STACK #223 May 2023

GAMING FEATURE

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RISING VAMP Harvey kindly shared the following insider tips for players of Redfall … “Explore everywhere, study the environmental storytelling, and experiment with your powers. And don’t forget to stake the vampires! Otherwise, they come back.”

It’s time to go vampire hunting with the arrival this month of open world shooter Redfall .We took a stab at finding out more about it fromArkane Austin studio director Harvey Smith. Words Amy Flower STAKE IT UP!

speak lines of dialogue if alone, but then chat with each if you’re playing in co-op. Each and every combination of hero characters works together dynamically. And further there’s a system called ‘Trust’ that causes their dialogue to grow more intimate as friends over time. As two or more heroes grow closer, they gain mechanical benefits fromTrust as well. Are there any weapons that you’re particularly proud of and would like to highlight? Redfall ’s guns feel great. Favourite military weapons can be found at different ‘levels’ of quality, with different traits that alter your tactical experience. But the thing to discuss here is our set of vampire-killing weapons. The flare gun feels like a fireball, because our vampires immolate. The stake launcher uses found ammo like fireplace pokers, mop handles,

• Redfall is out on May 2

Please give us a quick summary of the story that awaits us in Redfall … If you like Arkane’s games, and know our history, we’re all about exploring richly conceived worlds, where the characters and locations feel like they have history. And as you weave your way through those locations, we allow you to solve your problems creatively. So, we’ve worked for years on a spooky version of New England, an island town called Redfall, which has suffered an insidious takeover by science-based vampires. Do you feel that you’ve added anything new and exciting to the classic vampire tale? Monsters are metaphors, and Redfall ’s vampires represent people who were already craven bloodsuckers in a figurative sense. We use modern science – specifically the quest for ‘longevity as a product for the rich’ - as a way to imagine vampires walking the earth, lording over the rest of us. How open is the world?Will we have freedom to go wherever whenever or will more open up as we progress through the story? Redfall is truly open world, go in any direction. That’s new for us, and pairs well with our world building. We divided the game into two separate open world maps so we could change things up. The first district

Can you please outline any differences between playing Redfall solo and hitting it in co-op? Mostly the pace changes. In single player, you explore, observing things along the way, following narrative threads, and absorbing environmental storytelling scenes. And solo you sometimes employ stealth in combat. Adding other players speeds the game up, making it more fun and social, like a party. But there are additional emergent effects when players use their powers in a group. Will there be any big differences in how things play out, depending upon which of the four lead characters the player opts for?

or broken pool cues – you can stake vamps from a distance. Lastly, we have a cool system for UV lights, where anytime a vampire enters ultraviolet light, they begin to petrify. The UV Beam gun gives you a portable version of that. What are you most hoping that players will take away from their time playing Redfall ? The most important thing is that they have their own experience. Their path, their powers, their tactical situations and how they get out of it, it all interweaves to mean that your time in Redfall is different than mine.

Each of our four initial heroes has a different set of skills and powers, which change the tactical gameplay quite a bit. Further, they’re all voiced by amazing actors. The heroes

Redfall features Arkane’s largest game world yet. DYK?

has a smalltown feel, with the docks, neighbourhoods, and tourist areas. The second has a haunted New England feeling, centred around rural farmland.

12 MAY 2023

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