Masters of Environmental Story-Telling Are Taking on the Open-World With Redfall

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We’re in for a treat

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The world got to experience something special in 2022.

FromSoftware managed to adapt the linear, narrow, and tightly choreographed design of their Souls games into an open-world that felt every bit as intentional in Elden Ring.

We’re about to experience something special again next year but from a different developer — Arkane Studios. Known for delivering some of the most period-piece eye candy in the business — like paintings and photos come to life, their take on the open-world genre is why this game is my most anticipated title of 2023.

Redfall is a story-driven open-world first-person co-op and single-player shooter that deals with a lore that, surprisingly, only a few developers have tackled in the past — Vampires.

You would think more studios would have given their spin on the classic monster trope — gaming geekdom and the supernatural fiction go together like blood and guts — and I’ve only played a few Vampire games over the last 20 years.

But while I welcome the chance to go vampire hunting with three of my buddies, that’s not what excites me most about Redfall.

Way back in 2012, I remember playing the first Dishonored and falling in love. And while sneaking on rooftops, through corridors, and hunting down targets, what stuck with me the most was the time I spent exploring Dunwall. Even though the map was relatively small, the density of stories, locations, and assets made the city feel larger than life — truly lived-in.

It was an experience so familiar yet so distinct at the same time. Like a combination of Half-Life, Deus Ex, and Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption.

And that’s what I know Arkane is going to deliver with Redfall — a hand-crafted open-world that squeezes story-telling into every nook and cranny.

And that level of care is so rare these days when the recipe for AAA open-world games boils down to boring, procedural, and predictable Ubisoft-flavored shit.

Much like Elden Ring though, Redfall’s attention to detail is going to achieve what every visual storyteller strives for, suspension of disbelief. A trance so hypnotic that you melt into the universe constructed for you and forget you’re playing a game.