All the details we know so far about Redfall’s release date, gameplay, platform availability, Game Pass launch, and more!
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Redfall release date
This means that as it stands, players who prefer Sony or Nintendo platforms sadly won’t get the opportunity to check out Redfall on their console of choice. Nor will those Microsoft fans who are still contenting themselves with an Xbox One, since Redfall is acting as a flagship console exclusive for the Series X|S.
There’s good news for Game Pass subscribers, though, as Redfall is due to be added to the Game Pass library on Day One of its launch.
Redfall is primarily a multiplayer co-operative title, where you and up to three buddies can choose from four playable characters with different skills and combat abilities. Together, you’ll roam the open world town of Redfall, fighting against both vampiric and human enemies in combat encounters varying from small group skirmishes to larger battles.
You won’t be tethered to your buddies, meaning that all four of you can explore different parts of the town independently if you like. There will, however, be beneficial buffs to encourage co-operatation without demanding it. There’s also no word yet as to whether enemy difficulty will scale up to meet the number of players in the world, meaning that sticking together could potentially be an informal requirement anyway.
Happily, Arkane haverecently confirmedthat yes, Redfall will support crossplay between Xbox and PC, further clarifying that the latter will support crossplay between the various storefronts the game is being sold on too. That means that regardless of whether you obtained Redfall via Steam, Epic, or Game Pass, you and all your buddies will definitely be able to team up for some co-op vampire slaying.
Although initial announcements around Redfall leaned heavily on its multiplayer co-operative mode, it has now been confirmed that the game will also include the option to play solo, and furthermore that each hero character has the ability to deal with every encounter in the game in single-player. This will hopefully be cheering news to Arkane fans who fell in love with the studio’s solid single-player titles, and were worried about being left out of the Redfall fun. However, Bethesda have now confirmed thatRedfall will require a constant internet connection to play, even if you’re slaying solo, althoughArkane have decided to try to patch this outfollowing negative feedback to the announcement.
The recent Xbox Developer Showcase brought us an extra-long new trailer containing a whole 11 minutes of Redfall gameplay footage, which you can view for yourself below:
Redfall is being described as a “story-driven shooter” blending FPS and RPG elements, in which one to four players fight hordes of the undead. This, of course, made us immediately think ofLeft 4 Dead, but Arkane have been quick todownplay this association. Instead, they’re pointing to the game’s open world as evidence that Redfall will have more in common with titles likeFar Cry.
This seems to support my feeling that Redfall is going to be more action-packed urban fantasy than survival horror, even though that Halloween trailer made it look very spooky indeed. You’ll regularly take a face full of supernatural nastiness, but whether solo or with a squad, the main characters seem more than prepared to deal with what gets thrown at them. The emphasis seems to be on enabling your powerful vampire-slaying fantasies, rather than forcing you to cower in the shadows.
Fittingly given the studio’s history with Dishonored and Deathloop, Arkane have confirmed that you will have the option to use stealth in Redfall as part of your tactical arsenal. You’ll also be armed with a variety of conventional weapons, unconventional powers, non-lethal crowd-control abilities, and unique skills for each character that can be combined in co-op for even more creative carnage.
Gameplay footage from the latest Xbox Developer Direct gives a hint as to some of the deeper mechanics at play. For instance, a recurring boss called The Rook is seemingly summoned by overcharging some kind of vampire killing metre. This will presumably force your squad to choose between clearing out an area in one huge battle and risk attracting The Rook, or using stealth to manage some kind of cooldown that lets you avoid him. Or maybe he just shows up after you stake 50 bloodsuckers no matter how you try to manage things? I don’t know, but I’m excited to find out.
The same preview confirms that, in additional to traditional missions, Redfall’s open world will feature “encounters” which spawn somewhat randomly. If you’re familiar with games likeMarvel’s Spider-Man, you’ll presumably be familiar with this kind of street crime-style event, which gives you the opportunity to help out civilians under threat as you make your way across the map.
Aside from progressing through the main campaign, another major objective will be reclaiming Redfall from the vampires and their cultists neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood. This is where that Far Cry comparison really comes in. The final step in reclaiming each neighbourhood is a fight with an underboss, described as “the powerful elites of the vampire gods”. These differ from the vampire gods themselves, apparently, who are quite clearly the endgame bosses, to be faced once you bring the entire town of Redfall back under human control.
Players will be given the option to choose between four protagonists:
Each player character has a unique set of skills and combat abilities, and will spark some unique interactions depending on which other character(s) you’re playing with in co-op. However, if you do choose to take on the game in single-player, Arkane are quick to reassure you that every hero is equipped to deal with every aspect of the game solo. Each character will also have an upgradeable skill tree that allows you to tailor their play-style to your preferences.
There will also be friendly NPCs who your character(s) can interact with in the game’s safe zone areas. In addition to adding some local colour to the setting, these survivors will be a source of supplies and side-missions.
And of course, since this is an Arkane title, expect plenty of deep twisty lore to uncover as you explore its open world. Indeed, Arkane have described the town of Redfall as being just as much a character in the game as its inhabitants, and indeed the map features multiple districts with their own unique purpose and feel. There are also Stranger Things-style pocket “psychic spaces” for you to explore in addition to the more traditional vampire-overrun reality, and vampire nests (like regular enemy hideouts, but with gross beating hearts at their cores) which sound like they might be procedurally generated.
