Redfall Review - IGN

Plagued with bland missions, boneheaded enemies, and repeated technical problems, Redfall is a bafflingly bad time across the board.

[LG_Fox_Brazil]

The reviews on Steam are being brutal as well. What a disappointment Arkane

[Godmars290]

More like MS. If true they rushed it for Gamepass content. That's well beyond should know better.

[ModsDoBetter]

Can’t all be pinned on MS.

Game was in development at Arkane for years, they definitely have a part to play.

The “rushed it for GamePass” take would be more believable as the SOLE reason for the game’s state if the game didn’t suffer numerous delays.

[Eonjay]

@oIMyersIo

Yes it can and must be pinned on Microsoft. The idea that Microsoft had no choice but to green-light the release of a broken game is stupid. Of course they did. If the game wasn't ready then don't release it.

What other motivation could they have for releasing it?

[-Foxtrot]

olMyerslo

Sorry but MS had like two years to oversee the game

They released it in that state

They should have cancelled it and took the loss explaining to the public their reasons, how it wasn’t up to their quality or tell Arkane to reboot development and start from scratch into a single player game.

[DOMination-]

I'd love to know the story behind it one day and why somebody like Harvey Smith came to be making a game like this. It's all very strange.

I'd also love to know what state it was in last summer when it was supposed to be released originally.

My theory: The E3 this was revealed at was not long after the Zenimax purchase was completed. I wonder if there was internal pressure to show something to justify it at the time (outside of Starfield which was already announced) and this was the only thing they had? Afterall, we've still not seen anything new from any of those studios still after two years outside of HiFi Rush - Then after revealing it as a "one more thing" no less, they couldn't easily cancel the project.

Honestly, this game looks like it would have been bad even if it had another three years. So whether it had involvement from MS or not is not really relevant, however its really not helping their image of mis-managing studios and projects. Spencer and Booty really should be under severe pressure at this point.

[Lightning77]

According the Jeff Grubb which was back by Jez Cordon at Windows Central. I scour the internet and try and bring the right info at all times it accurate enough anyway. MS had no faith in Redfall when They first got hands on it. The delay, marketing etc was 100% on Arkane. MS left them alone this whole time. In fact there was even talks of Ms intervening and delaying the game more or canceling the game.

Canceling would of obviously would of went down allot worse than the reviews of Redfall. So they left them alone this whole time. There was also no amount of delays that could of saved the game. Not 3 months, 8 months or even a year. Arkane made a game they simply had no buissness making at the end of the day.

[gleepot]

That's not actually what happened.

[Crows90]

@myserio

I'm sorry but who owns the studio? Take some responsibility. Or ALA Microsoft and Xbox fan style...just throw them under the bus.

[Sonic1881]

And Microsoft. One of the worse review score for a AAA game this generation. This game is even worse than Forspoken

[SullysCigar]

This part from the review: "Snipers run towards you like an 8 year old on his first trip to Laser Tag, before crouching down IN FRONT of cover, so you can easily dispatch with them" 😂💀

The AI has looked AWFUL in the lead up to launch. Most could see it plain as day, but if you pointed it out you were labelled a hater. Well, now we can all unite and hate this game together. If you're in any doubt, go play it.

If you can't play it, check out the YouTube video by King Thrash where he compares it to a 20 year old X360 game. It's not a good look...

[ModsDoBetter]

You know, for all the trash Forspoken got, I picked it up on sale last week and aside from the annoying script for the protagonist, the game is…surprisingly decent. The combat is pretty fun and the soundtrack is 👌

[BigBosss]

Should have delayed the game for another year

[Eonjay]

They needed the illusion of AAA first party content on GamePass. Does anyone realize they've gone 18 months... now it's gonna be nearly 2 years when Starfield comes out.

[PhillyDillyDee]

Really it should’ve just been cancelled and the assets used for something else.

[badz149]

what assets? the textures are looking like they were taken straight from Fortnite (the UE4 version)

[SullysCigar]

Undoubtedly! The "you can't pin this on Microsoft" talk is absurd. This has been under MS control for AGES now. They will have dictated it's release schedule and overseen QA and playtesting during the later stages of development.

They just hoped nobody would notice and released it through desperation. And this after PlayStation removed Cyberpunk 2077 from their store until they deemed it ready, no doubt losing millions in revenue in the process, because they didn't want broken crap being released to their consumers.

There's no excuse for this and no amount of belated patches will atone for a move like this.

[Sonic1881]

But they did delay the game back in September and that still didn't help

[jznrpg]

I think this “game” should have been canceled or just a free to play only game after being delayed again for a year or 2 . It’s not worth paying 10$ for but they had 100$ versions . Insane . To me it’s a glorified mode and not a full game

[DRambo]

I don't think another year could fix this. It's always going to be broken.

[lukasmain]

Was this game always supposed to be a 4-player open sanbox co-op game from it's inception?

Or when MS announced it's desire to purchase Zenimax in 2020, did they have a say in forcing this game to be made with a "good for gamepass" mindset to it's overall mechanics and design?

Did they take all the skills for a single character in a single player game and spread them out over 4 choosable characters in a multiplaer co-op game? I mean MS certainly told the development team to scratch the PS5 version. What else did MS ask them to do?

I have a feeling there is a lot more to this story. Arcane are better than this. Something strange happened imo.

[senorfartcushion]

It looks similar to a lot of games as a service titles: industry trends changing over the time of development leading to the game being redeveloped to the point of mundanity.

Gotham Knights, Cyberpunk 2077, Suicide Squad etc

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Arkane needs to learn from this.

[Eonjay]

It's clearly Microsoft and not Arkane. We have seen their work before.
I can't believe they are out hear trying to put the blame on the devs once again.

[senorfartcushion]

Arkane can tell the execs where to stick it. From what I hear the execs were also too powerless to stop the motions. No one is ever that powerless though. If your warnings as a worker aren’t hitting the bigwigs, change them to threats.

Form a bond with your devs and hold your ground as workers and artists.

[solideagle]

ouch! IGN usually is lenient

[ModsDoBetter]

IGN are inconsistent at best.

Not defending the Redfall review, it’s deserved.

But they gave Jedi Survivor a 9/10 but then after gamers got their hands on it and noticed the glaring bugs, they released a separate video addressing them. Really should have been mentioned in the initial review.

[Welshy]

I think the difference is that Jedi's issues are purely technical, while it shouldn't have launched like that, once it's patched it will be a fantastic game.

Patches will do nothing for Redfall, like Fallout 76, it's problems are too rooted to the core design of the game so even smooth performance can't salvage it fully.

[ModsDoBetter]

@Welshy

I see your point but at the same time reviews should be transparent. They should note these issues because it’s not “the game will be good once patched”.

A review is the state of the game at launch,

We need to stop accepting mediocrity because that attitude is the exact reason we end up with games releasing in that state.

By the time games end up fixed, they’re cheaper to buy, so those day one adopters who have been misled by less than transparent reviewers have wasted money as a result.

[Flawlessmic]

There's a difference survivors issues well on ps5 quality mode ain't that bad not enough to dock it points, iv loved it so far it's great game game and it's looks great.

If the issues don't detract from the game then I'm ok and from what iv played from survivor they don't just like they didn't with elden ring

Redfall is the opposite, bad game, bad everything really, I mean I could expand on my experience with it but everyone by this stage knows the numerous issues with game

[ModsDoBetter]

@Flawless

I disagree, it seems that there’s only a difference because this is an Xbox title.

I’m glad you’re enjoying JS & I was interested in it until I read about the sly DRM alongside the performance issues on every platform, including PS5 which DF did a lengthy video on.

You know there’s a problem when the publisher doesn’t send review codes to DF, they can’t be paid off like some review outlets.

“If the issues don't detract from the game then I'm ok and from what iv played from survivor they don't just like they didn't with elden ring”

I’m sorry but performance issues absolutely detract from a games enjoyment. Case in point: Redfall - just look at all of the uproar over the 30fps cap.

[crazyCoconuts]

Yeah a 4 is really unusual. Didn't IGN get the exclusives from MS for an early look on this game? If anything you'd think they would be biased to give a better review based on that. I guess kudos for not giving into a bias...

[XbladeTeddy]

They acknowledged technical issues in a game this time then.

[ModsDoBetter]

Interesting, the cheque from EA must have cleared when they skipped over JS issues recently.

[-Mika-]

Phil really needs to stop with this hands off approach. Xbox needs to have reps going around and making sure their studio has quality control. I remember when Yoshida visted Santa Monica less then a year before GOW(2018) launched and said he hated the combat. They reworked it in less than a year and we got the great combat system we have today.

[senorfartcushion]

Wow.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a AAA game get less than a 6.5 out of 10 from this company.

Good for them for actually reflecting the criticism in their number scheme for once.

[phoenixwing]

I think it's because the game is just that bad and they knew they'd lose all credibility if they scored it ok to good

[senorfartcushion]

The 6.5 I think was Battlefront 2 and that thing nearly burst the Industry bubble 😅

[Relientk77]

IGN is usually pretty generous with their scoring so to give it a 4 is surprising.

[MADGameR]

This is the norm with X Box games. Just accept it.

[anast]

A 4 for IGN is as bad as it gets...The Steam reviews are also bad. This means the game is actually that bad.

[Vengeance1138]

People like to praise MS "hands off" approach to their studios but this is one instance where they 100% needed to be hands ON. Take a peak at how the project is going and go whoa guys! We cannot possibly let you release this, we're shutting it down and using the resources elsewhere.
However with the MS of today, it most likely went more like meh, it's good enough for GamePass, we tricked enough people into thinking it's "free" so they'll play anything!

[ufo8mycat]

This is what happens with GamePass
GamePass - Less budget and look what we got
Arkane Studios - Developer that brought us games like Dishonored and Prey. Compare those games to this...

This has Microsoft & GamePass written all over it on why the quality is garbage.
Should have everyone worried about StarField.

[alexkarkar]

at least it's a woke game with a great diversity. you always can find solace in that.

[Elda]

I played my first mission last night & for me, the game is alright far as gameplay. It's like your typical generic shooter that one may find some fun in playing. I'm going to play more this weekend & see how it gets. But so far from my experience, I give the game a 6.

[Hofstaderman]

And to think we were blaming the poor guy responsible for the preview. Really thought his skills sucked but yeah he’s pretty much exonerated.

[Traecy]

Wow. IGN gives a 4 out of 10. Why haven't the main advocates for MS/XB haven't been in these Redfall review articles?

[gold_drake]

well, there you have it.
even ign says it sucks haha

[Vizigoth04]

It played better this morning than my first two sit downs. Actually cleared out a nest. Complaints is how unalive and unmotivating the quests are. There’s just there. Sides quests too. 60fps should be a thing. And what’s the point of it being co-op at? Unless you really want to help friends get to where you are or something. It should just be cross progression. I’ll try it though here soon. There’s so much potential in the game if it can just come alive.

[Ninver]

IGN has surprised me. It's the only time I agree with them. Integrity slightly restored. Maybe the MS check wasn't big enough.

[DaniMacYo]

Another MS title bites the dust. LMAO.

[MaximusPrime_]

Another low review score for MS. Not surprising.

[helicoptergirl]

Holy moly Ign and Gamespot matching scores. Can't remember the last time.

[ChasterMies]

Wow. I guess IGN is tired of being known as the home of 8/10.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Releasing this game in this condition was like handing in a book report without reading the book.

You can’t be proud of it when people pick it up to read/play; in fact, it must feel embarrassing to anticipate the inevitable disappointment.

I feel bad for the studio. It’s gotta suck knowing your whole office, your entire culmination of work after half a decade, is being universally labeled as lacking a creative vision behind the game mechanics.

They released a shooter knowing that most enemies can be melee’d instead of shot, and the ones that DO require actual shooting can still be outsmarted with a stationary chair (or by leaving a room…).

How were these issues not an alarming problem for the studio 2 years ago, and how was a plan never executed to address them? Was the game in such bad shape that they didn’t even have time to address these foundational issues with serving the shooter genre?

Even when the bugs are fixed, will the game even be fun at all?

[Destiny1080]

phil said it will be fixed up in time

[AmUnRa]

What about bring the game out in a good state and not bringing a game out in a bad state and fix it up later, just as Halo?
Why can Sony and Nintendo bringing out great games in a good state? Where is the quality control of MS? Is the mindset it is good enough for gamepass so dump it out?

[Father__Merrin]

Microsoft rushed this out PURELY FOR GAMEPASS that's a fact.

[aws04]

What is the synonym for Redfall?

[Ethereal]

Oof...

[DRambo]

The AI is the testbed for the future of Call of Duty.