First ‘Redfall’ gameplay trailer shows a whole lot of vampire slaying

Microsoft opened its not-E3 Xbox and Bethesda showcase with a deeper look at Redfall. The co-op vampire shooter from Arkane Austin was supposed to be out this summer but it has been delayed until the first half of next year. In the meantime, many more details about the game have been revealed.

The first gameplay trailer begins with one of the playable characters, Layla, exploring a blood-drenched church by themselves. In an attic space, they hear a voice muttering. A vampire attacks, followed by a couple more. Sharpshooter Jacob, one of Layla’s teammates, shows up to help out. 

Redfall is set on an eponymous island off the coast of Massachusetts. It’s filled with vampires and cultists who want to be turned (i.e. familiars). The vampires blocked out the sun and caused the tide to recede, making it impossible for those on the island to escape. 

There’s a brief look at the two other playable characters: engineer Remi, who has a killer robot companion, and Devinder, an expert on all things creepy (or a cryptozoologist, if you’re fancy). Layla, meanwhile, has telekinetic powers and Jacob has a cloaking ability. The characters’ various abilities can be upgraded.

As with the Dishonored games, playing stealthily will be to your advantage. “A huge emphasis for Redfall has been the solo experience, in keeping with Arkane’s passions,” explains Arkane Austin studio and creative director Harvey Smith said. “Redfall is an open world game, but it can be soloed with any of the heroes. The pace becomes more exploratory; you can use recon and stealth to gather info on encounters and avoid enemies or get the drop on them.”

The vampires have a hierarchy, seemingly ranging from grunts to powerful bosses. There will be nests to clear out. The cultists, meanwhile, are willing to lay down their lives to protect the vampires. They will shoot on sight. 

Luckily, you’ll have an extensive arsenal with which to battle your enemies as you try to purge the island of evil. Some of the weapons have unique traits. Along with regular ol’ guns, you’ll have slightly more traditional vamp-vanquishing weapons, including a stake launcher and a UV beam. 

Redfall is coming to PC, Xbox consoles and Xbox Cloud Gaming in the first half of 2023.

‘Overwatch 2’ is going free-to-play with early access starting on October 4th

Activision Blizzard isn’t owned by Microsoft just yet, but the publisher still had a presence at Sunday’s Xbox and Bethesda showcase. There was a trailer for Overwatch 2, along with some major news. The game will be free-to-play and early access will begin on October 4th on all platforms (the Overwatch blog calls this the game’s launch). There will be at least one more beta before then, with details to be announced at a reveal event on Thursday.

The clip showed a glimpse of a new hero that’s been part of the game’s lore for years, the Junker Queen. It seems likely that the character will be playable as part of the next beta. They have a shotgun and a melee weapon, and it appears that one of their abilities involves rampaging forward. Junker Queen is a tank character. The sequel already had one confirmed new character, damage hero Sojourn. 

The trailer also included a quick look at a new Zenyatta ability, which allows the omnic to knock back an enemy with a melee attack. Naturally, it invokes the movie 300, since you can kick an opponent into the Ilios well. In addition, there was a glimpse of a mysterious fox that was leading a team into a fight.

Given that Blizzard will move all current Overwatch players to Overwatch 2, the original game will be going free-to-play as well. Those who own the game before June 23rd will receive a founder’s pack, with a special icon, two skins (General Doomfist and Jester Sombra) and more goodies. You’ll need to log in by December 5th to receive the pack.

It’s worth noting that only the player-vs-player (PvP) side of Overwatch 2 will be available on October 4th. The co-op missions will arrive later. The PvP overhaul will feature new maps and heroes, the Push mode, reworks of current heroes, an upgraded game engine and a move from teams of six to five vs. five.

It’s unclear whether the player-vs-environment side of the sequel will be free too. Overwatch 2 will herald a shift to a seasonal content format, which suggests there will be a battle pass of some kind. That means there should finally be content updates on a regular cadence. Blizzard also says there will be premium cosmetics and (at last) cross-platform progression. 

“We can’t wait to roll out the beginning of the Overwatch 2 experience on October 4 and introduce an exciting new competitive vision, featuring a reimagining of the iconic heroes, maps, and gameplay that made the original game so compelling,” Mike Ybarra, president of Blizzard Entertainment, said in a statement. “This is the beginning of an always-on and always-evolving era for the franchise, and a recommitment to serving players with frequent and substantial updates planned well into the future to keep Overwatch 2 fresh and fun for many years to come.”

‘Monument Valley’ studio’s next game is a Netflix mobile exclusive

You’ll need a streaming subscription if you want to try ustwo’s upcoming Desta: The Memories Between. The Monument Valley developer has announced that its turn-based, sports-influenced roguelike will be a Netflix exclusive on mobile when it debuts sometime later this year. The game is coming to other platforms, but Netflix is promising that there will be no in-app purchases or “extra fees” in its version.

Desta revolves around a twentysomething who returns home after their dad’s death. You help them deal with their past in dreams and reality by solving puzzles and talking to the people they left behind. As you might have guessed, the hybrid mechanics promise a considerably more varied experience than in titles like Monument Valley — ustwo is borrowing cues from games like Hades and Into the Breach.

The exclusive further signals Netflix’s commitment to gaming. While it’s clearly serious about games with show tie-ins and a rapidly growing catalog, it’s increasingly courting major mobile developers like ustwo. In that regard, Netflix is competing as much with Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass as it is Amazon and Disney — it’s hoping to reel in customers willing to pay a flat fee for access to a library of quality games without surprise costs.

A Dragon Age animated series is coming to Netflix in December

The next Dragon Age game is still a long ways off, but that isn’t stopping BioWare from expanding the fantasy RPG’s reach. Netflix has unveiled a six-episode anime series, Dragon Age: Absolution, premiering sometime in December. The teaser trailer (below) doesn’t reveal much, but you can expect a “new saga” in Tevinter that appears to center on a special ring — and, of course, plenty of magic and bloody swordplay.

Red Dog Culture House (which created an episode for Love, Death & Robots) is producing the limited-run project. Guardians of the Galaxy series producer Mairghread Scott is serving as the showrunner.

This certainly isn’t a novel project for Netflix. There are already game-related anime shows either available or in the works at Netflix, ranging from Castlevania through to the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 series. However, it’s notable that this production is coming in the run-up to a new game (Dreadwolf) for a long-dormant franchise. Absolution is effectively a bid to revive interest in Dragon Age, not to mention court an audience that might not have heard of the games until now.