Redfall is an open-world single-player and co-op FPS from Arkane Studios, where players will be able to pick from four heroes. You uncover the truth of Redfall and fight back against the vampire gods that have seized control of the town. The island town of Redfall, Massachusetts, is under siege by a legion of vampires who have blocked out the sun and cut the citizens off from the outside world. As you explore the town of Redfall, you will come across helpful citizens that will offer you guidance and quests.

The vampires that plague Redfall were created from science experiments gone wrong, so you will fight many powerful foes that have unique powers, from basic vampires to named types that feature skills that make them a deadly threat if not dealt with. Among the vampires, there is the threat of cultists that have sworn loyalty to the vampire gods of Redfall and work alongside the vampires to take over the town.

The vampire gods are the main bosses, and you’ll have to fight them to progress the story while completing quests, gathering information on the gods, and trying to find any weakness to be used against them. As you clear side missions or defeat special vampires, you will anger the gods, and this is displayed as a threat meter. When this bar is filled, a powerful brute vampire, called The Rook, will be called in to defeat you. These vampires give great rewards for the threat that they cause.

Along with side missions and locations to visit, players will be able to take on vampire nests as a challenge. To start a vampire nest, you will find a glowing doorway in a blue circle that boosts the damage of any vampires within it. The doorway will transport players to a different phase of the world and they are tasked with having to find and destroy the heart of the nest. These can be rather difficult as it is easy to be overrun within the nests.

Progressing through the story, you will have to track and kill a certain type of vampire called Sin Eaters. When you beat them they will leave behind a memory fragment that you can watch, and these will tell a segment of a story that is tied to the vampire gods.

Players will be able to gear up with a strong arsenal of weapons to fight against the cult members and vampires that they will encounter, using shotguns, pistols, assault rifles, and sniper rifles. The shotguns and assault rifles have mounted stakes built-in to deliver the final blow on weakened vampires. There are special weapons that can be used against vampires that deal massive damage, like the stake launcher, UV gun, and flare guns. Along with the weapons, each character you can pick from has skills that can be used to gain an advantage, using powers and gadgets to deal damage or support teammates in the midst of combat.

The playable characters are Jacob Boyer, a marksman with the ability that sends out a raven to scout nearby targets and highlight their positions for the team. He can use a cloak that will make him invisible for a short period of time. Jacob’s ultimate skill is Heartstopper, where he summons a ghostly sniper rifle that deals massive damage per shot and can kill vampires at range. His skill tree will consist of extra damage at range with headshots, and critical damage while cloaked.

Layla Ellison has telekinetic powers which she can use in two main ways. First off, her Lift ability will create an old-style elevator which she can use to jump from, giving her a massive boost into the air, and her second skill is to create an umbrella in front of her to act as a shield that will capture enemies’ rounds, and these can be thrown back when you turn the skill off. Layla’s ultimate ability allows her to summon her ex-boyfriend, who just so happens to be a zombie, and he will fight alongside her, zipping and zooming around, and slashing targets. It is nice knowing you can have a helping hand.

Remi De La Rosa is the tech head of the group. Her skills are more gadget-based, with C4 dealing big damage, or possibly being able to act as a jump pad, launching Remi to get to the high ground. Her other skill is to deploy a robot, Siren, who will distract enemies nearby by making noise and flashing lights, allowing Remi to get some good shots on targets. Remi’s ultimate skill is by far the most helpful for a team setup, as she places a healing circle that not only heals allies, but it can pick up downed teammates within its radius.

Devinder Crousley, like Remi, uses gadgets to gain the upper hand in combat with an Arc Javelin that will shock and stun all enemies near where the Javelin lands. His Translocate skill is great for getting around, and by throwing down a metal disc, the player will teleport to it, ideal for getting high ground in fights, or for quickly getting to cover. His ultimate skill is Blacklight; a portable UV lamp that he places in front of him which will stop vampires in their tracks and causes them to become fragile, letting you simply punch them once for a killing blow.

Redfall offers an amazing scenic town to explore with great visuals on effects from fire and lighting. The best visual work I enjoyed was the staking animations against the different vampires, especially for the first time when you finish them, as they are different animations that are performed. There is a day and night cycle in the game as you are exploring, which is always a great addition to any open-world game environment, and at the later end of the game, you will encounter mist from one of the vampire gods, limiting visibility and adding to the tension of what is lurking around the corner.

Redfall features an amazing streamer-friendly soundtrack. I played it in co-op with SubZero and the soundtrack was a high point of the game. We both couldn’t stop bringing up when we were playing. The cultist enemies will have normal conversations with each other, so it is easy to hear and get an idea of where they will be when you are coming around a corner or entering an alleyway. The vampires themselves will also talk, but many will be sleeping until you rudely awaken them.

The gameplay on default settings does feel very sensitive, and both myself and SubZero had to reduce the sensitivity, but not by much. This is going to come down to personal preference on how you want the movement to feel. The sliding when running does feel great, similar to how movement in other big FPS games feels. The gunplay is also fun, and you can interrupt reloading if you are being rushed, especially with a shotgun. You will see the character load a shell and then be able to fire off and start the reload animation again. High praise from SubZero that I will be adding in was sniping. I spent my time trying out each weapon to be able to see any pros and cons to them, whereas he stuck with his preferred load out and sniping was a massive pro that was spoken about between us a lot.

There are also some hidden co-op gems that players will enjoy, such as the trust system, so if you and your friends are each playing as the main heroes, you will be able to raise trust and bonds with each other by beating levels, special vampires, healing, and reviving each other. This will unlock some dialog between the characters as you play and will also reward the players with extra experience gained when they play together.

For a rough estimate on how long it will take to finish, with all main and side missions, a few vampire nests, and random exploring to find safe houses to do more side missions, my total playtime was just shy of 24 hours. Upon beating the game, you will unlock the hardest setting, the Eclipse difficulty. You’ll also have access to NewGame+ where you can replay the whole thing again and carry over the guns and skills you have already earned, and the Eclipse difficulty rewards players with better drops.

While the cultists don’t really feel boosted, the vampires do. They can take a lot more damage before they go down, but they’ll make short work of players. In terms of bugs, I didn’t run into anything major. There were a few texture issues where grass, rocks, and some objects were floating just above the ground, and one T-posing character. Other than these very small bugs, the game played perfectly.

Redfall is an amazing FPS game that will make players work for their rewards and is backed with great storytelling, some cool boss encounters, and great characters to meet and play as. Without giving spoilers, my only complaint was some boss fights felt a bit easier compared to the others; the balance of the challenge did shift between them. There is DLC in the works which will introduce two more characters to play as, and while not much is known about the DLC, I am looking forward to seeing what type of characters get added in and how much further the vampire threat has gone. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Bethesda ANZ for the early hands-on earlier this year and again for the early access to review the title.

Written by: Shane Walsh