Redfall review: multiplayer sucks the life out of a promising vampire shooter

Redfall MSRP $70.00 Score Details Pros

Strong storytelling
Fine-tuned action

Cons

Stuck between solo and multiplayer
Multiplayer design oversights
Rough presentation
Poor AI

Two delicately crafted moments early on in Redfall made a strong first impression on me. The first was when I exited a shipwrecked boat and gazed out at a massive wave frozen mid-crest as vampires had parted the sea. Shortly after, I saw the sun turn black and two helicopters struck down by lighting right in front of me. These are the kind of arresting visual moments that Arkane Studios has made a name for itself with in games like Dishonored and Deathloop.

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That’s why it’s a shame that these are two of the only scenes in which Redfall captures that magic.

Redfall is conflicted about what it wants to be. It’s trying to be an intense, emotional, and political immersive sim about vampires, but also an endlessly replayable co-op, open-world shooter. The ideas don’t mesh well; design caveats made to accommodate multiplayer suck the blood out of Redfall’s single-player experience. And while multiplayer is inherently more fun, lots of little annoyances stack up to make it an inferior choice compared to much better co-op shooters on the market.

Redfall’s writing and gunplay are competent and build upon Arkane’s expertise. Despite that, a design identity crisis and a bevy of technical issues make this a surprising disappointment from a development team that’s capable of so much more.

About our Redfall review

I first published Digital Trends’ Redfall review on May 3, 2023, shortly after its release. After that, Bethesda released three major updates and four hotfixes for Redfall. These fixed bugs, enabled a 60 frames-per-second (fps) performance mode on consoles, added the Basilisk sniper rifle, and more. Unfortunately,