Why is Redfall Divisive Among Critics? An Overview

Redfall's finally out, and after months of hype for Arkane's latest title... it was received underwhelmingly. With an average 65 in Opencritic, and various outlets giving it a 4/10 or 5/10, why can't we make up our minds?

I'll give a bit of backstory as to how my wife and I ended up reviewing Redfall to provide a bit of perspective. Initially, she and I weren't interested in the title. At all. The price seems a bit steep, it's a game that sounds fun but we don't get around to playing, and it overall wasn't something we were looking forward to.

A few years back, I would have looked at anyone in the face and told them that first-person shooters just were my least favourite genre — with a few exceptions here and there, such as Fallout 4, it was just something I found underwhelming. And this is something that has only recently stopped with my newfound love for (sigh) Overwatch 2.

When the time came to review Redfall, we played it with few cares nor previous experiences; although we've both played DEATHLOOP, Arkane is not a company we're overly familiar with, not having gotten around to playing Dishonored just yet (we're getting there!). And after spending several dozen hours exploring the town of Redfall... we loved it.

Sure, it isn't without a few issues and errors — we slid in the wrong spot and got stuck, we jumped in the wrong spot and got stuck, we used an ability and got stuck... okay, I'm starting to see a pattern here. Jokes aside, although it didn't release in a perfect state, in no way did we think it was something so broken and boring that it deserved very low scores.

Why? It's quite simple, and I've already mentioned it — we haven't had experiences with Arkane. DEATHLOOP is a remarkable narrative story, and gameplay-wise, it has a great gameplay loop (teehee), but aside from that, we don't really know much about Arkane — we barely have played any of their games. If you check some of the lowest-scoring reviews, you'll find a common phrase thrown around:

"An echo of Arkane's greatest"

Arkane Austin has earned its spot against some of the most highly regarded developers out there with various titles that they've produced, and it's no wonder how. But when it comes to individual titles, you really have to sit and wonder how much hype we should put behind any individual developer in a brand-new IP, and it leads me to my main point in this article: hype.

Hype is a strange and intangible force that we all collectively share. From excitement to playing a unique IP, a new multiplayer game (boy, are those scarce nowadays), playing the latest entry in your favourite franchise, and — yes — even playing a new game from a developer you hold in high regard. When you combine all of those things, it's easy to create an image in your mind for what is to come, almost like a parasocial relationship with a company — you trust the best of them, and in turn, you hope for them to meet your every whim.

I'm no stranger to doing this myself, and I'm not absolving me of any crimes — aside from excitement for franchises I love (looking at you, God of War), I'm also stupidly excited for Immortals of Aveum, and I know that it is misplaced hype — I barely know anything about it. And when it comes to playing the games, I will have a certain image of it that will definitely not be met.

Now, don't think I'm blaming other outlets for holding Arkane to a high regard — quite frankly, I don't condemn that mindset. I'm there for whatever Sony Santa Monica releases, and I'm sure I'll one day be disappointed (much like I was with God of War Ragnarok). It's easy to judge a game by the studio's finest, and it's hard not to set that sort of expectation on their titles.

Going into Redfall, and basically forgetting it was developed by Arkane Austin, we judged the title by what we knew of it, outside of what we knew of the company. The playstyle is great, and not something offered by a lot of titles, the multiplayer is fantastic, and the shooting is pretty cool.

Entering the game with the right mentality, an individual IP rather than a brand-new title by Arkane, you will get a different experience. If you love and trust Arkane with your whole heart, then maybe consider taking a step back and readjusting your expectations for the game — Redfall does a lot right, but perhaps it doesn't live up to its ancestry.