Vampires and zombies are popular video game tropes, with the latter as a serious contender for the title of most recurrent supernatural enemy. For their latest open-world first-person-shooter, Redfall, Arkane Studios decided to bank on the mysterious bloodthirsty night beings as villains, pitting players against these creatures as they try to save the island from the looming threat. Played in solo or cooperative mode, Redfall is a work of ambition that fails to live up to the hype, as if sucked out of most elements that made other Arkane games resounding hits.

Vampire Busters

Since Dishonored – and cheekily excluding the amazing Arx Fatalis – Arkane has been known for delivering immersive and wondrous worlds, crafted with nearly unrivaled attention. Such ambitions often clashed with technical issues, but they pale in comparison to the richness that these sandbox creations had to offer. Redfall does hint at those successful attempts and may be engrossing at times, but this vampire tale doesn’t have the alluring aura that it needs to reach the heights of previous games.

Redfall currently offers four playable characters of distinct looks and unique abilities. Going out as a team is the best way to enjoy what the game has to offer, but in case you want to play solo, the choice isn’t an easy one. I decided to go with Layla, as her telekinetic powers sounded like a fitting way to deal with the supernatural foes. There’s also Devinder, an inventor who finally managed to create weapons of actual use, Remi is a combat engineer with healing abilities and a useful robot, and finally Jacob, the ex-military with a spectral raven.

Your adventure appropriately starts when you clear a fire station of danger and set up a base with other fellow survivors. You can think of this building as your Ghostbusters hub, but instead of spectral entities, you will be assigned on missions that involve taking out vampires, along with the generic mercenaries and human cultists who roam the island and swear by the forces of darkness. So far, so predictable, but the framework for some barely exciting shooting antics is efficient.

Exploration and mechanics feel quite analogous to Dead Island 2, as you scavenge houses and cars for loot, use environmental hazards such as electricity boxes and batteries to your advantage, and return to your safe house for some upgrades and a quick breather before embarking on the next mission. It’s a template that owes nothing to originality, and greatly pushes Redfall into looter shooter territory, with all the caveats that come with this labelling.

High Stakes, Low AI

Eliminating human foes is something that you can easily do with any of the weapons at your disposal, with a good old headshot being a surefire way to speed up the process. From pistols to shotguns and sniper rifles, among others of different tiers and levels, there’s a familiar selection that won’t sweep you off your feet. However, bullets will only slightly stun vampires, as they may recover their bearings unless taken out in the age-old way, which is by driving a stake through their heart. You need to have a compatible weapon equipped to do so, something that you will find early in the game as you stumble upon your first blood-sucking creature. You may also use a static UV light or the impressive Medusa weapon to stagger them, a mere punch crumbling the now immobile vampire to the ground. To kill them with fire is a third alternative.

Stabbing vampires and watching them turn into dust is a satisfactory feeling that unfortunately doesn’t find equivalent in their behavior. Constantly leaping sideways or teleporting around to disorientate you but otherwise lacking any other discernible tactics, they still manage to do a better job than their human counterparts, true braindead creatures that would struggle to get a secondary role as a zombie in Dead Island 2. And that’s one of the major pitfalls of Redfall, a game with average gunplay that is undermined by an enemy AI absolutely not up to scratch.

There are countless examples of this flaw that could make you wonder if Redfall didn’t require another year of development. From enemies who stand out in the open shooting at you, failing to react to your successive shots, to others that run in place, blocked by an unsuspecting but always treacherous park bench, it’s a feast of blunders. We also have cultists who only enter alert state when I already made a run for it and lined up a shotgun blast to their faces, which they never saw coming, despite the long seconds they stood facing in my direction. Some of them oddly ignore a loud shotgun blast not far away, as the brainwashed cultists they are. Or snipers who are as blind as a bat. This absence of any hint of intelligent life makes lining up enemies easier than shooting ducks at the carnival.

Occasionally, some enemy displays a minor attempt at a realistic response by going for cover, but this is a mere artifice – they leave a good part of their bodies exposed, and if you dare to move in the slightest, you can easily line up your shot, reload and repeat.

The incidents above could have been exceptions to the rule, but the truth is that these are frequent occurrences that permeate the whole experience. It’s disappointingly shallow and easy, a challenge that is boycotted by the utterly dumb foes that try to rule by numbers instead of intellect. While there’s potential for stealth, the broken AI doesn’t encourage a tactical approach, as a furious rampage is both faster and more effective.

Redfall, Town of Illusion

The island serving as the stage for this vampiric tale is far from being the largest you have ever witnessed. In a few hours you will have visited the landmarks, discovered the best paths to move unnoticed, and as strange as it might seem, for once the fast travel system didn’t feel like an essential feature. You also bump your head in doors aplenty – the excitement of breaking into a house is real, but it’s done better in other games, specifically because Redfall has an excess of houses and buildings that are just for show. No matter the lockpicks or weapons at your disposal, a fake house will never be anything more than a front.

This illusion isn’t necessarily the critical issue here, as many other games choose a similar approach to their world building; the main regret is that the map isn’t that extensive or rich, and the number of buildings that end up being just for show can be off-puttingly big in comparison.

In terms of performance, your mileage may vary. Redfall can be a resource hog but doesn’t justify the need for powerful rigs. The island has some interesting scenic spots and topography that may provide some exciting escapes or tactical advances, but it’s far from being one of the best-looking open-world shooters of recent years, even feeling outdated in some regards.

Going out for main missions and side-quests may end up in somewhat derivative fetch quests or similar, but if you somehow manage to ignore all the glaring issues, Redfall can occasionally be fun, albeit never at the level that Arkane has accustomed us to. Switching between standard weaponry and vampire demolishers such as the stake dispenser Sawfish is interesting, and when you meet advanced vampires, the excitement and heartbeat ramps up a little. There’s a character skill tree to unlock upgrades, and the unique abilities for each character provide extra means to dish out justice, but both features are disappointingly meager.

Dust to Dust

For a game released at full price and from some of the minds behind a couple of true classics, it had to offer something more substantial. There are remnants of the studio’s legacy, and given more care and polish it could turn out to be a very enjoyable open-world shooter with an uncommon vampire theme. But it feels rushed, with an AI flirting with disaster, gunplay is on the bland side, the island is far from the richest place you have ever visited, and the missions reek of repetition.

Redfall is far from being Arkane Studio’s finest hour; on the contrary, it’s a misfire that may tarnish the reputation of one of the most creative and exciting development outfits. Not even the cooperative mode or the use of vampires are enough to lift the game from the claws of mediocrity, and at this rate you’d better forget the bloodsucking and conform yourself with the dominance of the flesh-eating – at least, zombies have recently starred with some flair in a somewhat similar but far better horror shooter.

Score: 6/10

Pros:

• Some traces of Arkane Studios’ talent
• Cooperative mode makes nearly every game better

Cons:

• Enemy AI is disappointingly lacking
• Open world isn’t that vast, rich, or exciting
• Some performance issues for a game that isn’t graphically stunning
• Gunplay is average at best

Redfall review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.