Redfall: all about the cooperative FPS with Arkane’s vampires

Announced at E3 2021, Redfall, Arkane Austin’s next big production, has unfortunately been postponed to 2023, but is still one of the most anticipated games for Xbox brand aficionados. It’s time to take stock of everything we know about this title.

An island to rescue

Redfall is therefore a cooperative FPS in the open world taking its name from the island on which it takes place. Indeed, the island town of Redfall was, at one time, the very image of the typical American small town, with its adorable streets, pretty walks and charming neighborhoods, until the vampires arrived and devastated everything on their passage. After eclipsing the sun and pushing the ocean away from the coast, these new vampiric lords have completely cut off the island from the outside world and annihilated all hope of rescue by making all inhabitants true servants of their army.

From then on, your objective will indeed be to face this legion of vampires and find out what caused the emergence of the bloodsuckers in order to eliminate the threat.

Playable in cooperation with up to four players or completely solo, knowing that no AI will accompany you if you prefer to play it alone, Redfall will offer a scenario focused on the history of the island and the vampires, but also on the history of the different protagonists available in the game, allowing us to learn more about the personality and the reasons that led each to embark on the adventure. On the other hand, the progress recorded will only be that of the host player… This means that if you join a friend’s game and complete a quest together, you will have to redo this same mission in your campaign if you want to enjoy the game. alone.

Who will be your favorite character?

Benefiting from unique abilities and specific weapons, the four playable heroes will be able to highlight their strengths to convince you to embody them.

Layla Ellison came to Redfall to study biomedical engineering at the technical university. Hoping to find a solution to her recurring migraines related to her financial problems, she volunteered for a clinical trial at a local technical institute, Aevum Therapeutics. Obviously, not everything went as planned for Layla, and following a strange series of events that occurred during this trial, our student received some serious superpowers and the ability to create objects with her mind.

Devinder “Dev” Crousley traveled the world to prove the existence of the supernatural and the paranormal. As an author, brilliant inventor, and self-proclaimed “cryptid hunter,” Dev has gained a degree of internet popularity through his expeditions and discoveries. He had come to town to advertise his latest book when the vampires sealed off the island from the outside world, holding him captive in Redfall. Now he will have to put all his expertise to the test to survive and escape the island. Fortunately, he acquired all the knowledge necessary to make his own anti-vampire arsenal during his studies.

Jacob Boyer joined the army as soon as he was old enough. He rose through the ranks to join a secret special forces team, where he successfully completed various reconnaissance and intervention missions. Following his demobilization, Jacob joined Bellwether, a paramilitary group that performed contracts for various governments and corporations around the world. Following mysterious orders known only to his superiors, Jacob and his unit traveled to Redfall. Once on the island, our experienced sniper was separated from his team, and following a completely chance encounter, Jacob found himself with a rather peculiar new eye as well as a spectral raven that now accompanies him. wherever he goes.

Remy de la Rosa is a brilliant engineer and specialist in robotics, with the unwavering will to protect the people around her. During her years of service with the Coast Guard, she created Bribón, a highly advanced robot designed to serve as a decoy, support and attack drone at the same time. Due to her background as a robotics expert, she regularly traveled to different coastguard bases to give trainings in remote search and rescue technology, which eventually brought her to Redfall. Now she must face a disaster unlike any she has faced before. Fortunately, Bribón is there to watch his back.

Regarding the customization of these different protagonists, Arkane Austin wanted to leave the possibility to the players to modify the clothes of each one, and to choose their powers. So, it’s up to you to unlock a particular skill and improve one power rather than another. But Redfall will also offer an arsenal of weapons provided and each with their advantages…

To each his own gun!

Indeed, the island that will welcome you will be full of combat equipment of different levels and distinct rarities. The rarer a weapon is, the more interesting characteristics it will have and the more you can tell yourself whether or not this weapon corresponds to your style of play. Beyond rarity and power, the origin and condition of the The unearthed equipment will also be important, be it pistols, shotguns, snipers or even heavy machine guns: weapons will have been assembled by the survivors with the materials on board, while others are excellent military equipment.

In addition, some firecrackers will be exclusively dedicated to hunting vampires, such as the stake launcher or the UV ray, and must therefore be used intelligently to eliminate your attackers.

A constant threat

As you will have easily understood, Redfall will mainly make you face bloodsucking creatures, but they will clearly not be ordinary vampires: the latter are in fact the result of a scientific experiment that has gone terribly wrong, and they continue without stops evolving.

So these night monsters will have their own hierarchy, and not all of them will be equally powerful or fast. At first, you will mainly encounter minions: low-level vampires, but who will still pose a real threat. Following their transformation, some of them develop powerful skills and become specialized, like the Harpooner. Visible in one of the trailers, this one uses a psychic harpoon to catch you and take your life.

Likewise, sneaky vampires will be able to separate you from the group. Others, even more monstrous, will be able to tear you to pieces in no time, while more divine vampires can literally eclipse the sun.

But unfortunately, not all of its creatures will be the only threats you will have to face. Indeed, you will also face many human followers worshiping their bloodthirsty new rulers in hopes of joining their ranks. Though less dangerous than their vampiric superiors, adepts are well armed and willing to die for their masters. They have also set up patrol routes and built outposts all over the island that you will need to capture to make the area a little safer for human survivors.

An open world for combat and exploration

As mentioned above, Redfall will be entirely playable in solo and in cooperation. Of course, this second option will leave more room for strategy, but enjoying the game alone will also let you choose between action and infiltration. You can choose to rush into the heap without worrying too much about your surroundings, or you can opt for a more discreet offensive by using reconnaissance and stealth to gather information and avoid enemies, or fall to them. over it silently. Anyway, you will have to rely on Arkane’s know-how in terms of level-design to agree on an action plan!

When you are not completing the main story missions, you can largely indulge in the exploration of the island in search of various resources and equipment allowing you to significantly improve your character. Moreover, the open world of Redfall consists of two huge districts. The first is more focused on the historic center with many buildings and alleys depicting a fairly urban seaside setting. The second district is a bit more rural with parks, campsites, hiking trails, farms, forest, fields, and even an outdoor festival.

In addition to the vampires and their followers, these different settings will also house a small group of resistance fighters made up of honest citizens with whom you can converse and who will give you directions or even secondary missions.

What is the release date of Redfall?

After its postponement, Redfall is now expected for 2023 on PC and Xbox Series X | S exclusively, knowing that it will be available Day One in the Game Pass. For the moment, no Deluxe or Collector’s edition has been unveiled, but it is quite likely that it will happen in the coming months.