Uncover the truth and take back Redfall from a legion of vampires. Slay alone or squad up with friends in an open-world filled with threats. Redfall is out now on Xbox Series X/S and PC. Learn more here.
Arkane’s blood-soaked open world vampire slaying adventure, Redfall, is finally out in players’ hands, and it’s a foray into some new territory for fans of a lot of the developer’s previous work.
Where games like Prey or Dishonored were designed around a single-player experience in their immersive and creative worlds, Redfall is a bit of a change of pace that introduces full, four player co-operative play online while still holding on to the fabric of what Arkane is known for.
If you’re looking to dive into the town of Redfall, but you’re a solo player looking for that classic Arkane feel or you’re someone who’s happier shooting the shit (out of vampires) with your mates, the good news is that both bases are covered here.
For those firmly in the camp of wanting to kick back on the couch, pick up a controller and ignore the rest of the world for a few hours at a time, Redfall’s solo play offering will see you choose from one of the four unique playable heroes before finding yourself trapped in the island town of Redfall, Massachusetts where a vampire invasion has cut off the town completely and sparked a vampire-worshipping cult to contend with.
Setting off on a journey to uncover the origins of these vampires and liberate Redfall, you’ll openly explore the town, interact with the human survivors and learn their stories, piece together lore through notes and other discoveries and build your chosen character into a vampire killing machine with unlockable skills and upgrades. For the solo player, there’s a heap to sink your teeth into (pun intended), and you won’t be missing out on anything to be seen, done or staked in the town.
When it comes to playing co-operatively in Redfall, it’s a whole new playing field that doesn’t take away from the tried-and-true Arkane experience but instead adds new layers to it.
Players can host a game and have up to three friends jump in as the other vampire hunters, assisting the host player in their mission progress while also earning new hero levels, skills, items, weapons and more for their own character, to take back into their own game.
There’s a synergy between each of the four heroes that makes them compelling to play on their own, or with one, two or three friends. Naturally, enemy encounters will get harder the more players you have, but working together and figuring out the best way to combine your unique abilities, like Layla’s telekinetic elevator and umbrella shield or Dev’s translocation device and lightning javelin, is key. Learning how best to marry up everyone’s skill levels and unique abilities adds another layer on top of the combat experience.
You’ll even get a “Trust Buff” for sticking close by your friends in a co-op game, though Redfall’s open world can be freely explored by everyone in a co-op session without the need to stay tethered to each other. Then, after a long and bloody battle or five, you can kick back at a safehouse, discuss your wins and any cool loot you found along the way and really bond over your shared impending demise.
Arkane’s immersive sim expertise also continues to show through even in co-op with each of the hunters having their own unique dialogue based on which other characters are in the group, bantering amongst themselves as you roam the open world and revealing nuggets of information on their backstories and current feelings towards the situation.
Whether you go it alone or bring mates along, Redfall’s open world melds the classic Arkane flavour with greater freedom and more social possibilities than before, and with the game included in Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass subscriptions the barrier of entry for you or your friends to give it a go is lower than ever.
