Redfall was first announced back at the 2021 E3 Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase with a slightly overproduced CG trailer and not a lick of gameplay. Even though this is coming from Arkane, a game studio I do admire, Redfall kind of felt like the also-in-development Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League to me. You know, some sort of a co-op action shooter, perhaps not quite in the vein of Left for Dead, but definitely reminiscent of the four-person co-op gameplay that was all the rage at one point in history.
And even with the gameplay trailer debut at this year’s Summer Game Fest, what with the cringey dialogue and emphasis, again, on co-op gameplay, I remained uninterested. I have to be honest, if I see a game that’s designed around four-player co-op, it’s probably safe to assume it’s not for me.
But then I happened upon the following interview with IGN:
In this interview, game designer Harvey Smith clarifies that one can, in fact, play through the entire campaign solo. And with that, I started to get a little bit intrigued. Although the story, setting, and combat style aren’t necessarily my cup of tea, once I learned that I can play Redfall as I did previous Arkane titles — all on my lonesome — well, I started to get a little thirsty.
I have made no bones about not vibing with Deathloop, even though I did kind of start getting into it for a little bit. But that was short-lived for a couple of reasons: I couldn’t listen to Colt, and I hated the art design. I mean, truth be told, I have always kind of hated the art direction of most Arkane titles, but Deathloop was the last straw (even though it was one of HGG’s owner Josh’s favorite games of 2021).
But I loved Dishonored and Prey, although I was pretty burned out on their formula once I finally got around to playing Dishonored 2, which I never even got halfway through. And now that it’s been a little while now since I played an Arkane game, and Redfall is still a ways out, I have been getting the more and more of an itch to get back into that genre of stealth action.
I guess we’ll see as we get closer to launch if this will be the one to draw me back in, but as of right now, it is looking far more promising.
