Redfall: Arkane Shares Player Abilities, Open World Features, And Backstory At QuakeCon

At QuakeCon, Arkane Austin shared new details and footage about the upcoming open world, co-op vampire slaying game Redfall. The video contrasts concept art, development footage, and gameplay with commentary panel featuring Redfall’s lead creative staff.

Studio director Harvey Smith begins the video by claiming that Redfall is an expansion of the Arkane studio signature style into co-op and open world modes, though the video emphasizes that people who wish to play alone will be well served. Redfall aspires to have a lived-in feel, with patrol routes that change with day-night cycles, weather systems including fog and rain, and randomized spawn points. Art director Karen Segars emphasizes the game’s spooky, rather than horrific, tone. “There’s no jump scares…” she says, “but there is still that edge, there could be anything right around the corner.” Players can even encounter odd cultic structures or vampiric pocket dimensions, giving a strange bent to the game’s mundane setting.

As for plot, Redfall is a bombastic, science fiction take on Salem’s Lot. It starts with a tech start-up, Aevum Laboratories, buying property in the titular town and doing research into life extension. They eventually turn themselves into vampires. With this otherworldly extension of their worldly power, they take over the town. To free Redfall, players will face vampire gods and underbosses, “bootlicking cultists,” and other supernatural creatures.

Players will be able to choose from four heroes, shown off in previous marketing material. The video emphasizes two of the four heroes: Jacob Boyer can turn invisible and specializes in long-range weapons like sniper rifles. Devinder Crousely uses various gadgets and area-of-effects abilities as a means of fighting back the vampiric hordes. Each character has a unique skill tree and aren’t easily mappable to pre-set roles like “tank” or “healer.” If you are playing co-op, many abilities provide useable benefits for your allies as well.

Weapons come in a range of high tech security rifles to homemade stake-launchers to passed-down family heirlooms. You can also petrify vampires with UV light and append stakes to regular weapons like a bayonet.

Back in 2021, Redfall was announced with a cinematic trailer and a 2022 release date. The game, along with Starfall, was delayed until 2023. If you are looking for more information about the upcoming title, check out Jordan Ramée’s interview with the devs and learn everything we know about the co-op shooter we know thus far.