Redfall is an open-world, vampire-slaying adventure game developed by Arkane Studios that has received much criticism since its release. However, despite the waves of incoming criticism shrouding the game like a supernatural red mist, Redfall is ideal for Xbox Game Pass. There are also several things the game does well that could be overlooked, shining some vampire-dusting daylight through the storm.
Redfall is set in a fictional namesake island town in Massachusetts which has become overrun by vampires. Trapped on the island, players team up with other survivors to fight solo or through online co-op to unravel the mystery of the supernatural catastrophe. Although the game undoubtedly has a lot of performance and technical issues, there are some things the game does right, and the game seems to value player choice and freedom.
10 Open World Feel Set In Autumn
Although its textures are sometimes questionable and suffer performance issues, as a setting, Redfall has some lush Fall vibes, with beautiful Autumn colors creating a rich backdrop for the slaying action on the streets. Even though it's impossible to explore everywhere, Redfall's open-world game setting also creates a feeling of openness, where players can explore the town and most buildings before even getting to the main objectives.
For fans of games set in the Fall, it adds a different dimension to traditional scary game experiences. Combined with an eerie blocked-out sun, Redfall does have some atmospheric, albeit cartoonish, graphical vibes that fit the theme well.
9 Different Ways To Achieve Mission Objectives
One feature Redfall highlights early on in the game is the non-linear ways to achieve mission objectives. In the opening mission, players must turn on the power in Redfall's firehouse and rescue the survivors before taking down their first vampire. However, there are many different ways to enter the firehouse, from sliding under the garage door to Parkouring around different routes up the building.
There is often also no set path to traveling to mission objectives. Players can pinpoint a map waypoint and, in most cases, get there how they like across the map, which is a neat, non-hand-holding approach.
8 Unique Slayer Abilities And Personalization Options
Each of Redfall's character abilities are different, and most of these look and feel pretty cool to experience. Many players might be drawn to hero Jacob with his enemy-spotting raven, but the other characters have unique and handy abilities, like Layla's umbrella shield. When there are so many guns, sometimes it's easy to forget to perform special abilities, but there's no going back once getting started.
In addition to character tree skills, there are also some abilities or moves that players can discover for themselves by testing the controls. For instance, although the game should state that stealth attacks are possible, players can sneakily hit some cultist enemies from behind to take them out in a single blow.
7 Amount Of Collectibles
The game has a variety of collectibles for players to discover that could sometimes be easily missed, such as Redfall's ferry deck key location. Taking time to explore often rewards players, and there is more to interact with than some players might initially think. For instance, taking time to grab the ferry deck key can lead players to get hold of a sniper rifle early on in the game.
With so much to collect, making money in Redfall is somewhat easy and handy to spend on additional med kits or gadgets for hardwiring. Although not necessarily preferred by all players, there are also a lot of unusual collectibles that players might miss.
6 Slaying Feels Satisfying
Although Redfall's world has been criticized as lifeless, to some extent, it makes sense that vampires don't swarm the streets like zombies in games like Dead Island 2. Redfall's vampires whisper in and sometimes appear from the shadows, as might be expected from vampires. When present, the vampires move fast and can be hard to hit.
In addition to staking vampires, there are other satisfying ways to defeat them, such as freezing them with the UV Beam gun before smashing them to pieces in one hit with the shotgun. Sometimes the AI feels a bit clumsy, but battles with groups of AI can still prove challenging.
5 Fast Travel Options
There are different ways to fast travel around Redfall's map that handily allow players to get to locations quickly if they want to. In addition to safe houses, players can easily fast-travel to the fire station. If players get slain by an enemy, they spawn back at the firehouse if they haven't unlocked a safe house yet.
However, once players unlock the ability to fast travel via safe houses, they either respawn at the nearest safe house upon death or at a historical monument erected at the site where players' characters died, allowing them to fast travel back to where they were.
4 Accommodates Different Playstyles
Player freedom to navigate the map means players can adjust their playstyle according to their preferences. Enemies can often be avoidable or can be dealt with via stealth tactics for those who prefer stealthier gameplay. For instance, players can sneak behind enemies for stealth attacks or snipe them from a distance.
Alternatively, players can choose to go in guns blazing or wield their character's special abilities if they prefer close-combat situations, or adjust their playstyle according to the situation in front of them.
3 Mission Choice
After players complete the first two main story missions, they can choose which of the next three missions to undertake on the branching tree-style mission menu at the firehouse base. In addition to main missions, there are also optional safe house missions once players discover one of Redfall's safehouse locations, which players can also fast-travel to, making the sizable open world map easier to navigate.
It's a nice, non-linear feature to give players the choice of which mission to undertake next and an additional way the game adds to player freedom and choice.
2 How The Story Unfolds
There's a fun moment in one of the third selectable main missions called "Giving You Tomorrow" which sees players retrieve and play movie footage at a theatre house. Players get to watch the movie that looks like the game's cutscenes that appear at the end of missions, conveniently not interrupting the gameplay mid-mission.
There are also many notes dotted about the map that tell players more about the townsfolk and what went on, and some of these give clues about what to do next. The players' character also comments on the story and at random points when coming across certain game moments, like stumbling upon a creepy painting at the Aevum Clinic.
1 Discoverable Hidden Or Locked Locations
There are many locked or hidden areas to discover in Redfall, like locked-up houses accessible with lockpicks. Players can also find hidden vampire caves where they can obtain Redfall's underboss skulls, locations that feel genuinely creepy.
The game also uses a scenic telescope system to reveal possible secrets to players. Players can look through telescopes at observation points throughout the game, such as the one on the cliffs by the second helicopter crash site, which directs the way to secret discoverable or noteworthy locations. Oddly, players can’t move the telescope viewpoint, but that’s kind of the point.
Redfall is available now for PC and Xbox Series X/S.