Alone, Redfall is creepy. The town is littered with stories of people who were attacked by or turned into vampires when the vampire gods took over the once-charming island town. Wandering through dark houses and caves with only a flashlight to guide the way heightens tension, even when armed. Developer Arkane Austin knows how to craft a menacing atmosphere. However, adding other players to Redfall noticeably changed the odds. Together we made quick work of basic vampires, their cult followers, and the mercenary group intent on taking us down. Instead of quiet mutters in the dark, there was camaraderie. And what was once a potentially chilling challenge through an infested city became a hunting party ready to take on the biggest baddies with guns and powers blazing.
I had the pleasure of playing about four hours of Redfall on PC with one, two, and three additional co-op members. In that time we liberated a community center, took on the procedurally generated vampire nests, fought mini-bosses, and did plenty of exploring. My temporary teammates at Arkane Austin indulged me in trying out the hard difficulty, and with that settled, we were off.
If you're most interested in the solo experience of Redfall, be sure to check out IGN's first preview of Redfall.
The First Differences Between Solo and Co-op
The Redfall developers have made it abundantly clear at this point that, despite having the look of some other looter shooters or four-player co-op games, this is, ultimately, still an Arkane game. When I played on my own for a little over an hour, it certainly felt like it. Sure, there are limited abilities per character and stealth isn’t always as big of a factor, but the storytelling and simulated world are all there. You’ll randomly stumble across a vampire feasting on an unfortunate victim, opposing factions suddenly break out in gunfire, and sometimes you’ll hear enemies discuss their plans for the future. This all still feels true with two-player co-op.
The bulk of my playtime at Arkane Austin was with Creative Director Ricardo Bare, who played as Jacob, a former mercenary turned solo sniper with a magical eye and raven to go with it, while I tested Devinder, a cryptid hunter who came to Redfall for a book signing. I picked up the controller and promised Bare I'd reign in my worst gaming tendencies; scanning the contents of a shop for spare health in imaginary junk food my character doesn't need but deserves, reading notes left to lost lovers, and watching enemy patterns to scheme the best way to eliminate them as efficiently as possible. Of course, the first thing I did when we loaded into the second of two Redfall area maps was run on top of a truck to see if there was anything in its bed. Old habits die hard.
Still, those habits felt relevant in co-op. With only one other person on the adventure, more often than not I felt like we were partner detectives. Redfall stands still in the moment the vampires attacked; homes are a mess as people evacuated and battlegrounds of warring cults are host to corpses with stories of their own. Some of those stories are in the form of loot, while others are written out on loose sheets of paper or notecards to collect. One of my favorites was a torn-up convenience store in the middle of a cult fight. I'm not certain why they needed to string up a rotting pig, but I have a feeling it had to do with them worshiping the vampire god "Bloody Tom." I don't think he'd be too interested in pig blood, though. Maybe offering the wrong blood is what brought misfortune upon this group.
Though we didn't spend much time with the main Redfall story, what I know is this: in order to defeat the now-reigning vampire gods of Redfall, we must first understand who they were before they turned. Then, we can strike. I did get to liberate the Redfall Maritime Center from a menacing blood tree, though. By destroying three vampire hearts strewn throughout its roots (and killing vampires that came to protect it), we were able to draw out a special Siphon vampire called the Heartwood Fiend. It was a quick fight with some loot and story beats as a reward. With the center free, we were able to collaborate with the civilians to establish another main base of operations.
Working with the people of Redfall is not only a major story element, but a nice general theme that's apparent through all its parts. For instance, instead of getting money, you earn "support." The currency is earned by completing objectives and finding useful items that go back to the folks hiding in safe houses; toilet paper has a higher value than, say, a creepy doll or a wedding ring. Arkane Austin Studio Director Harvey Smith confirmed the toilet paper value is a nod to the early pandemic when toilet paper was hard to find as they were developing Redfall.
When we were back to exploring and shooting down our enemies, I found a lot of satisfaction in working with Bare to combine our character's powers to fight efficiently. Jacob's raven highlighted enemies behind a far wall, confirming our suspicions that I should throw Dev's translocator device further down the wall. Or, sometimes one of us would use a cool UV weapon to turn a vampire to stone from afar, giving the other an opportunity to finish it off with a satisfying punch. Though Redfall doesn't require each player to use a different character, nor is any character limited on the weapons they can use, I'd much prefer to play with someone playing a different character for the strategic bonuses.
Staying together is important too. Being close earns trust, a stat that gradually builds between players as they complete missions and complete encounters. As trust builds, the characters will talk more to each other. Sometimes this is a compliment for getting a headshot, other times it's a deeper discussion about their past. This is by far the biggest reason (aside from valuing my friendships, sorry friends) I want to play co-op. There's context and personality for these characters present in a solo version of campaign, but shines far brighter in co-op.
The Power of Three
Redfall Lead Producer Aaron Carter joined us next as Layla, a woman with psychic abilities and a vampire ex-boyfriend who she can call in to help slay enemies. Combat balance with three players still felt great as we challenged more special vampires. The best chance we had at a guaranteed fight with good loot was by taking on side quests. We did one that required us to eliminate another Blood Tree, but this time Redfall's iconic Angler waited inside the tree as its fiend. This vampire was noticeably at a disadvantage when taking on three of us as it was only able to target and reel in one player, but it still got some pulls on us that we were able to quickly counter.
During our time taking on cult camps, we encountered other special vampires among their ranks. These included things like the Shroud, a tricky vampire that casts a dark bubble over players, limiting their field of vision with a dark purple wall. She'll also throw attacks that can be rather damaging if you're not paying attention. Then there was the Bloodbag, a gross vampire that floated around with sacks of blood that, when destroyed, does explosive damage. Killing any of these special vampires and completing objectives contributes to angering the vampire gods. A meter shows up as a reminder. Once full, The Rook appears.
Our first Rook showed up right after we completed a Safehouse mission that tasked us with destroying a nearby cult camp and destroying a vampire god effigy. As soon as we destroyed it, a thunderstorm of red appeared, indicating The Rook was on the way. The only way to be rid of a Rook is to either die or kill it. Like other vampires, The Rook can teleport and has its own special abilities, like summoning the thunderstorm that does heavy damage if you stay outside. However, kiting indoors poses its own challenge as The Rook is fast.
Since we were playing on the highest unlocked difficulty, one lightning strike hit took about a fifth of the health bar away, and a few swipes from The Rook is a fast K.O. My teammates were both down at one point after we accidentally drew mercenaries into our fight. Through careful kiting and use of Dev's translocation beacon, I was able to revive them without going down myself. We eventually were able to take down The Rook through kiting and opportune shots. Slaying the Rook gives a guaranteed "Unrivaled" drop, the most powerful kind of weapon in Redfall. Needless to say, I gladly took the new semi-automatic pistol drop. Random enemies getting dragged into the fight certainly makes this far more challenging, but that changes with four people.