Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Brain-Dead Enemy AI
Empty Open World
Technical Instability
Redfall is a disappointing departure for Arkane Studios that struggles to find its identity, resulting in a hollow open-world shooter that fails to deliver on either the studio's signature immersive-sim depth or the engaging cooperative action of its genre peers.
Redfall - The Deadeye | Jacob Hero Trailer
Redfall - The Telekinetic Threat | Layla Hero Trailer
Redfall - Official Story Trailer
Redfall is a bafflingly bad time across the board. Plagued with bland missions, boneheaded enemies, and repeated technical problems, Redfall simply wasn’t ready for daylight in this state.
Redfall is ultimately a fun experience thanks to the world, the enemies, and the gunplay itself, but as a whole, it's an incredibly shallow one too. Because of this, some may question whether it's worth the price tag, but it's noteworthy that Redfall is launching on Xbox Game Pass. It feels like the game is designed for the service, with an experience that is easily digestible, is full of simple mindless fun, and is easy to move on from.
Arkane's vampire thriller is muddled and deeply compromised, but has moments of real charm.
Redfall's empty open world, flimsy shooting, and siloed systems make for a flat, dull experience.
Redfall isn’t a total disaster, and there’s fun to be had in slaying vampires, especially with a couple of friends. But to call Redfall a shallow experience would be an understatement. I’m happy to loot and shoot and make my own fun, but there still needs to be something there to pull me through it. Nothing in Redfall, from the loot to the characters to the exploration to the power climb, ever made me want to keep playing, or feel like there was something more to achieve. No amount of bug fixes or updates will be able to improve Redfall’s fundamental gameplay flaws. It’s not just rough around the edges, it’s rutted all the way through.
Redfall is ultimately not up to Arkane's usual standards. It feels rushed, unfinished, and unsatisfying to play.
Looking at the world of Redfall, I become sad by its wasted potential. For every great location, there are a handful of forgettable ones. The result is an empty-feeling game with several puzzling problems, like a lack of proper stealth takedowns, a tedious quest and waypoint system, and the inability to pause gameplay in single-player mode. Rampant technical issues hinder brighter moments, including frequent server crashes during multiplayer, inputs failing to work, broken animations, and numerous other bugs that make playing Redfall a frustrating experience. For a game about fighting the undead, Redfall feels soulless in all the wrong ways.
Arkane takes a stab at infusing the genre du jour with its signature style, but the end results are a bloody mess.
