Redfall gameplay preview – Polygon

After playing Arkane Studios’ RedfallI found it difficult to categorize the new co-op shooter that was born from our minds PreyAnd Dishonored. It is closest that I am able to equate RedfallTo is an immersive, sim sandbox which tries to put its story front and centre.

RedfallThis is not an horde-based, co-operative shooter like to Four Dead LeftOr Warhammer 40,000: Darktide — studio director Harvey Smith has already stressed that.

Yes, Redfall incorporates co-op elements, but like other Arkane games, it’s a solo experience first. Smith suggests that you play it solo and then invite your friends to join in the fun. (Unfortunately, co-op wasn’t playable in a recent 90-minute hands-on demo with the game in New York.)

Layla was the perfect choice because of her attitude and drip. She’s a med student with witchy powers and an ultimate ability that lets her to summon her absolute snack of a vampiric ex-boyfriend for assistance. This would be easy for you to ignore. Redfall’s four characters as class archetypes; their spread of abilities makes them all equally suited to solo or support roles. Every character can have two cooldown abilities and an ultimate ability which recharges when they kill bad guys.

Each character is unique in how they interact with the world and their attitudes. Layla, for example, coaxes shells into her shotgun using her telekinetic powers when she needs to reload and offers a fist bump to her former bae whenever he’s pulled from the veil.

Before I set out into the open-world, I had to review my loadout, and allocate a few skill points. This gave me a starting block that is comparable to the one players will encounter about an hour into their main story. I started off in an old firehouse, one of the many reclaimed safehouses you’ll find scattered around the world where you can catch your breath.

Image: Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks

Redfall was a quiet town. Redfall may be empty of regular residents, but it is still populated with enemies patrols, vampirics and various environmental hazards such as car batteries to gas cans. These elements can be used to your advantage when dealing with larger enemies groups. Your ammo is scarce and the vampires are prone to resist bullets. Immersive elements RedfallThere are also some more unscripted opportunities, such as sneaking around to feed vampires.

I was able to see that electricity, fire and ultraviolet light were all damage types. Each offered debuffs or counters for specific enemy types. UV lights might be great against vampires, but the human cultists running around couldn’t care less.

Cultists who work with vampires have guns and grenades. They patrol in groups, alerting others of your presence. You’ve fought these dudes before, and they only really become a problem if they ask for the manager (i.e., the vampires) running the show around Redfall. These cryptids, who are fashion forward and sexy in their attire, can be found either alone or with a partner. They will teleport to get into your hands to grab you.

Because bullets could only kill the vampires, they were much more fascinating than any of my other human enemies. Taking them on in 1v1 situations isn’t too tough if you know what you’re doing, but tangling with three or more at once can get dicey without a backup plan. You have two options: stake each one at close range or set them on fire to finish them.

There are many types of vampires. Siphons, for example, are capable of steadily draining your health at range while supplementing your own, while Shrouds limit your vision to a small area around them until they’re dealt with.

The eclectic armory is a great option. Redfall provides you with some interesting solutions for solving the town’s vampire problem. There are many other options than your typical arsenal of shotguns or assault rifles. RedfallThere are many makeshift weapons available, such as the flare gun which can light fires and set off enemies. Or the UV projector which acts like a freeze against vampires. The stake launcher is my personal favourite. It uses salvaged ammunition taken from different environmental objects, such as guitars and pool cues.

Image: Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks

Only two were available. Redfall’s factions during the hands-on demo, but Smith has promised additional human and vampire factions. As soon as he spoke of rival factions being able to fight against each other, I began thinking up creative ways to get them to attack each other.

RedfallThere are four difficulty options in the box. Although some areas of the map may seem more challenging than others according to Smith’s explanation, increasing difficulty along with having more friends play with you will result in enemy clusters that have more unique enemies.

In true Arkane fashion, there are novels’ worth of literature scattered throughout the world and sundry random objects to pick up, which inevitably turns your inventory into a magpie’s nest of edibles and romantic novels. RedfallThis has made the whole process easier by converting items automatically to either money or food. These currencies can be used to purchase consumables at safehouses. They also give you localized side missions which will provide loot as well as experience once you’ve completed them.

These side missions were part of my experience with them RedfallThese objectives seemed fairly simple and provided small but predictable goals to complete near the safehouse. The objectives could be as simple as clearing out one house or flipping on some scattered transmitters. Or even defending a particular point for a specified time. One of the standout distractions from the main story track are the vampire nests scattered around Redfall — which aren’t so much nests as they are tiny, linear pocket dimensions sustained by a heart at their core.

Vampire nests operate like a smash-and-grab heist, taking you and your party through an “upside-down” slice of the town, with vampires scattered liberally along your path to its core. The destruction of the core not only opens up many areas full of shiny loot but it also causes the nest’s collapse, giving you very little time to flee with your dosh.

Side objectives and killing vamps will fill up the meter, which summons an ultra-vampire named Rook. Even though I was thoroughly stomped by this guy during his single appearance in my playthrough, I was assured that while he is tough, the Rook isn’t invincible. You will be rewarded with the most valuable loot when you beat him.

The gameplay loop is for one slice Redfall I got to play felt pretty standard for an open-world shooter, but it was still interesting to see Arkane’s take on the genre by combining imm-sim elements with an asymmetric, complementary class system. You get solid gunplay with supernatural abilities. RedfallThe story is a solid starting point for players who want to explore the story and get more acquainted with its system before finally breaking it with their friends.