A new preview for Redfall claims that it has the ‘best gunplay that Arkane has ever produced.’
This glowing praise comes courtesy of Eric Switzer for The Gamer. Arkane’s design isn’t particularly known for good shooter mechanics, as much as it is their storytelling chops across games like Dishonored and Prey.
Maybe the studio had turned a corner on this aspect of game design when they worked on Deathloop, a novel idea whose success hinged on the studios’ effective execution of their ideas.
Eric cites that the weapons feel great to use, and the audio visual feedback they provide is comparable to how Overwatch does it. It does hint it’s good enough for competitive play, even though what’s needed for co-op is a little bit different.
Eric also notes how Redfall shows its influences on its sleeve. Like Dying Light, there is a medium sized map, whose properties change during the day and night. The city of Redfall is an open world you are free to explore, and that includes finding safehouses that can serve as spawn points.
In spite of the open world, there are definite story missions that you will have to play through, and you are given leeway on how you want to enter.
This ties in to the variety of weapons and gear systems. You can get guns specifically made for vampires, but you’ll also want ones to deal with the human gangs working with said vampires. For example, there are weapons that emit UV, turning vampires to stone, flare guns, and weapons that throw stakes out.
In those story campaigns will be opportunities to get a lot of collectibles , Far Cry style, but thankfully, Redfall isn’t just another shlooter. There is a hub area where you can buy, as well as modify and upgrade your weapons and items.
You can read more about Redfall in Eric’s preview, but certainly it’s as far apart from Arkane Studios’ other work as it can possibly be. Aside from living up to being a must play on Microsoft’s platform, Redfall will be a clear test on if Arkane can prove they can shift towards making a completely different type of game than they have been known for. But if you remember that even their Dishonored days was a diversion from their origins as the developer of Arx Fatalis, you might have a little faith they can pull it off.
Redfall will be releasing on May 2, 2023 on Xbox Series X|S, and Windows via Steam. Of course, Redfall is also Day One on Game Pass.
