” to subscribers of Game Pass, but with bloodsucking that just plain sucks, it’s a case of fangs but no fangs.
