Redfall Launch and Reviews - Arkane Broke the Hearts of Fans
Redfall has debuted on the market. Unfortunately, all indications are that it is the worst work in Arkane's output.
Redfall, an open-world shooter by Arkane, studio known for its Deathloop, Prey and the Dishonored series, has debuted on the market.
- The game is available on PC and Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X consoles.
- You can buy the standard PC edition on Steam , Epic Games Store and Microsoft Store, the latter offering the opportunity to play on both PC and Xbox consoles for $69.99.
- The game is also available as part of Game Pass on all hardware platforms.
- In addition to the standard edition, a so-called Bite Back Edition is also available, which for $99 provides additional skins for characters and weaponry, as well as a season pass for DLCs that will add two new characters to the game in the future.
It is worth mentioning that the ElAnalistaDeBits channel has prepared a video with a visual comparison of the game on different hardware platforms:
Arkane failed to deliver - Redfall disappoints
There are few studios with a track record as impressive as Arkane's, so expectations for the game were high. Unfortunately, all indications are that this time the team didn't deliver.
Average reviews
The game collects average reviews. On OpenCritic the average rating is 66%. Below we cite sample scores:
- We Got This Covered - 4.5/5
- DualShockers - 8.5/10
- XboxEra - 8.5/10
- VGC - 4/5
- Gaming Nexus - 7.4/10
- Game Rant - 3.5/5
- VG247 - 3/5
- Windows Central - 3/5
- Twinfinite - 3/5
- GamingBolt - 2.5/5
- GameSpot - 4/10
- Dextero - 2/5
What is interesting is the very large disparity between ratings. In the case of Redfall there is no question of any consensus. Most reviewers agree on one thing - that the game was released before it was completed. Quite often there are also opinions that the game lacks the elements that made Arkane's earlier titles unique, such as meticulously designed maps, rich story background or huge freedom of task completion.
Fatal reception of the game on Steam
While media reviews are average to poor, the reception of Redfall on Steam is downright abysmal.
- Only 25% of user reviews on Steam are positive, which is categorized as "mostly negative" reception.
- Players complain about poor technical condition, low performance, formulaic gameplay and terrible AI. The game is also slammed for its high price - it's the first game released by Microsoft that costes $70 at the time of its debut.
- Below we cite some sample player reviews from Steam:
"Eben ignoring the performance issues, this game is just bad. The AI is pathetic, even on the highest difficulty level. The controls are clunky. The graphics are mediocre. The world is empty. I don't understand why these companies think they can start charging $70 for unfinished garbage. I was unable to stomach even an hour of this game."
"Another strong contender for the worst PC port of the year. How did Arkane end up with this after Dishonored?"
"The game is boring, bland and empty, with a non-existent storyline, poor combat system and weak gameplay. I can't believe that the same studio that created Dishonored, made Redfall."
- The game also recorded a weak debut in terms of popularity - the launch day activity record was a mere 6124 concurrent players on Steam.
What happened?
Already at the time of the game's announcement, reactions were poor. After all, Arkane is famous for rich and complex single-player games with meticulously designed levels. The team never seemed like a good choice for a cooperative open-world shooter. The developers still tried to assure that the solo mode would also be good, but that never seemed believabe.
It is worth recalling that this was not the studio's first contact with co-op formula. Arkane also helped with Wolfenstein: Youngblood, which was also poorly received. It's clear that for this team, trying to chase popular genres is not a good idea and the developers should concentrate on what they do best.
The shallowness of Redfall alone is only half the problem, however. The game was released too early. This is never a good idea, but in the case of smaller companies it can still sometimes be understood. Here, however, the publisher is Microsoft. Was it really worth forcing a release before the game was ready?
If, despite these negative reviews, you decide to play Redfall on PC (which is a good idea, only if you have Game Pass), it's worth getting acquainted with the game's system requirements first.
Redfall - minimum requirements for PC
- Processor: Intel Core i5-8400 2.80 GHz / AMD Ryzen 5 1600
- Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 6 GB / AMD Radeon RX 580 6 GB.
- DirectX version: 12
- RAM: 16 GB
- Disk space: 100 GB (SSD recommended)
- Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit
Redfall - recommended requirements for PC
- Processor: Intel Core i5-8400 2.80 GHz / AMD Ryzen 5 1600
- Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTS 2080 8 GB / AMD Radeon RX 5700 8 GB.
- DirectX version: 12
- RAM: 16 GB
- Disk space: 100 GB (SSD recommended)
- Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit
