Redfall – The Mess, One Year Later

Ah, Redfall. Arkane Studios’ attempt at a co-op shooter that ended up as one of the lowest-rated games of last year.

Revealed in June 2021 for Xbox Series X/S and PC, it’s set in the titular town where vampires have taken over and blotted out the sun. While Arkane Austin mostly cut its teeth on immersive sim titles, its last being 2017’s Prey, this was open-world, focused on gunplay and offering unique kits for each character.

Updates were sparse until Microsoft announced in May 2022 that Redfall and Starfield were delayed to the first half of 2023. As its release year rolled around, Redfall started generating a bit of concern. Campaign co-op progress tied to the host, a persistent online connection (even while playing solo) – the last straw was arguably no 60 FPS option available for Xbox Series X/S consoles at launch.

This was the least of its problems, though. Redfall finally launched to mixed reviews, with the public reception arguably even worse. Aside from all the technical issues and bugs, the title received criticism for its terrible user interface, lackluster story (presented in dull, barely animated cutscenes), horrible controls, and a barren world. On top of this, it had no co-op matchmaking – baffling, considering playing with others was a selling point.

Despite sales later being considered “minimal,” Arkane Austin wasn’t slated to be shut down (at least, not then). For its part, Arkane Austin implemented improvements to the best of its ability, with update 1.1 launching in June 2023 and increasing the spawn rate of enemies, upping the difficulty level while polishing their AI and fixing performance issues.

The update was more targeted towards improving the overall experience, from visibility when aiming down sights on sniper rifle scopes to ammo persisting between gameplay sessions when using ammo storage skills. It was also now possible to move while using melee attacks against enemies without interruption. New issues seemingly emerged, like infinite loading screens, Nest completion not counting towards the Rook’s meter, etc.

The next update wouldn’t be until October, but it added the long-awaited 60 FPS Performance Mode on Xbox Series X/S. Aim assist and dead zone tuning were improved. addressing one of the more underrated complaints with the horrendous aiming and lack of options to tweak it. Performance on PC also saw multiple improvements to accommodate a wider range of configurations.

While it didn’t offer too much by way of new missions, loot or enemy types, you could now stealth takedown Cultists and Bellwether enemies. Missions encounters saw balance changes, and the open world now had more enemies with some unique encounters to discover. Quality-of-life changes, like surfaces denoted as interactable for vaulting and mantling, and more consistency to compass markers and objectives that require searching areas, were also implemented.

The next update arrived in November and added a new Unrivaled Sniper Rifle in Basilisk. Its unique perk is the first bullet in a full magazine possessing UV power, thus petrifying Vampires if it hits. Not ideal against humans or enemies immune to Petrification, but it was a decent addition to the loot pool.

Otherwise, there were rebalances to enemies. You would no longer encounter Shrouds, Anglers and Siphons until completing some missions or reaching a certain level. However, enemies overall became more challenging, whether it’s Watchers reacting faster to players within its line of sight, the Siphon being more resistant to fire, or Soulless enemies dealing more damage up close. Human enemies were also buffed – they could finally climb awnings. Truly wondrous.

While Arkane Austin didn’t have any information on the two new heroes available with the Bite Back Edition’s Hero Pass, it did promise more details in 2024. Despite its rough launch year, there was hope.

Of course, its first anniversary came and went with still no details, not even a celebratory tweet. Instead, on May 7th, Microsoft shockingly announced that Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Studios of Mighty Doom fame and Arkane Austin were shutting down. Roundhouse Studios, which supported Redfall’s development, would be rolled into ZeniMax Online Studios to work on The Elder Scrolls Online.

The announcement came out of left field for Arkane since it was still working on its new heroes and an update to add offline mode. Both were seemingly scrapped, with servers remaining online, and those who purchased the Bite Back Edition or its premium upgrade were eligible to receive some credit back.

However, Arkane Austin later confirmed that the update would launch and be the game’s last before the studio closed. It arrived on May 30th and offered a small but substantial list of new features. A new reputation system, Community Standing, had been added and increased based on unlocking Safehouses, helping civilians and killing Underbosses.

This wasn’t a simple bar to fill, though. Community Standing had a dedicated skill tree with six ranks and 39 rewards. You could make it so that human enemies dropped more ammo on kill, Grave Locks appeared on your map and compass (making them easier to find), and unlocked Safehouses provided friendly turrets. Decreased damage from the Rook’s lightning strikes, improved rewards from Anglers, Shrouds and Siphons, more frequent Unrivaled Items and even a special cloak that would activate if your health fell to critical levels were also available to unlock.

There were also new Elder Nests whose objective involved slaying powerful vampires to receive temporary buffs like regenerating ammo on holstered weapons or getting healed by UV light. Players could now play offline, continuing their campaign if disconnected from the internet, and pause – yes, pause – while playing solo. Though it didn’t provide patch notes, Arkane Austin also touted, “New enemy encounters in Redfall Commons, continued AI improvements, Story Mode difficulty, and a new Unrivaled Weapon.” Alas, it was too little, too late.

Even with these updates and the studio officially shuttered, Redfall maintains a “Mostly Negative” rating on Steam, with only 37 percent positive reviews. Sift through the few positive ones (with 81 percent of the 44 recent reviews being positive), and there’s some praise for the new Community Standing system and offline play. Nevertheless, those who enjoyed the game admit that you should pick it up at a heavy discount, and even then, it’s just fine. In the end, the redemption arc was cut short.

Like many live service titles, Redfall had its share of alleged development troubles. Nevertheless, the closure of Arkane Austin is bittersweet, both for the employees who tried to make the game a success and those who valued its previous single-player efforts. The fact that a single-player focus immersive sim, potentially a new Dishonored, was reportedly pitched before the studio’s closure makes you wonder what could have been.

Arkane Lyon remains, and it’s somewhat poetic that its next project, Marvel’s Blade, is yet another game about slaying vampires. The more things change, the more they remain the same, but hopefully, the outcome ends up more in the studio’s favor.

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