Arkane's upcoming vampire co-op shooter Redfall interested many when it was first unveiled. Taking place in the town of Redfall, the game sees four unique characters try and take the settlement back by wiping out the vampire infestation along with the cultists who worship the blood suckers. Unfortunately for fans, despite a 2022 release date being originally planned, Redfall was delayed earlier this year to a 2023 launch. However, this does not mean that Arkane has remained silent on the game since. If anything, the studio has been increasing the reveals and details it has shared about Redfall.
The latest information about Redfall comes to fans via a blog post on Arkane's official website, where some of the studio's members talked about the island of Redfall. Like Arkane's previous title Deathloop, Redfall has an island setting. However, unlike Deathloop, the co-op shooter will be entirely open world. This marks a first for Arkane games and is something the developer has discussed heavily since it was revealed to be a major aspect of Redfall.
The blog post begins with an introduction to the island of Redfall and jokes that tourism has really fallen off due to a vampire invasion. Then, the post discusses the challenges of bringing the detail Arkane is known for in its level design into one massive open world. It seems that the developer has welcomed the challenge, as Creative Director Ricardo Bare speaks on the benefits of open-world gameplay. “The wonderful thing about going open world is that players have the flexibility to poke around at different things at their own pace,” he stated. As well, this means that not every opponent or mission needs to be tackled right away in Redfall and players can take their time to level up if something is proving too difficult.
Discussing the inspiration for the town in Redfall, Arkane Studio Director Harvey Smith said, "We love small, well-detailed towns… The familiarity of corner stores, bars, baseball fields." Smith then went on to say that the idea of Redfall spawned from placing something "extraordinary" within that small town. This will likely lead into some of Redfall's horror elements, too, with a strong sense of the uncanny as players see things that appear normal but are completely alien. Still, it seems Redfall won't have too much of a horror influence, as the game takes on a level of lighthearted banter similar to the Borderlands franchise.
Finally, the blog post ends with a statement about Arkane's attitude to setting, stating that Redfall's open world is not just a backdrop and will tell environmental stories. The studio has always been praised for its work in environmental storytelling, with some of Dishonored's levels being seen as the best in gaming, so it seems Redfall should have no problem sucking players into its setting.
Redfall will release in 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.