Redfall is a great game with one big problem

Vampire-hunting game Redfall is exciting, fantastical and polished but one key element could be its undoing.

Combat scenes in Redfall are hugely satisfying as vampire hunters with fantastical powers aim to rid the town of the deadly creatures. Picture: Arkane Studios

The vampire-hunting game from Arkane is an absolute blast to play, but its multiplayer focus could be its undoing.

Redfall is the latest and greatest game from Bethesda’s Arkane Studios, and after an hour with the game, I’m both excited and concerned about how it’ll turn out.

The premise of Redfall is simple: you and up to four mates take on the roles of vampire hunters in a sleepy little town in Massachusetts, USA. The town has been overrun by vampires with strange and powerful abilities, and our vampire-hunting heroes have their own fantastical abilities too.

Four characters will be available to play at launch, with more said to be coming in the future.

Telekinetic student Layla Ellison has some pretty awesome super powers. Picture: Arkane Studios

In the preview session, I played as the telekinetic student Layla Ellison, whose powers include summoning a magical elevator, shielding against enemy bullets, and calling on the help of her vampire ex-boyfriend. It’s all very fantastical.

The world-building on display in Redfall is in-line with Arkane’s previous games like Prey and Dishonored.

Every minute detail in the town of Redfall serves a purpose and tells a story, from the dilapidated mansion at the top of the hill to the run-down fire station that serves as the heroes’ operating base.

It’s incredible to think that so much care and detail was put into this world, given it’s a huge open world too, and Arkane’s first at this scale. The huge map is an absolute joy to explore because of this, filled with secrets and landmarks that beg you to take a little detour from the main objective.

The combat scenes in Redfall are hugely satisfying, exciting and polished. Picture: Arkane Studios

The gunplay in Redfall is incredible too, as are the abilities themselves. There’s something satisfying and exciting about summoning an elevator, lunging forward into it, and then raining hellfire down on enemies from above as you’re falling to the ground.

The moment-to-moment gameplay, like the game world itself, is polished to a mirror finish, with every button press turning into a delightful action on-screen. It feels incredibly well-developed, in a way that very few games ever do, and is a testament to just how good Arkane is at the minutiae of gameplay.

On that side of things, I think Redfall is an incredible success. But not everything about the experience sits right with me, and one of the major concerns I have is about the single-player experience.

Every detail in the town such as Hollow Man Mansion serves a purpose and tells a story. Picture: Arkane Studios

Redfall was seemingly designed from the ground up to be a multiplayer game. Some character abilities interact with abilities from other players, making them much less useful when you’re playing by yourself.

And when you are alone, there’s no computer-controlled allies to help you through it.

That brings me to my biggest concern from my experience with the game, and that’s the rift between single-player and multiplayer.

I was only able to play the game in single-player mode, with no multiplayer available during the preview, and to be frank, it was not quite as enjoyable as I’d hoped.

The main issue, for me, was that it was easy to get overwhelmed by enemies when playing in single-player mode.

Enemy vampires are often accompanied by groups of less powerful enemies, and I can see how that grouping would work in multiplayer – one person could deal with the vampire while others take out the group of lesser enemies.
But when you’re by yourself there’s just too much to handle.

Expert sniper Jacob Boyer’s psychic raven is always by his side. Picture: Arkane Studios

Because of that, trying to manage ammunition levels, health packs, and ability cooldowns was a nightmare. At one point I had very little ammo left, no health packs, and a tiny amount of HP. Sure, I could go back to the safe house, but that’s a while away, and the long trek back could see me getting into the same situation as I come across enemies.

All of this is likely to be a non-issue in multiplayer, as ammo and health depletion will be shared among the group rather than burdened on just one player. But as a game that’s been marketed as both a single-player and a multiplayer experience, having the single-player experience feel so hostile in this early stage is worrying.

There’s still time to iron that experience out, and I sincerely hope the team at Arkane takes the time to polish the single-player experience between now and its release date on May 2, 2023.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF

Originally published as Redfall is a great game with one big problem