Redfall's Open World Was Originally 'Too Open,' Arkane Designer Says

Redfall is the latest title from Deathloop and Dishonored developer Arkane Studios. Redfall initially seemed an interesting game when it was first announced at Xbox's E3 2021 Showcase, being a co-op shooter clearly inspired by Left 4 Dead with one major change being that the primary enemies were swapped from hordes of zombies to powerful vampires and deranged cultists wanting to be turned into creatures of the night. With a recent gameplay reveal at the 2022 Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase as well, Redfall is an upcoming game that many in the community have their eyes on.

Following the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, Arkane Game Designer Harvey Smith sat down with IGN to give some more details about the game and how it will work. In the interview, Smith revealed much about Redfall, with the first thing he spoke about being the game's open-world. Previously, in Deathloop and the Dishonored games, Arkane allowed players to explore a wide map, but it wasn't exactly open-world, and there were a limited amount of areas that a player couldn't travel between seamlessly.

Now, Redfall is changing that. The game will still encourage exploration in the same way Arkane's previous titles have, except with a much larger play space. Smith states that Redfall's open-world was initially "too open," stating that there wasn't enough blocking the player. Smith then went on to say that Redfall will have two main areas. There is the town of Redfall, which has been seen previously in some leaked screenshots and is where the first half of the missions take place, then there are the more rural areas in another district.

Beyond the open-world of Redfall, Smith also spoke about the way the campaign would work in the game. While there are four playable characters in Redfall, implying that the game has a focus on co-op, Smith stated that the single player experience won't be any less enjoyable, and will provide a "spookier" atmosphere, as the player would then be left alone to face Redfall's vampires. It may be better for some players to go it alone as well, as Redfall's campaign progression will only be tied to whoever is hosting a multiplayer session.

Arkane has put a lot of thought into the cooperative elements of Redfall too, as Smith spoke about the synergies characters can create when they all work together, alongside how there will be banter between the squad, similar to other co-op games like Vermintide 2 and Left 4 Dead. It seems that Arkane is making use of its knowledge of stealth mechanics as well, as Redfall's enemies will rely on their awareness of sight and sound in order to spot the players. While Smith states that Redfall won't be a "super hardcore stealth game," it will have elements of stealth.