Preview | Hands-on with upcoming Xbox game Redfall

The next big release from Xbox Game Studios is at our doorstep, politely waiting to be invited in.

Redfall is the latest from Arkane Studios, the team behind Deathloop and Dishonoured, and it’s evident with their DNA is on show.

Bethesda recently invited Quest Daily to play an early build of the game, ahead of its release in May. 

And although my time with the game was short – it was delightfully sweet. Redfall is the kind of game I could see myself sinking my teeth into for hours on end. 

We’ve had a shortage of vampire video games over the years. Castlevania, Bloodrayne, Vampire: The Masquerade series – there are only a handful of games that spring to mind when I think vampires. 

My all-time favourite would have to be the incredibly underrated Buffy the Vampire Slayer video games on Xbox in the early 2000s, but I’m unsure if they’d still hold up today.

Now it’s almost time for something new and fast-paced to get the blood pumping.

Redfall is an open-world first person shooter/survival game set in the seaside town of… Redfall. The idyllic little port has been overrun by vampires and their cultist supporters.

READ MORE: We played 5 hours of Tchia; here’s what we thought

Players take control of one of four characters, either solo or in multiplayer co-op. 

Jacob Boyer, a character shrouded with stealth abilities and a companion raven. There’s Layla Ellison, who has magic abilities and an obsessive vampire ex-boyfriend, Devinder “Dev” Crousley, who specialises in teleportation and wields a lighting javelin and last, but not least, Remedios De La Rosa, also known as Remi. 

For my 90 minutes of playtime, I chose to play as Remi, whose special abilities include a C4 charge, alarm siren, and her ultimate ability which heals any friendly characters within range. 

READ MORE: Interview with Resident Evil 4 producer Hirabayashi Yoshiaki

But none of those abilities were why I chose Remi, I was really only keen her companion; Bribón.

Bribón is a dog-like robot with mounted machine guns. He can be sent into battle, draw in a large group of vamps or cultists and help you take out the whole group. He’s also a great resource for creating a diversion.

Oh, and the best part is he loves a scratch! 

Across the map are various locations, from safe houses to important quest landmarks. There are also creepy vampire nests that you must make your way into, destroy the nest’s heart and escape before it collapses.

I started my playthrough at the Fire Station, with my character already loaded out with weapons and abilities. The Fire Station is essentially a base/hideout for the player, with other friendly characters populating the building and offering services and quests. 

There are plenty of story-driven opportunities, from fetching a popcorn maker for the safe house to collecting a box of old cigars from an abandoned building on the other side of town – they sound quite like fetch-quests on paper, but I guess there’s only so much you can do on a time limit. 

The story is deep, dark and emotionally gripping. 

Starting about a quarter into the main story, my task was to head to Doctor Addison’s mansion, a scientist turned vampire God known as the Hollow Man, and discover a way to defeat him. 

After defeating dozens of enemies along the way, you soon learn that Doctor Addison was performing experiments on his own daughter that led to her painful death.

READ MORE: Review: Storyteller, ‘more of a first draft than a published novella’

The game is filled with audio logs that expand on the story and lore of Redfall – at the mansion, I delved deep into this heartbreaking story of father and daughter. 

Redfall has taken me by surprise and it’s definitely one at the top of my list this year.

It’s releasing on Xbox Series X|S and PC on May 2, it’ll also be available through Xbox Game Pass.

We’ll bring you our full game review ahead of the release, but until then I’ll put a stake in it.