Support NeoGAF

[reksveks]

That world is where Redfall really diverges from any lingering horde shooter comparisons. Those genre games have a familiar rhythm: load into linear missions with friends, and fight waves of enemies until the end. Redfall has a broader objective, affording you the freedom to linger (or fight) at your leisure. Defining the shape of your adventure is all part of the appeal. "You're in a big-ass open world," enthuses Bare. "We have a home base where you can talk to NPCs and get side-quests. You can go to the mission table and pick up story-driven missions. Or you can not give a shit about any of that and just head outside; pick a direction, start hauling ass, and run into the living-world stuff that we have going on."

By Arkane's standards, the description of a "big-ass open world" is accurate – Redfall is an unfathomably larger space than Prey's Talos I. But by modern open-world standards, the titular island will likely be quaint by comparison.

These examples barely scratch the surface of what you'll find in Redfall's world, which is divided into two distinct districts – one is a sprawling urban area, and the other more rural in design. There are neighborhoods held hostage by vampires; liberating these parts of the town for the people will open up Safe Houses, and make it more comfortable for the citizens who couldn't escape before the island was cut off from civilization. You'll encounter survivors who may ask you for a favor or two, with the opportunity to level up or earn new gear waiting as a reward. Nests can emerge in a shared psychic-space, should a group of vampires fall into a Blood Trance. Storms form gradually over time, signaling the arrival of powerful Vampire Gods called Rooks. Bellwether Security squads patrol the island, and cultists set up roadblocks to bottleneck any who remain committed to the land of the living. And then there's the story campaign that underpins the adventure, which follows the fallout of a scientific longevity experiment gone exceptionally wrong.

One part of this complex puzzle is the day-night cycle, which remains despite a powerful Vampire God – the Black Sun – having established a local Eclipse. "The sun sets and the sun rises, and we have different times of the day," says Smith. "It changes the feel of the game radically."

Cooperation is optional. You can slay alone or squad up, with Redfall seamlessly blending single-player and multiplayer options – not all that dissimilar to the Borderlands games. And the comparisons to Gearbox's co-op shooter don't end there. At the beginning of Redfall, you'll be able to choose between one of four characters: Devinder Crousley, the verified cryptid hunter; Layla Ellison, the telekinetic threat in student debt; Jacob Boyer, the deadeye with an undead eye; and Remi De La Rosa, the ingenious engineer. Once you start the campaign, your character selection is locked in for the duration of the game – if you choose to play solo, you'll do so without the other three heroes around you.

Even with a renewed focus on advancing supernatural powers, Arkane knew it had to get the gunplay right. "There's a certain level of work you have to put into a shooter to just reach the minimum bar, because you'll inevitably get compared to all the other shooters out there if your guns don't feel good," says Bare, who notes that the studio hired in FPS experts at the outset of production, and even looked to the broader Bethesda network for assistance. "We got insight from some of our sister studios; the people who worked on Doom came over and gave us feedback a couple of times, things like that, and we're pretty happy with the results."

"We have the usual array of weapons like assault rifles and shit like that, many of which are jury-rigged by the locals because they've been cut off," Smith adds, who notes that standard guns are equipped with random modifiers when you find them. But the real draw to Redfall's FPS combat is the special vampire-hunting weapons. "Your weapons can have stakes on the end – if the vampires are vulnerable, the only way to truly kill them is to stake them otherwise they regenerate. There are flare guns, UV beams, and even stake launchers – which use found ammo like broken-off pool cues and fireplace pokers." Bare adds: "You know, the kind of weapons you would want if you were having to kill vampires."

Redfall sometimes feels like what you'd get if you blended the Arkane creative values with Far Cry 2 or S.T.A.L.K.E.R.,"

Alot more interesting tid-bits in the article

Source: https://www.gamesradar.com/big-in-2023-redfall-preview-interview-exclusive/

 

[R6Rider]

All I keep thinking is they should have made a game where you are a vampire and get cool abilities.

 

[Jennings]

I'm not saying I wish the game was like Left 4 Dead, but, oh god, not another Far Cry. I admit I'm biased since I only recognize Far Cry 1 as an enjoyable game for me, but still, why does it have to be Arkane's Xerox Copy of ANY game, why not do something that makes its own mark? Good luck to the devs and the success of the game, even if there's a good chance I'll try it out on GP and discover it doesn't appeal to me.

 

[ZehDon]

... wait, they meant that in a positive way? Oh no...

 

[onesvenus]

why does it have to be Arkane's Xerox Copy of ANY game

Where does it say it's a copy of anything? Just by virtue of being on foot will make that a really different game than any far cry

 

[johnjohn]

Yea this is going to be great.

 

[MiguelItUp]

All I keep thinking is they should have made a game where you are a vampire and get cool abilities.

That's what I'm saying! That'd at least be a little bit more unique than what it currently looks like. I mean, I hope it's good. But everything they've shown doesn't look much different than what we've already seen and played a ton of times.

 

[Del_X]

Is this a single-player focused game? Cool! If not, pass.

 

[Mister Wolf]

It's their Borderlands.

 

[Dolodolo]

Nobody cares about this game
Even Xbox
Latest trailer was watched by a meager number of people.
They could bring more attention to her by showing another trailer at TGA
But why
After all, you can make your own analogue of State Of Play, which will be watched by 30 times less people than TGA
Or maybe 50 times less
I hope this game gets good ratings otherwise it will just die and the gamepass won't help

 

[EDMIX]

It's their Borderlands.

Thats what I got from it, like its single player and people can jump in and help do co-op things similar to how Borderlands worked.

D Dolodolo yea I don't know if this game will do well. I was hype at the reveal, lost interest as soon as I heard it was some online thing.

 

[Ozriel]

Is this a single-player focused game? Cool! If not, pass.

Always best practice to read the OP.
It has a campaign that can be played single player or multi.

 

[SJRB]

Man how bad are those trailers if they're actually going for a Far Cry type of game.

 

[feynoob]

Nobody cares about this game
Even Xbox
Latest trailer was watched by a meager number of people.
They could bring more attention to her by showing another trailer at TGA
But why
After all, you can make your own analogue of State Of Play, which will be watched by 30 times less people than TGA
Or maybe 50 times less
I hope this game gets good ratings otherwise it will just die and the gamepass won't help

You could say the same for Starfield and Forza motorsport.

 

[Dolodolo]

yea I don't know if this game will do well. I was hype at the reveal, lost interest as soon as I heard it was some online thing.

It's something like Forspoken
Nobody cares about this game, but at least Sony is trying to promotion it (and Square Enix)
I'm literally sick of Forspoken
In the case of this game, they don't even try to advertise it.
Apparently Microsoft's entire advertising budget will go to Starfield this year, otherwise I have no idea..

 

[Dolodolo]

You could say the same for Starfield and Forza motorsport.

Don't talk nonsense
Starfield is Microsoft's top game this year and they'll be promoting it from every iron soon
The latest trailer has caught attention. This game is in the list of the most anticipated for people
Forza will do its job due to the popularity of the entire franchise
Redfall is just a game that will be forgotten even faster than Deathloop if nothing changes

 

[Ozriel]

All I keep thinking is they should have made a game where you are a vampire and get cool abilities.

That's what I'm saying! That'd at least be a little bit more unique than what it currently looks like. I mean, I hope it's good. But everything they've shown doesn't look much different than what we've already seen and played a ton of times.

You mean like Vampyr? something you’ve seen and played before?

 

[johnjohn]

Nobody cares about this game
Even Xbox
Latest trailer was watched by a meager number of people.
They could bring more attention to her by showing another trailer at TGA
But why
After all, you can make your own analogue of State Of Play, which will be watched by 30 times less people than TGA
Or maybe 50 times less
I hope this game gets good ratings otherwise it will just die and the gamepass won't help

What’s with all the salt? If you’re that jealous you can get a Series S for cheap so you can play it too.

 

[R6Rider]

You mean like Vampyr? something you’ve seen and played before?

Nope.

I'm saying a typical Arkane style game that takes elements of their best titles. There's much more interesting takes on vampires. Imagine combining vampires and sci-fi or a Wild West setting and you play as a vampire bounty hunter.

Or just something else other than vampires completely. They had the freedom to do basically anything and their choice is a bit lame.

 

[Dolodolo]

What’s with all the salt?

What salt?
I'm telling the truth, that's all
If it's hard for you to accept, then go and breathe
Unlike many of you, I wish success for Arcane games much more than for other projects.
But the ads for this particular game are crap.

 

[Roberts]

It's great to hear that Id helped with shooting stuff.

Anyway, Prey is one of the best games last gen and after all the snark on twitter and forums, I think this one will surprise people.

 

[Dolodolo]

If you’re that jealous you can get a Series S for cheap so you can play it too.

I have a PC on which I will play this game and pay full price for it.
Why do I need an Xbox series S?

 

[MarkMe2525]

I'm not saying I wish the game was like Left 4 Dead, but, oh god, not another Far Cry. I admit I'm biased since I only recognize Far Cry 1 as an enjoyable game for me, but still, why does it have to be Arkane's Xerox Copy of ANY game, why not do something that makes its own mark? Good luck to the devs and the success of the game, even if there's a good chance I'll try it out on GP and discover it doesn't appeal to me.

Who's to say it's a Xerox copy? In my experience with Arkane's output, they know how to make an enjoyable fps that feels different than contemporary games. The comparison to far cry seems to be to help discern between what style of game they are making.

I myself typically stick with single player games, so this actually makes me more intrigued. While I enjoyed the multi-player games such as left 4 dead, it's not really my jam.

 

[johnjohn]

What salt?
I'm telling the truth, that's all
If it's hard for you to accept, then go and breathe
Unlike many of you, I wish success for Arcane games much more than for other projects.
But the ads for this particular game are crap.

You just sound jealous honestly. The game isn’t out til May. It’s obviously going to be at the Xbox showcase in a few weeks and will receive more marketing as it gets closer to launch. And if the game is as good as it looks/sounds, word of mouth thanks to Game Pass is going to be very important and beneficial.

 

[feynoob]

Don't talk nonsense
Starfield is Microsoft's top game this year and they'll be promoting it from every iron soon
The latest trailer has caught attention. This game is in the list of the most anticipated for people
Forza will do its job due to the popularity of the entire franchise

You complained about them not showing anything.

Redfall is just a game that will be forgotten even faster than Deathloop if nothing changes

There is gamepass. As long as that exist people would not forget this game.

 

[Dolodolo]

You just sound jealous honestly. The game isn’t out til May. It’s obviously going to be at the Xbox showcase in a few weeks and will receive more marketing as it gets closer to launch. And if the game is as good as it looks/sounds, word of mouth thanks to Game Pass is going to be very important and beneficial.

Go and read my original post properly
Your console war shit is making me sick
They could show it at TGA where 100 million people would see the game
What the fuck, dude? Why do I have to explain this?

 

[Flabagast]

In a sense it's even worse.

Easy pass confirmed. Man, Arkane used to one of be my favorite devs.

 

[Robb]

Sounds like it might actually be decent in singleplayer, I’ve been a bit worried about that. Looking forward to seeing more now.

 

[feynoob]

They could show it at TGA where 100 million people would see the game

Didnt they do that during their event? How is that different from TGA?

 

[Chukhopops]

Nobody cares about this game
Even Xbox
Latest trailer was watched by a meager number of people.
They could bring more attention to her by showing another trailer at TGA
But why
After all, you can make your own analogue of State Of Play, which will be watched by 30 times less people than TGA
Or maybe 50 times less
I hope this game gets good ratings otherwise it will just die and the gamepass won't help

Arkane isn’t mainstream, their biggest game ever sold 5M lifetime and their budget reflects that. Sony pushed Deathloop as much as they could and it still flopped badly despite being well reviewed and pretty good.

People who like Arkane will play their games and GP will also help them getting more visibility.

Don’t pretend to be concerned with that post history…

 

[fermcr]

Honestly, from the video I saw it looked similar to Left 4 Dead. If they say it's similar to Far Cry, then I might be interested.
Need to see more gameplay...

Microsoft!... we are waiting for your showcase.

 

[Dolodolo]

You complained about them not showing anything

I complained that they could show it to a large audience to get attention.
They could even show that trailer that came out in November and no one even noticed it, except for Klobrille, who rightly created a whole thread dedicated to the fact that xbox doesn’t know how to advertise their games, using the example of Redfall

 

[Rockman33]

Game looks awesome to me! Hopefully it delivers!

 

[damidu]

they say it like its a good thing lol

 

[MiguelItUp]

You mean like Vampyr? something you’ve seen and played before?

I mean, other games have done it too, and vastly better ones. Would just be really cool to see Arkane's take on it. Arkane > Dontnod IMO, lol.

Nope.

I'm saying a typical Arkane style game that takes elements of their best titles. There's much more interesting takes on vampires. Imagine combining vampires and sci-fi or a Wild West setting and you play as a vampire bounty hunter.

Or just something else other than vampires completely. They had the freedom to do basically anything and their choice is a bit lame.

Yuuuuuup. Well, and no matter how you dice it up, we've seen MUCH more of one than we have the other. So, it'd still be a more unique and interesting take, lol. Seems much more up Arkane's alley too IMO.

I hope the game is decent, but honestly this whole time I've had zero expectations. But I hope to dig it more than I expect.

 

[feynoob]

Arkane isn’t mainstream, their biggest game ever sold 5M lifetime and their budget reflects that.

This is arkane history. Their games arent massive succefull, they are the same as other developers who make niche games.

 

[nikolino840]

All I keep thinking is they should have made a game where you are a vampire and get cool abilities.

That's vampyr from dontnod

 

[sendit]

You could say the same for Starfield and Forza motorsport.

You really can't. Unless you aren't bounded in reality.

 

[Dolodolo]

Arkane isn’t mainstream, their biggest game ever sold 5M lifetime and their budget reflects that. Sony pushed Deathloop as much as they could and it still flopped badly despite being well reviewed and pretty good.

People who like Arkane will play their games and GP will also help them getting more visibility.

Don’t pretend to be concerned with that post history…

Arcane isn't mainstream, but they're literally making a game right now that wants to be mainstream but can't because xbox is shitty promoting it.
And since you decided to poke around in my message history, you could read most of the context of this where I say that Arcane is one of my favorite studios
But why do this if you can just reply to my post with some nonsense

 

[reksveks]

Redfall sometimes feels like what you'd get if you blended the Arkane creative values with Far Cry 2 or S.T.A.L.K.E.R.,"

 

[Ozriel]

I mean, other games have done it too, and vastly better ones. Would just be really cool to see Arkane's take on it. Arkane > Dontnod IMO, lol.


Yuuuuuup. Well, and no matter how you dice it up, we've seen MUCH more of one than we have the other. So, it'd still be a more unique and interesting take, lol. Seems much more up Arkane's alley too IMO.

I hope the game is decent, but honestly this whole time I've had zero expectations. But I hope to dig it more than I expect.

But They’ve released interview after interview where they’ve stated the game is an Arkane game through and through, and will have the Arkane flair familiar to their fans, just in a much more ambitious package.

I guess the real question is why you don’t believe them.

 

[Dolodolo]

Didnt they do that during their event? How is that different from TGA?

Dude, the xbox event will be watched by a maximum of a million people, on all broadcasts, if they are lucky
Even Sony's State of Play isn't watched by a huge number of people.
Are you seriously asking me this?
Are you comparing an audience of 100 million to a few million?

 

[Del_X]

Always best practice to read the OP.
It has a campaign that can be played single player or multi.

Sounds wishy washy as hell vs their marketing. Like they walked back the co-op stuff mid-dev.

 

[feynoob]

I complained that they could show it to a large audience to get attention.
They could even show that trailer that came out in November and no one even noticed it, except for Klobrille, who rightly created a whole thread dedicated to the fact that xbox doesn’t know how to advertise their games, using the example of Redfall

I am sorry, but showing at TGA doesnt that have much impact on the game, compared to showing it at your own event. Even Deathloop didnt get that much impact, considering how much Sony was showing that game.

MS is going to have a mini event around the corner before they release 2023 games.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

marketing for this has been quite weak.

 

[Ozriel]

I complained that they could show it to a large audience to get attention.
They could even show that trailer that came out in November and no one even noticed it, except for Klobrille, who rightly created a whole thread dedicated to the fact that xbox doesn’t know how to advertise their games, using the example of Redfall

This just reads like needless ‘concern’. There are multiple opportunities to market the game in an expected Xbox Showcase that will certainly have a significant amount of viewers.

The TGAs isnt the only opportunity to showcase games to a large audience. But you already knew that.

 

[FBeeEye]

Xbox Exclusive?

*Reads script*

Looks boring. Graphics look last gen. Looks generic. I'll try it on the PC.

 

[Ozriel]

Sounds wishy washy as hell vs their marketing. Like they walked back the co-op stuff mid-dev.

No. It doesn’t sound like that at all. It’s always been a game you could play solo or with friends.

 

[feynoob]

marketing for this has been quite weak.

Xbox marketing this year has been trash. Dont know what is happening there.

 

[feynoob]

Sounds wishy washy as hell vs their marketing. Like they walked back the co-op stuff mid-dev.

This is from steam. It blends both world. You can choose either option.

Redfall blends single- and multiplayer options seamlessly, allowing the player to venture into the darkness alone or to squad-up for up to four player co-op. Teammates can try different hero loadouts and combine their strengths to find creative solutions to the vampire apocalypse. You will collect an arsenal of specialized weaponry and customize your character with unique upgrades and abilities to suit your playstyle for guns blazing, stealth combat, and everything in-between.