Redfall has arrived, and the early reactions to the game haven’t been good. Developed by Arkane Studios, the developers behind Deathloop and the Dishonored series, expectations were high for this vampire-hunting title. However, it seems Microsoft’s poor influence on the studios it acquires continues to grow, as this marks another failed attempt at a popular exclusive title for Xbox.
The lack of popular system exclusives has been a thorn in Microsoft’s side for a while now. While they originally saw success with Sea of Thieves, and have had some small surprises like Pentiment and Hi-Fi Rush, Microsoft has seen little success beyond them. They haven’t managed to find a title to build a solid series off of, or, as Redfall attempted, to create another live service game that could have some legs. Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda back in 2021 seemed to be the answer, but with further delays to Starfield and the failed release of Redfall, it seems they are no closer to figuring out this problem.
So what went wrong with Redfall? According to critic reviews, it seems that this may be another title that falls short due to Microsoft’s meddling once more, pushing a game out that didn’t have time to reach its true final form. We’ll go over critic’s main complaints here, so players can understand what feels so wrong about the title, and what could be done about it in the future.
Just Another Empty Open World
One of the biggest complaints concerning Redfall is that the open world it provides feels empty. At this point, you feel Microsoft should know better.
Arcane Studios have generally developed games that are level-based, having multiple maps with specific targets, rather than developing titles where filling a giant sandbox with content has been the norm. The struggle to transition is obvious here, as the world fails to provide avenues for exciting gameplay, instead mostly existing as a bland space to traverse.
More N4G Unlocked: Redfall How To Get Rid of Red Mist
There is a mountain of open-world games out there, each with their own specific gameplay and content. The bar is high for a title to match the kind of immersion and continuous gameplay that these games have achieved. Sadly, Redfall falls woefully short, giving players another bland post-apocalyptic wasteland to walk across over and over again.
AI So Bad That ChatGPT Could Have Done Better
While the gunplay in this game is standard and serviceable, the basic gameplay still falls short due to the sad state of the AI. Vampires, meant to be a primary and interesting foe, are instead narrowminded and clunky. They run straight ahead, unable to navigate objects when they are close to the player, meaning they can easily be defeated by standing on the other side of a crate or parked car as they continue to attack into players.
Standing on a narrow surface seems to get the best of them too, as they seem unsure of their footing. Enemies will often stand at the end of whatever narrow walkway players are on, motionless, waiting for the end.
More N4G Unlocked: Redfall How To Find Shipyard Office Key
Enemies with guns aren’t much better. They’ll shoot round after round into cover, eventually deciding to strafe a bit to reach the player after a few attempts. Sometimes they’ll even run straight at the player, giving up their range advantage to instead get punched in the face. In the end, most enemies can be cheesed with little effort, meaning that the serviceable combat the game has becomes devalued in almost any scenario.
30 FPS Cap on Xbox, the Console Redfall Is Exclusive To
Perhaps the most damning indictment of the game when considering Microsoft’s hopes to use the game to show off the Xbox’s hardware is the 30 FPS Cap for the console. While the game will eventually get a 60 FPS performance mode, the fact that it didn’t ship with it is still a red flag.
While we can generally give a pass on some of the more graphically intensive games, Redfall can’t even claim that. It has an art style reminiscent of Dishonored and the like, stylized, but not necessarily what players think of when they try to recall a game with cutting-edge graphics. This seems to be another sign that Microsoft pushed this title out the door too early in their quest for more exclusive titles.
There are positive signs there, with multiplayer gameplay that exceeds expectations, all the lore and narrative flair that Arkane tends to have, and some powers and non-gunplay mechanics that provide some real fun. However, in the end, the game fails to deliver.
Microsoft picked a team that was known for narrative-driven, level-based games and forced them to make an open-world game ripe for live service monetization. And lo and behold, the game sucks. Don’t blame the devs at Arkane for this one. Blame Microsoft. Someday they’ll let the devs they acquire make the games they want to make. Until then, expect more Ubisoft-lite open-world games that go nowhere, made by teams with bigger aspirations than they’ll ever be allowed to realize.