Vampires have always enjoyed great popularity in the media, including video games. However, these mystical creatures are not glitzy and shiny under the sunlight in Redfall, Arkane Austin's latest work. They are indeed an unfortunate result of a science experiment gone incredibly wrong and have besieged the island town of Redfall and its surroundings. First, they eclipsed the Sun. After that, they began to target the locals, turning them into their subordinates or exploiting them for food. Now, the island’s fate lies in the hands of four unconventional heroes, each with unique skills and weapons.
Initially scheduled for release in 2022, the upcoming Xbox and PC exclusive has then been delayed to ensure the quality of the final product and is now going to be published in May. This open-world FPS is highly anticipated by fans of Arkane Austin, the studio behind Prey, and will be their first game to offer co-op multiplayer. Expectations are high, so here’s everything you need to know about Redfall.
Redfall Release Date, Platforms, Editions
Redfall was officially unveiled during Microsoft's Xbox & Bethesda E3 2021 conference and was originally set for a Summer 2022 release. Bethesda then announced the delay of the game to the first half of 2023. As the publisher said, this decision has been made to ensure that players would be able to play the best and "most polished" version of the game. After some rumors, the official announcement came earlier this year: Redfall will launch on May 2 on PC and Xbox Series X|S.
The game will be available for free for all Game Pass subscribers from day one. It won’t arrive on PlayStation and will, in fact, be the first Arkane title after Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda that won’t get released on Sony’s consoles.
At launch, Redfall will be available in two different editions. The standard edition will be sold for $69.99 or free for Game Pass users. Players who preorder or get the game for free with the Game Pass will also receive the Vampire Hunter Pack. This includes a Level 2 Unrivaled Grim Tide Shotgun, a Polar Vortex Multi-Weapon Skin, and a Blood Ravager Stake Weapon Attachment.
The Redfall Bite Back Edition will be available for $99.99. This includes the base game, the Redfall Hero Pass, the Throwback Outfit Pack, the Laser Beam Multi-Weapon Skin, and the Tactical Knife Stake Weapon Attachment. The Redfall Hero Pass grants access to two future heroes, while the Outfit Pack includes a unique backpack and outfit for each main character. In detail: Northern Expedition Devinder Outfit, Eyes in the Dark Jacob Outfit, War Clothes Layla Outfit, and Engineer Volunteer Remi Outfit.
Players who get the game for free on Game Pass, or want to get these exclusive perks later, can purchase the Redfall Bite Back Upgrade for $29.99. Preorders for the Redfall Bite Back Edition also grant access to the Vampire Hunter Pack.
In case you're shopping for one of NVIDIA's RTX 40 Series graphics cards, select retailers are eligible for a Redfall Bite Back Edition GeForce RTX 40 Series bundle that will give you access to the aforementioned version of the game after the purchase of a qualifying GeForce RTX 4090, 4080, or 4070 Ti desktop or GPU, or laptop with an RTX 4090 Laptop GPU or 4080 Laptop GPU. You may learn more here.
Settings, Genre, Mechanics
Redfall is an open-world FPS set on a fictional island of the same name in Massachusetts. Vampires have taken control of the city and surrounding areas, eclipsed the Sun, and blocked any possible interaction with the outside world. They are born from science, more precisely from an experiment gone awfully wrong, and can count on powerful psychic skills.
The island’s fate is now in the hands of a group of survivors consisting of four unconventional heroes, each with unique powers and abilities. Players can choose between Layla Ellison, a biomedical engineering student with telekinetic skills; Devinder Crousley, a cryptozoologist and aspiring inventor with weapons he personally created; Remi De La Rosa, a brilliant combat engineer who designed Bribón, a technologically advanced robot; and Jacob Boyer, an ex-military sharpshooter who is now a private contractor with a vampiric eye and a spectral raven.
Players can either start their adventure alone or join forces with up to three friends for a four-player co-op. After some concerns from the studio fans, Game Director Harvey Smith assured that Redfall would be the classic Arkane experience if played solo. There won’t be any bots with you, regardless of the hero you choose. You can explore the open-world map on foot only, as there won’t be any vehicle to use. You will find many areas to examine, and players can freely choose between embarking on missions or clearing out vampire nests, establishing safe houses, and more.
Stealth will be an option, but the game has not been developed solely around this. You can lure enemies by setting off an alarm or using specific characters’ powers, but you won’t be able to distract them by throwing a rock, or other objects, as outlined by Harvey Smith in our Q&A session during the London preview event. However, you can always try to bring foes near environmental hazards.
Despite Vampires having eclipsed the Sun, there will still be a day/night cycle. During the day, enemies will be quieter and won’t burn because the eclipse has obscured the sunlight. And if you manage to hit them while they’re unaware, you will deal more damage. During the nighttime, however, they will unleash their true powers. You probably won't last long if you just run toward enemies and shoot at them. As outlined by Bethesda's SVP of Global Marketing, Pete Hines, the game requires a "bit more thoughtful approach," especially when dealing with bosses.
Redfall Trailers And Gameplay Showcases
https://youtu.be/lxX-4U5uJqk
PC System Requirements and Performance
Redfall, powered by Unreal Engine 4.26, won’t be available on Xbox One, as it will be released exclusively on Xbox Series X|S, plus PC. The minimum requirements for the PC version were shared in January, while recommended and ultra specs have been revealed only recently.
Minimum
- CPU: Intel Core i5-8400 @ 2.80GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600
- GPU: AMD RX 580 / NVIDIA GTX 1070 / 6 GB VRAM
- System RAM: 16 GB
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Storage: 100 GB SSD
Recommended
- CPU: Intel Core i7-9700K @ 3.60GHz or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
- GPU: AMD 5700 / NVIDIA RTX 2080 / Intel ARC / 8 GB VRAM
- System RAM: 16 GB
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Storage: 100 GB SSD
Ultra
- CPU: Intel Core i7-9700K @ 3.60GHz or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
- GPU: AMD RX 6800 XT / NVIDIA RTX 3080 / 10 GB VRAM
- System RAM: 32 GB
- OS: Windows 11 64-bit
- Storage: 100 GB SSD
GeForce RTX users will also be able to take advantage of DLSS Super Resolution (DLSS 2). Owners of RTX 40 Series graphics cards can expect an even greater performance boost thanks to DLSS Frame Generation (DLSS 3). Ray tracing will be added post-launch.
Xbox users, however, will only be able to play at 30fps at launch. According to a tweet from the official Redfall account, only a single “Quality” mode will be available upon release. On Xbox Series X, this will be 4K at 30fps; on Xbox Series S, it will be 1440p at 30fps. A 60fps Performance mode will be added to the game later with an update.
