Redfall, the upcoming co-op FPS from the studio that brought us Prey and Dishonored, is due out this year – so get your garlic ready.
In Arkane Austin’s new IP, you’ll fight vampires in a post-apocalyptic open-world city delightfully bathed in a retro horror aesthetic. But you don’t have to take on these vampires alone (unless you want to), as Redfall allows you to team up with up to three other players to discover exactly why these toothy creatures are there in the first place.
You can choose from four heroes, each with their own unique abilities that complement each other in a variety of ways, and have access to a range of vampire-hunting weapons that would put Buffy to shame.
Are you ready to dive into Arkane’s co-op shooter? Read on for everything we know about Redfall so far.
Redfall: straight to the point
- What is it? A cooperative first-person shooter from Arkane Studios
- when can i play it The first half of 2023
- What can I play it on? Xbox Series X|S and PC
Redfall Release Date and Platforms
Redfall is scheduled for release in the first half of 2023 Xbox Series X, Xbox Series Sand PC.
It will also be available on Xbox Game Pass on the first day. While it will skip the last generation Xbox Oneanyone who has yet to upgrade to Microsoft’s latest console can access it Xbox cloud gaming also (provided you have one Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, that is).
Arkane’s co-op shooter was originally scheduled for release in “Summer 2022,” but Bethesda announced (opens in new tab) in May 2022 that the co-op shooter would be delayed to the “first half of 2023”. That also revealed the announcement starfield Has been delayed. According to Bethesda, these delays are because the teams at Arkane Austin and Bethesda Game Studios have “incredible ambition for their games and we want to make sure you’re getting the best, most polished versions of them.”
Redfall trailer
Latest trailer
The latest trailer for Redfall, titled Into the Night, was released back in October 2022 – just in time for Halloween. This trailer highlights some of the bloodsucking vampires we’ll face in Arkane’s co-op shooter, including “the ever-vigilant Warden’s sneaky Angler.” Check it out below.
More followers
We’ve included some major Redfall trailers in this article, but you can find all Redfall trailers released so far at Bethesda’s official YouTube channel (opens in new tab).
Redfall story and setting
Redfall’s website gives us a brief synopsis of the story, setting, and larger-than-life characters that populate the world.
The game’s vampiric enemies are actually science experiments gone awry. These creatures cut off the city of Redfall from the rest of the world by blocking the sun.
The vampires are joined by a human faction who worship them, as seen in the debut trailer. As such, it seems like in firefights we often have to deal with both enemy types – and maybe a few more – at the same time.
Redfall gameplay
Redfall is a story-driven open-world first-person shooter where you choose from four playable heroes, each with their own unique personalities and abilities to take on blood-sucking vampires. These skills can be upgraded as you progress, and you can also experiment with different playstyles and loadouts. Here are the four characters to choose from — and their descriptions, according to Bethesda:
- Layla Ellison: A biomedical engineering student doing an internship at a research facility where something went very wrong, giving her intense telekinetic abilities.
- Jacob Boyer: A former military sniper turned private contractor. Strange events on Redfall have left Jacob with a mysterious vampiric eye and a ghostly raven that is never far from his side.
- Remi de la Rosa: A brilliant combat engineer who spent her life on the front lines. With the help of her robotic cohort, Bribón, she is determined to help rescue Redfall’s survivors.
- Devinder Crousley: A cryptozoologist and aspiring inventor. Armed with weapons of his own creation, he is on a mission to prove himself.
According to official site (opens in new tab)Redfall will “seamlessly blend single and multiplayer options, allowing the player to venture into the darkness alone or team up with up to three friends for four-player co-op.”
The use of the word “seamless” implies that a drop-in co-op system could be implemented in Redfall, which would allow players to join someone else’s game without having to return to the main menu. Arkane has confirmed that players can play as any character in co-op, regardless of whether a teammate has already selected them. That means you can all play as Layla, for example, if you want. For players who prefer solo play, the official site states that you can build your characters around solo play to accommodate both.
According to Bethesda, the types of vampires you will encounter in Redfall include “insidious vampires that will grab you and separate you from your team”, “huge vampires that can tear you and your team to pieces” and “godlike vampires that… powerful enough to eclipse the sun”.
However, it’s not just vampires you have to worry about. These vampires have raised a small army of cultists that the Redfall website describes as “well armed and ready to die for the vampires.” After setting up bases and patrol routes on this island, you need to be careful.
Redfall’s website also states that the game’s open world is “always changing” and will be an “environment that is responsive to your choices and actions.” Between cultist bases and “twisted psychic spaces” called nests, there is much to be done before the island becomes safe again.
Redfall news and rumors
How similar is Redfall to other Arkane games?
During the Xbox Games Extended Showcase in 2022, Bethesda’s Pete Hines explained Redfall’s similarities and differences to developer Arkane’s previous work. Specifically, Hines explained that while Redfall has co-op elements, it still offers a fun single-player experience.
“On the face of it, it’s a first-person shooter that you can play solo or with up to four players, and you could tell straight away that it’s not a single-player game, so it has to be completely different,” Hines said. “And, don’t get me wrong, there are absolute differences, but as people play the game, and even as they see more of the game, I think they’re going to start seeing all these things about an Arkane game, that they love and cherish.”
“If you want to play a game alone and get a great Arkane story, you absolutely can do that in Redfall, but you can also do things you couldn’t do in an Arkane game, like experience it with friends and find it out how the whole can become greater than the sum of the parts by playing to each character’s abilities,” continued Hines. “I think the more people appreciate that, the more you’ll want to try playing Redfall in different ways. You might want to play it alone for a bit, play it with others, and it’s a game that allows you to do one or both however you see fit.”
Compare to Left 4 Dead
During the Xbox Games Extended Showcase, Bethesda’s Pete Hines also touched on comparisons between Redfall and co-op shooters like Left 4 Dead.
“If you’re just looking at combat footage, maybe you look at Left 4 Dead or Back 4 Blood or one of those things and you’re like, ‘Oh, I see several characters taking on a bunch of enemies, so it’s the same game.’ said Hines. “But I think that would do a disservice that it’s all the things that happen between the fight and the fight itself, the combining of different skills and abilities the way you do it… those are the things the arcane Does that really add that special element that makes their games so compelling?”
