The vampire-hunting co-op shooter Redfall was originally announced during E3 in 2021. The game is created by Arkane Studios, developers of popular action-FPS games Dishonored and Deathloop, so its pedigree alone is enough to have fans anxious to see what Arkane’s take on cryptid hunting looks like.
There is one additional feature in Redfall that has not been in any other Arkane game: cooperative play. Redfall will allow four players to play together while looting, exploring, and hunting vampires. There is, however, one downside to this feature. During the recent Xbox and Bethesda Showcase, the developers have stated that co-op story progression will only be tied to the host player, which leaves many concerned about the practicality of the multiplayer.
How Cooperative Play Suits Redfall
Since it was announced, Redfall has been making an effort to stand out from all the other FPS titles. In true Arkane fashion, the game is leaning into the supernatural and will allow players to use different abilities in conjunction with their weapons in order to best the vampire hordes. Taking notes from Dishonored 2, Redfall will allow players to choose from different characters who all have their own unique abilities.
Seeing as there have been four announced characters shown in the trailers, it makes sense for up to four players to work together, each picking their own character and bringing a different advantage to the battlefield. Fans of Arkane games should be excited about the idea of utilizing the developer’s unique take on abilities and weapons alongside friends.
In addition to allowing co-op, Redfall is going to be set in an open world, which is also a new direction for Arkane. Previous titles allowed players to freely roam each individual level, but Redfall is expanding that idea and giving players even more freedom. An open-world Arkane game with co-op will definitely pique a lot of players’ interest, but the announcement of story progression only being linked to the host player has created some concern.
The Downside of Not Syncing Multiplayer Progression
Upon Redfall’s initial announcement, it looked to be a fully cooperative game in the same vein as titles such as Left 4 Dead. However, as the game’s development progressed and developers shared more information, fans learned that Redfall is very much a single-player experience, with co-op acting as an afterthought.
Arkane has shared that it encourages players to enjoy Redfall solo and promises that the experience will be similar to other single-player titles but set in a unique, open world. Tthe game will likely be a successful and interesting single-player experience, but since it is so heavily focused on different characters with different abilities, many fans want to experience Redfall as a co-op game with each character fighting side-by-side.
Even with the news of only one player’s story progressing in a co-op session, many will still play and enjoy Redfall’s multiplayer, but it is difficult to look past the progression issue. The main concern players will likely have will have to do with the inconvenience of the decision. If players want to only experience the game with friends, they will have to coordinate a schedule to play with all who are in the group and can only progress on one player’s game, leaving the others either waiting to see the rest of the story or spoiling it by going ahead on their own.
Since the story of Arkane’s games is often quite unique and interesting, players are eager to discover the mysteries of the city of Redfall and will want to experience the story at a consistent pace. With the inability to continue story progression after playing as a guest in another game, players will find themselves replaying bits of the game which could turn story-driven players away from the multiplayer experience altogether.
There is, however, one silver lining in the co-op play. Players who participate in the multiplayer will be able to keep their loot and character XP progression, so it will still be worthwhile for players to join friends in Redfall. If players are able to look past the issues with story progression, Redfall will likely be a fun and interesting co-op experience with plenty of interesting gunplay, locations to explore, and vampires to slay in the company of friends.
Redfall will release in 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.