After years of development and a high-profile delay, Arkane Austin’s latest game, Redfall, is now available on Xbox and PC. Set in a fictional Massachusetts town overrun by vampires, this shooter for 1-4 players has been highly anticipated by fans of the genre. But what are the critics saying?
Critical Reception
GameSpot — 4/10
“I can’t pretend to know whether Arkane chose to make a loot-shooter or was assigned to make a loot-shooter, but I can tell you what it feels like: one of the best game studios in the world suddenly made toothless. Redfall is Arkane making compromises to its own design philosophies to serve a genre it may have been better off avoiding.” — Mark Delaney
We Got This Covered — 4.5/5
“With rich, beautiful open worlds, a multitude of weapons, and a wide variety of enemies to square off against, Redfall amazes. Players won’t regret staking their claim on Arkane’s latest masterpiece.” — Ash Martinez
IGN Review-In-Progress
“After several sessions–solo, co-op with a friend, and also in a group of three–I must admit I’m thoroughly underwhelmed by Redfall’s vanilla missions and lifeless world, and very disappointed at its lengthy list of display issues and bugs.” — Luke Reilly
Windows Central — 3/5
“There are far too many similar games out there that do what Redfall is trying to do, only better. The finished result is an aggressively average shooter that doesn’t convincingly explain why it needs to exist as an always-online game. I desperately wanted to love Redfall, but I’ll just have to settle for not totally hating it. On the plus side, it did get me to install Prey again (and you should play that instead).” — Jez Corden
XboxEra — 8.5/10
“Redfall is fantastic in most ways. A few baffling design decisions around its co-op implementation and some frustrating technical issues hold it back. It is fun as hell solo, and ridiculously so in co-op. With a little post-launch support, it is going to become something special. This may end up being Arkane’s worst-reviewed title ever, but it is going to be their most successful. Alone or with friends Redfall is a game any fan of the genre should play.” — Jesse ‘Doncabesa’ Norris
Game Details
Redfall was developed by Arkane Austin, the team behind 2017’s beloved Prey. The game’s directors are Harvey Smith and Ricardo Bare. Notably, Arkane’s sister studio, Arkane Lyon, developed the celebrated titles Deathloop and Dishonored 2. Microsoft purchased Arkane’s parent company, ZeniMax, before Redfall’s release, scuttling plans for a PS5 edition.
Redfall is the first title from Microsoft to launch at $70, a $10 price increase that the company warned gamers was coming in 2022. Starfield, which launches later this year, will also feature a $70 price tag. The game is available to purchase outright on Xbox and PC, or through Xbox Game Pass. The standard edition costs $70, while the “Bite Back Edition” costs $100.
While the game’s reception has been mixed, fans of first-person shooters and co-op gameplay will likely still find Redfall to be an enjoyable experience, particularly if playing with friends.
