Arkane Austin creative director Ricardo Bare has said that we can expect the upcoming Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, and PC exclusive, Redfall, to play more like Ubisoft’s open-world Far Cry games, rather than Left 4 Dead.
Microsoft expects a number of first-party games to launch on Xbox in 2023, all of which will be coming to Game Pass. One of those games is Redfall, Arkane Austin’s open-world cooperative vampire-slaying FPS. Since the game’s announcement, many have compared Arkane’s game to Left 4 Dead, but creative director Ricardo Bare has said that Redfall is actually more like the Far Cry games.
Redfall gameplay trailer
Speaking with GamesRadar+, Bare explained that the team wanted to focus on a familiar setting with this game, settling on the fictional “crappy tourist town” of Redfall in New England. Although the team wanted the setting to feel familiar, it also wanted to explore what it “would be like to wander an Arkane open world and see where each little road will take you,” studio director Harvey Smith said.
When discussing the comparisons that have been made between Redfall and Left 4 Dead, Bare said that “it’s totally understandable for somebody to come to that conclusion. There are four playable characters, you can play together cooperatively, and you’re going against the undead. But, in terms of the way that you play and experience Redfall, it’s not like those games at all. Redfall is more like loading into Far Cry.”
Unlike Far Cry, though, Redfall is much smaller in scope and can — and will — be explored on foot, with no vehicles available for you to use. Smith explained that Arkane’s hopes are for players to feel like they know Redfall as well as they would Prey’s Talos or Dishonored’s Dunwall, after playing it for a while. “Some of Redfall’s most powerful moments come from wandering around, absorbing the world, and getting caught up in high action for a moment,” Smith explained. “That was the atmosphere we set out to create from the beginning.”
We’re yet to find out just when Redfall will be launching on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Xbox Game Pass, but rumours have said that it could launch sometime at the beginning of May.
Are you planning to explore the “crappy little tourist town?” Drop a comment below and let us know!
