Redfall is not exactly the antithesis of what Arkane Austin has accomplished in the past, but it is certainly more of a departure from its traditional first-person RPGs. This is chiefly due to Redfall’s emphasis on multiplayer co-op with a squad of up to four players. Players then assume the distinct role and character of Devinder Crousley, Layla Ellison, Remi De La Rosa, and Jacob Boyer, with unique abilities assigned to each. Redfall is being developed by Arkane Austin, not to be confused with Deathloop’s Arkane Lyon, though both teams are exceptional at ingeniously crafting atmosphere in a distinct world.
Arkane is known for its creativity in how players can choose to approach certain events, but also its creativity in terms of preternatural abilities and armaments players can wield. Redfall seems fairly simple on paper, with players battling vampire gods and their devout cultists on the island of Redfall, Massachusetts. The game features ordinary and jury-rigged armaments that are more commonly depicted, but where Redfall will truly stand out is in its armory dedicated to killing vampires. Such armaments include stakes, which look to make the most out of Arkane’s ingenuity.
Redfall Stakes Are Further Representative of Arkane’s Creativity
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In a recent behind-the-scenes developer interview for Redfall giving insight into how it was brought to life, Arkane Austin explained its decisions behind many of the game’s open-world features. Redfall’s protagonists were briefly described in terms of what one will bring to the table apart from other playable characters, and the game’s primary enemies were also briefly depicted with a clear hint at their sinister origins.
It was in this interview that Arkane revealed Prey’s entire space station could fit within Redfall’s open-world. But while these tidbits are impressive, perhaps the most impressive feature shown from Redfall is its inventory of armaments. Redfall will have a normal array of revolvers, shotguns, and other firearms for players to equip and upgrade, but its most creative weapons are pulled off the shelf for when vampires are around.
In this case, players have access to a Stake Launcher, which fires ammunition scrounged from random items such as “broken-off pool cues and snapped-off mop handles.” The Stake Launcher is thus described as a “found ammo type weapon” and is incredibly exciting conceptually because of how creative Arkane can be with it. While players may have fun firing regular ammunition in ordinary guns, the Stake Launcher should give a unique sensation, with players being rewarded for gathering scrap in the environment to use as a piercing projectile. This firearm may not be practically useful in every combat encounter, but it should surely be an effective weapon against vampires that is fun to have equipped.
Special Firearms in Redfall Offer Fantastic Distinction
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Further, stakes can also be equipped to ordinary firearms as attachments. Arkane clearly had a lot of fun creatively coming up with ideas for what to transform into a makeshift stake, as players can choose to fasten garden gnomes, broken guitar stems, harpoons, and many other pointy instruments to the ends of rifles or other armaments. It will be interesting to see what other hilarious items may be attached to players’ guns as stakes for close-quarters encounters with vampires, especially if they are as meticulously thought out as the aforementioned stake items. Besides Redfall’s stakes, however, there is a swathe of other armaments players will arm themselves with when they encounter vampiric enemies.
Arkane emphasizes petrification as a unique way to immobilize vampires, though it warns that they may soon break free and attack once again. Moreover, players will be capable of immolating vampires with flare guns, described as a “fireball launcher” of sorts, which round out its vampire-specific weapons in an ingenious way. Using all of this equipment in combination, such as petrifying a vampire before staking it with the Stake Launcher, seems like a remarkably satisfying way to engage in Redfall’s multiplayer combat. Redfall still does not have a concrete release date, and fans will hopefully receive more fun details such as these in the months before it does eventually launch.
Redfall will launch in 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.