After establishing itself as the top dog in the immersive sim genre, with Redfall, Arkane trying its hand at open world looter shooter games, and though the result isn’t as successful as the studio’s past outings, there’s some fun to be had here nonetheless. It is, of course, also a game that’s got plenty going on that players will want to keep track of while playing, so if you’re planning on diving into its offerings, here, we’ve compiled a few beginners tips and tricks that you should keep in mind.
CHOOSING YOUR CHARACTER
Redfall lets players play as one of four unique characters, but once you’ve selected your protagonist, you can’t swap to someone else in that save- which means you’ll want to give some thought to your decision. Each character is suited to specific roles. Jacob, for instance, is well-suited to stealth, owing to his ability to scan for enemies and go temporarily invisible, but if you’re the sort of player who enjoys playing the support role in co-op, Remi might be the way to go, thanks to her Mobilize ability. If, however, you know you’re going to be spending a lot of time exploring the open world, both Devinder and and Layla have abilities that make it easier to get to hard-to-reach places, with Devinder being able to toss a translocator that he can then teleport to, and Layla being able to summon a psychic lift that launches her into the air.
PLAY YOUR WAY
Redfall doesn’t present the level of options and systemic depth that most Arkane games usually do, especially if you’re playing it solo, but that doesn’t mean it’s a straight up linear shooter. No, there’s still quite a bit of choice on offer in how to approach challenges and take on missions. For instance, if your objective is to get into a certain heavily guarded structure, it’s usually a good idea to explore and look around for different points of entry that can allow you to bypass a lot of the heat. As you might imagine, that becomes even more effective when you start thinking of how best to utilize your character’s unique abilities.
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
Using your arsenal of weapons and set of abilities will be your primary way of defeating enemies when you’re taking them on in open combat, but Redfall provides other ways to turn the tide in your favour as well. There are, for instance, plenty of environmental hazards that you can make use of, from pools of gasoline that can be set on fire bales of hay that can be used to spread fires to electrical boxes that can be shot to produce sparks. Especially when you find yourselves in frantic encounters, paying attention to the environment can prove quite useful.
LOOT EVERYTHING
The world of Redfall is littered with loot in a way that is impossible to exaggerate. Everywhere you’ll go, you’ll find all manner of items that can be picked up, like duct tape, wire, wrenches, cloth, chemicals, bleach, water bottles, toilet paper, toys, and so, so much more. And what purpose does all of that serve exactly? All of it gets converted to cash when you pick it up, which you can then use to purchase weapons, ammunition, and more. Our advice is to pick up everything you can (at least to the point where it doesn’t become annoying for you), because it won’t take long to build up a healthy reserve of spending money.
EXPLORE
As an open world game, Redfall does, of course, offer plenty of room for exploration, with quite a bit of rewards and content tucked away that you can miss entirely if you’re sticking to just the story missions. From collectibles like Grave Locks (which reveal bits and pieces of the game’s backstory) to new and powerful weapons to side quests, there’s plenty of optional content in Redfall that you might want to tread off the beaten path for.
KEEP A STAKE WEAPON WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES
You’ll be fighting plenty of human enemies in Redfall, but your primary foes will, of course, be vampires- the vast majority of whom cannot die unless you use a stake weapon on them. Once you’ve brought a vampire’s health all the way down, they’ll enter a vulnerable state, and during this window you have to stab them in the heart with a stake to kill them. You can, of course, choose to attach stakes to all three of your equipped weapons if you wish, but no matter what, you should have at least one stake weapon with you at all times. There’s plenty of vampires in the town of Redfall, after all.
USE UV LIGHTS ON VAMPIRES
As you might expect, Redfall expects you to adopt different strategies for different kinds of enemies, so vampires might be more vulnerable to something than human enemies are, and vice versa. An example of that is UV lights, which vampires are especially prone to. In fact, if you shine a UV light on a vampire long enough, it will turn entirely to stone, allowing you to just punch it once to watch it crumble into dust. Having a UV light in your arsenal is also a good idea then, especially if you’re planning on taking on a larger group of vampires where several of them might attack you at once.
UNLOCKING FAST TRAVEL POINTS
Redfall has a decently sized open world, though not an absolutely massive one, which means traveling from point A to point B can actually be pretty quick, for the most part. Even so, having multiple fast travel points scattered throughout can be incredibly convenient when you want to jump from place to place, thanks in no small part to the short loading times. Safe houses and historical markers both serve as fast travel points, and there’s quite a few of them scattered throughout the world, so make sure to seek them out.
DON’T IGNORE VAMPIRE NESTS
Of all the side activities that are available in Redfall’s open world, one that stands out are the vampire nests. These appear dynamically at random points in the world, and each of them exerts a sphere of influence within which all enemies become stronger. Until you head into the nest and destroy it, that sphere of influence keeps growing larger and larger- which means it’s never a good idea to ignore a vampire nest for too long. Vampire nests usually also give out solid rewards, so they’re definitely worth heading into whenever you get the chance.
YOU HAVE TO WORK TO ENJOY THE STORY
Sadly, Redfall is a game that puts very little emphasis on story and storytelling, which is even more of a shame given how fascinating its central premise is, at least on paper. If you do want to enjoy the setting and lore a little bit more than what the experience lets you do on a surface level, you’re going to want to seek out the many, many notes, logs, and readables littered throughout the world of Redfall. There’s plenty to go through, and while not all of it is worth the effort, it does enrich the narrative side of the experience a little bit.