Environmental storytelling can be one of the hardest elements for a game developer to nail down, but once it's gotten the hang of it, the entire experience can be greatly elevated. Some of the best games ever made feature phenomenal environmental storytelling. The Dark Souls franchise is a perfect example of this, with its narrative being primarily told through environmental context clues like the architecture of certain areas or the enemies located there. Unfortunately though, when a game shoots and misses with its environmental storytelling, it can miss big, and Redfall might just do that.
Set to release in May of this year, Redfall is the next game from Arkane Studios Austin, the same team behind the underrated Prey reboot. While Redfall's recent trailers have done quite a bit to separate the game from other four-player co-op shooters out there, its narrative leaves something to be desired, and its environmental storytelling could feature a lot of the same problems as last year's Callisto Protocol.
Redfall Seems to Share Callisto Protocol's On The Nose Graffiti
Graffiti has been used as a common form of environmental storytelling in video games for a long time now, and even longer in TV and movies. It's most often used in the horror genre, with someone's blood being used to write an eerie message on the wall. The Callisto Protocol featured graffiti pretty prominently throughout its story, and for the most part, it was pretty redundant. Most of Callisto Protocol's graffiti was simply there to add the facade of tension to a sequence, with blood-soaked etchings on the wall being used to gear players up for an upcoming jump scare.
Callisto Protocol's graffiti was a particularly lazy example of the trope, and based on the trailers revealed so far, it unfortunately seems as though Redfall is following suit. One of the most egregious examples can be found in one of Redfall's earliest trailers, where a soldier has simply written the phrase "The Blood" on the wall behind him, of course, in blood. While this should raise the tension of the sequence, many of those watching the trailer scoffed at the graffiti's inclusion, with it adding nothing of real substance to the scene and actually working against the horror atmosphere.
Graffiti has been a divisive point in gaming for quite a while now, with many gamers having split opinions on its inclusion in a game. On one hand, graffiti can be a clear and succinct way to deliver a message to the player, whether it's mechanical or emotional. Dead Space's iconic "Cut off their limbs" graffiti raises the tension, while also telling players exactly how to defeat the Necromorphs in a realistic in-universe way. Left 4 Dead's messages to lost loved ones make the world feel more alive, and it raises the stakes of the group's journey. But on the other hand, graffiti can also be used very lazily in video games, with developers assuming that just the mere sight of blood on the walls is enough to scare players and set a satisfying horror atmosphere.
All this being said, Redfall could dodge a bullet with its graffiti if it leans harder into its comedic tone. From what fans have seen so far, Redfall seems to be attempting to strike a balance between horror and comedy, with similar vibes to movies like Zombieland. If it leans into this properly, then seeing graffiti like "The Blood" can actually work more as a comedic beat than a moment of tension, with the game embracing the trope and parodying it.
Redfall launches May 2, 2023, for PC and Xbox Series X/S.