Redfall – Bethesda has also reassured that physical copies of the game do come with a disc (pic: Microsoft)



Although Arkane deliberately wants to try something new with Redfall, it swears that it’ll keep the things fans loved about its other games.



From the moment it was announced, Arkane’s upcoming shooter Redfall quickly drew comparisons to Left 4 Dead for its focus on co-op play, with the only key difference being the use of vampires instead of zombies.



New information from the recent Xbox showcase , however, downplayed those comparisons, with Arkane highlighting an open world full of side missions and the ability to play the whole game solo.



This makes Redfall more akin to Ubisoft ’s Far Cry games and while this does mark the first time Arkane has tackled the open world formula, the studio promises that Redfall will still retain the ‘Arkane DNA’ that fans of its previous game will recognise while also doing something new.



Aside from sharing a couple minutes of new gameplay footage, Redfall’s production designer Ben Horne has explained how the game was always going to feature an open world setting, saying that it was an effort to ‘break the mould.’



At the same time, the studio wanted to maintain elements that it and fans loved about its previous games like Dishonored and Prey .



‘We wanted to make something that we feel like has the Arkane DNA that we’ve made in games from the past,’ Horne tells IGN .



‘You can think of all of those games almost like a Venn diagram, where they overlap in really key areas or critical areas that we like to tell stories in games and we like to make games that have a rich, coherent story, systems that players can exploit and use to their advantage, maybe in some surprising ways.’



So, whereas Arkane focused more on stealth elements for Dishonored, it’s chief focus for Redfall is its world building and narrative. As such, Horne says Redfall’s open world setting will be Arkane’s most ambitious yet.



‘We wanted to maintain the things about Arkane’s DNA that we love, things about our games in the past that we really appreciate: environmental storytelling, strong kind of narrative through-put in the world so the world feels lived-in, feels worth saving,’ he continues.









Horne also touched upon the inclusion of multiplayer, which he describes as another form of mould breaking. Despite it being so prominently advertised during Redfall’s reveal, Horne makes it clear that Arkane is aiming to cater to multiple play styles.



‘When you play single-player in Redfall, you are playing by yourself,’ he explains, with no computer controlled teammates around to help you.



Even if you do choose to play with other people, Horne reveals that you can still split up and tackle different parts of the game separately. Although there is a trust system which provides a buff to everyone as long as they stick together.



‘It’s a really, really cool system that allows players to be expressive with how you wanna play with your friends. You don’t have to be all locked together if you don’t want, but there is a benefit. We kind of encourage people to come together,’ says Horne.



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Horne unfortunately doesn’t comment on Redfall’s mandatory Internet connection , which doesn’t quite fit in with Arkane’s intentions for the game.



Aside from the fact that it means players must always be online even if they don’t want to play with other people, it means the whole game will be rendered unplayable if and when the online servers shut down.



Redfall also attracted controversy for not offering an actual disc with physical copies of the game and just a piece of paper with a download code.



However, publisher Bethesda has since assured on its website that this won’t be the case, at least for the standard edition of the game on Xbox.



Redfall launches for Xbox Series X/S and PC on May 2.









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