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Redfall, the upcoming co-op FPS from the studio that brought us Prey and Dishonored, is arriving on Xbox Series X|S and PC this May – so it's time to sharpen your stakes.
Arkane Austin's new IP sees you battling vampires in an open-world post-apocalyptic town setting that has been delightfully doused in a retro horror aesthetic. But you don't have to take on these vamps alone (unless you want to), as Redfall will allow you to squad up with up to three other players as you aim to unravel exactly why these toothy creatures are there in the first place.
You'll be able to pick from four heroes, each with their own unique abilities and access to a range of vampire-hunting weaponry that would put Buffy to shame. Want to know more? Read on for everything we know about Redfall so far.
Redfall: cut to the chase
- What is it? A co-op first-person shooter from Arkane Studios
- When can I play it? May 2, 2023
- What can I play it on? Xbox Series X|S and PC
Redfall release date and platforms
Redfall will release on May 2, 2023 for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC. It'll also be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one. Arkane's co-op shooter was initially scheduled to release in "Summer 2022" but Bethesda announced in May 2022 that the co-op shooter was delayed until the "first half of 2023".
While Redfall will skip the last-gen Xbox One, anyone who's yet to upgrade to Microsoft's latest console will be able to access it through Xbox Cloud Gaming (providing you have an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, that is). Can't wait to sink your teeth into Arkane's co-op shooter? You can pre-order Redfall now.
Redfall trailers
Latest trailer
The latest trailer for Redfall, which premiered at the Xbox and Bethesda's Developer Direct showcase in January 2023, provided us with a gameplay deep dive – and that all-important new Redfall release date.
Where previous Redfall footage has focused on moment-to-moment gameplay, how the guns work, some of the skills you can unlock, and how you can collaborate with other players to combine abilities against your vampire enemies, this most recent trailer instead saw Arkane stepping back to talk about your overarching aim in the vampire-slaying shooter. It's pretty simple: clear Redfall's neighborhoods of bloodsuckers. Check it out below:
More trailers
We've included some key Redfall trailers throughout this article but you can find all the Redfall trailers that have been released to date on Bethesda's official YouTube channel.
Redfall story and setting
Redfall's website gives us a brief synopsis of the game's story, setting, and the larger-than-life characters that inhabit the world.
The vampiric enemies of the game are actually science experiments gone wickedly wrong. These creatures have cut off the town of Redfall from the rest of the world by blocking out the sun.
The vampires are joined by a human faction that worships them, as was seen in the debut trailer. As such, it looks like firefights will often have us dealing with both enemy types – and perhaps a few more – at once.
Redfall characters
In Redfall, you pick from four playable heroes, each boasting their own unique personalities and abilities, to take on the town's legion of blood-sucking vamps. These abilities are able to be upgraded as you progress and you'll be able to experiment with different playstyles and loadouts, too. When playing co-op, players will be able to play as any character, regardless of whether a teammate has already selected them. That means you can all play as Layla, for example, if you want to.
Here are the four characters you'll be able to pick from – and their descriptions according to Bethesda:
- Layla Ellison: A biomedical engineering student who interned at a research facility, where something went very wrong, leaving her with intense telekinetic abilities.
- Jacob Boyer: An ex-military sharpshooter turned private contractor. Strange happenings on Redfall have left Jacob with a mysterious vampiric eye and a spectral raven that’s never far from his side.
- Remi de la Rosa: A brilliant combat engineer who has spent her life on the frontlines. With the help of her robot cohort, Bribón, she’s determined to help rescue Redfall’s survivors.
- Devinder Crousley: A cryptozoologist and aspiring inventor. Armed with weapons of his own creation, he’s on a mission to prove himself.
Redfall gameplay
Redfall is a story-driven, open-world first-person shooter that boasts Arkane's "largest setting ever". You'll have the choice of playing solo or squadding up with up to three friends in co-op. It's worth noting, though, that both solo and co-op play will require an online connection.
The types of vampires you'll be facing in Redfall range from lower-level minions to godlike bloodsuckers that can eclipse the sun. In between those, you'll be facing the likes of the Angler, which uses a psychic harpoon to drag players away from their teammates, and the Watcher, a terrifying vamp that perches on vantage points to keep an eye out for intruders. It's not just vampires you'll need to worry about, though. These vamps have gained a small army of loyal cultists who have set up bases and patrol routes across this island.
To rid the town of these big bads, you will need to go from neighborhood to neighborhood clearing out the cultist operations and vampire nests. In each neighborhood, you’ll find a safe house in which you can set up shop – though it's unclear exactly what you'll be able to do there.
Each neighborhood has an underboss vampire that you'll need to kill to claim back the area. Once you do, you will claim their skull, which acts as a kind of key. Collect enough skulls and you unlock a fight with one of the vampire gods. But the gods aren't going to let you get to them that easily and every time you slay an abundance of vampires they'll call upon the terrifying 'Rook' to punish you.
We also know that, outside of the main campaign, there will be "encounters" for you and your team to take on. You can approach these in whatever way you choose: sneaky and coordinated or all guns blazing.
Redfall news
Comparisons to Left 4 Dead
During the Xbox Games Extended showcase in 2022, Bethesda’s Pete Hines addressed comparisons between Redfall and co-op shooters like Left 4 Dead.
“If you watch, just like, combat footage, you might look at Left 4 Dead or Back 4 Blood or any of these things and go ‘oh, I see multiple characters facing a bunch of enemies and so it’s the same game’,” Hines said. “But I think that would be doing a disservice, that it’s all of the things that take place between the combat as well as the combat itself, combining different skills and abilities in the way that you do…those are the kind of things that Arkane does that really bring that extra special element that makes their games so compelling.”