The big-budget first-person shooter Redfall from Dishonored and Prey developers Arkane has seen a few early reviews come in, but the numbers aren’t looking good. A Metacritic score of 63 for Xbox and PlayStation versions, and 64 on OpenCritic, isn’t a great sign for a game that’s bringing in critics for the first time.
While we’re sure to have plenty of questions about the game’s quality as more and more reviews come in, I’ll start with what I find most troubling: the fact that a team that has consistently produced acclaimed first-person adventure games has been given an entirely new genre to work with. In my mind, a developer like Arkane would never go down the road of developing a co-op looter shooter that stretches the bounds of what it’s known for.
Here are Redfall’s early reviews by top gaming media houses and critics.
- Metacritic – 63
- OpenCritic – 64
- VGC – 4/5
- Stevivor – 7.5/10
- PCGamesN – 7/10
- Press Start – 6.5/10
- Metro – 6/10
- VG247 – 3/5
- GamingBolt – 5/10
- GamesRadar+ – 2.5 /5
- WellPlayed – 4.5/10
- GameSpot – 4/10
- Kinda Funny – 2/5
What I don’t understand is why the studio opted for this course of action, especially considering they already had a large sandbox to stretch it in in Prey and other titles. The idea of combining elements from two different styles of gameplay is a bold one and it’s easy to see why it didn’t go over well with players.
Here are the top reasons Redfall players aren’t having a great time with Redfall.
- Online Only
- Poor performance
- $69.99 (free with Xbox Game Pass)
- Poor Graphics
- Random crashes and unresponsive
- NPC’s and enemy AI are dumb
- Generally mediocre gameplay
- Co-op with no matchmaking
- Clearly unfinished
Despite this, the game isn’t without its strengths. The four characters that you’ll take on missions with are fun to interact with, and their abilities dovetail well and add depth to what could otherwise be an extremely linear experience.
Ultimately, though, Redfall is a shoddy shooter that falls short of the standards that Arkane is known for, resulting in some rather poor reviews. The technical issues that it suffers from, including the 30 FPS cap and a number of small bugs that make moment-to-moment gameplay feel clunky, are all part of the problem.
Did you play Redfall, if yes, then do let us know what you liked and what you didn’t like about the game in the comments section down below?
