Arkane Studios has earned a lot of praise in 2021 for its time-bending FPS Deathloop, including two awards at The Game Awards 2021 and many more nominations, but Arkane isn't resting on its laurels. It's no secret that Arkane is working on another title for 2022: Redfall. In Redfall, players take control of one of four highly distinct characters who band together to stop an army of vampires from plunging the world into endless night. The multiplayer FPS is only one of many recent games to take notes from the beloved Left 4 Dead games, but Redfall's vampire-centric premise and unique cast of characters shows promise.
If Redfall is to succeed, though, then Arkane ought to keep a close eye on the fate of other games trying to capture the magic of Left 4 Dead. 2021 has seen a couple of these games come out, including Back 4 Blood and Aliens: Fireteam Elite. While Back 4 Blood managed to accrue fans thanks to its own take on Left 4 Dead's zombie slaying action, its failure to deliver in departments like writing have hampered it. Aliens: Fireteam Elite shone with a slightly more unique premise, but it faltered due to some critical design flaws. Arkane should keep an eye on both games' shortcomings as it polishes Redfall in the coming months.
Back 4 Blood's Characterization and Balance
Back 4 Blood didn't just draw comparisons to Left 4 Dead for its zombie hordes, but for its cast of characters, too. It famously aimed to have similarly charming and compelling playable characters expressing themselves through in-game interactions and comments on the world. However, many critics felt that Back 4 Blood's characters just didn't leave much of an impression. Arkane should think very deeply about the writing and design for each of its four playable characters. Their highly unique abilities are a good start, but they'll need consistently strong dialogue and personalities to grab the player's attention too.
Some Back 4 Blood players also expressed concerns about the game's balance. Games like Left 4 Dead are notorious chaotic, since players are often fighting dozens of enemies at a time, but Back 4 Blood received some criticism for difficulty spikes and overly chaotic moments of play. Redfall will certainly feature similarly crowded combat, but Arkane should test it thoroughly to make sure combat is fair to the players throughout the game, rather than Redfall's enemies suddenly overwhelming the party at random times.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite's Level Design and AI
One major sticking point for Aliens: Fireteam Elite was its level design. Multiple critics felt that Aliens: Fireteam Elite suffered from overly repetitive areas, with many missions lacking significant differences that would capture the player's attention. Redfall would be wise to diversify all of its areas. While doing so is slightly different in Redfall's case since the game is open world, every mission and area still needs to be distinct from one another, whether Redfall achieves that through compelling region-specific enemies or objectives with unique mechanics around the game's map.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite has also received some criticism for its AI, which could hamper both the singleplayer and multiplayer experience. AI teammates in Aliens: Fireteam Elite's singleplayer mode weren't always particularly helpful, while some enemies were too uncreative in their behavior to be threatening. Arkane would be wise to shore up AI in both departments. AI team members need to be independent and reliable, rather than completely counting on the player for guidance. Enemies, meanwhile, should have a lot of ways to behave, which will keep each bout of combat in Redfall fresh and engaging.
Back 4 Blood and Aliens: Fireteam Elite may have had their drawbacks, but those flaws could make Redfall all the better in the end.
Redfall releases in summer 2022 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.