[Console Games] Don't Worry, Redfall Puts An Unmistakably Arkane Spin On The Looter Shooter

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Arkane Studios is known for a very specific kind of game: immersive sims. The team made its mark on the industry with intricate sandboxes that feature systems and mechanics interacting with each other in fascinating ways. Games like Dishonored and Dishonored 2 are standout examples of why the developer is heralded as a master of the genre.

But, in recent years, the studio has started to reassess what it means to be an Arkane game. Prey, while still a science-fiction take on the immersive sim genre, served as the foundation for Mooncrash, a DLC that reconfigured the game into a roguelike. Deathloop leaned harder into that genre by embracing the run-based format to break down what makes an immersive sim so compelling and asking the player to examine the pieces and put them back together.

Redfall continues this process of reflection and reinvention, and it's perhaps the biggest departure from what we expect an Arkane game to be. But after getting some hands-on time with the game, it quickly became apparent that underneath the open-world, first-person shooting, and loot, there are systems, mechanics, and gameplay opportunities that are unmistakably Arkane.

Like Prey: Mooncrash and Deathloop, Redfall is aiming to take the fundamentals of Arkane's tried-and-true formula and build anew on top of them. This, according to creative director Ricardo Bare, was how it ended up with an open-world, cooperative shooter that has multiple characters with unique playstyles.

"If you look at our catalog of games, we always try to do something a little bit different," said Bare. "Dishonored is very stealth-oriented and it's got a mission structure that's more classic: You do a mission, you travel there, you go back, you do a mission, travel--they're not connected together like an open world. But then if you look at Prey, [it] has stealth and it's one big level--a big-ass space station. You can go anywhere, so the mission structure's far more open. That's a baby open world.

Redfall continues this process of reflection and reinvention, and it's perhaps the biggest departure from what we expect an Arkane game to be. But after getting some hands-on time with the game, it quickly became apparent that underneath the open-world, first-person shooting, and loot, there are systems, mechanics, and gameplay opportunities that are unmistakably Arkane.

Like Prey: Mooncrash and Deathloop, Redfall is aiming to take the fundamentals of Arkane's tried-and-true formula and build anew on top of them. This, according to creative director Ricardo Bare, was how it ended up with an open-world, cooperative shooter that has multiple characters with unique playstyles.

"If you look at our catalog of games, we always try to do something a little bit different," said Bare. "Dishonored is very stealth-oriented and it's got a mission structure that's more classic: You do a mission, you travel there, you go back, you do a mission, travel--they're not connected together like an open world. But then if you look at Prey, [it] has stealth and it's one big level--a big-ass space station. You can go anywhere, so the mission structure's far more open. That's a baby open world.

 

Link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/dont-worry-redfall-puts-an-unmistakably-arkane-spin-on-the-looter-shooter/1100-6512521/