Arkane Studios has earned a lot of praise in 2021 for its time-bending FPSDeathloop,including two awards at The Game Awards 2021 and many more nominations, but Arkane isn’t resting on its laurels. It’s no secret that Arkane is working on another title for 2022:Redfall. InRedfall,players take control of one of four highly distinct characters who band together to stop an army of vampires from plunging the world into endless night. The multiplayer FPS is only one of many recent games to take notes from the belovedLeft 4 Deadgames, butRedfall’s vampire-centric premise and unique cast of characters shows promise.
IfRedfallis to succeed, though, then Arkane ought to keep a close eye on the fate of other games trying tocapture the magic ofLeft 4 Dead.2021 has seen a couple of these games come out, includingBack 4 BloodandAliens: Fireteam Elite.WhileBack 4 Bloodmanaged to accrue fans thanks to its own take onLeft 4 Dead’s zombie slaying action, its failure to deliver in departments like writing have hampered it.Aliens: Fireteam Eliteshone with a slightly more unique premise, but it faltered due to some critical design flaws. Arkane should keep an eye on both games' shortcomings as it polishesRedfallin the coming months.
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Back 4 Blood’s Characterization and Balance
Back 4 Blooddidn’t just draw comparisons toLeft 4 Deadfor its zombie hordes, but for its cast of characters, too. It famously aimed to have similarly charming and compelling playable characters expressing themselves through in-game interactions and comments on the world. However, many critics felt thatBack 4 Blood’s charactersjust didn’t leave much of an impression. Arkane should think very deeply about the writing and design for each of its four playable characters. Their highly unique abilities are a good start, but they’ll need consistently strong dialogue and personalities to grab the player’s attention too.
SomeBack 4 Bloodplayers also expressed concerns about the game’s balance. Games likeLeft 4 Deadare notorious chaotic, since players are often fighting dozens of enemies at a time, butBack 4 Bloodreceived some criticismfor difficulty spikes and overly chaotic moments of play.Redfallwill certainly feature similarly crowded combat, but Arkane should test it thoroughly to ensure combat is fair to the players throughout the game, rather thanRedfall’s enemies suddenly overwhelming the party at random times.
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Aliens: Fireteam Elite’s Level Design and AI
One major sticking point forAliens: Fireteam Elitewas its level design. Multiple critics felt thatAliens: Fireteam Elitesuffered from overly repetitive areas, with many missions lacking significant differences that would capture the player’s attention.Redfallwould be wise to diversify all of its areas. While doing so is slightly different inRedfall’s case since the game is open world, every mission and area still needs to be distinct from one another, whetherRedfallachieves that through compelling region-specific enemies or objectives with unique mechanics around the game’s map.
Aliens: Fireteam Elitehas also received some criticism for its AI, which could hamper both the singleplayer and multiplayer experience. AI teammates inAliens: Fireteam Elite’s singleplayer mode weren’t always particularly helpful, while some enemies were too uncreative in their behavior to be threatening. Arkane would be wise to shore up AI in both departments. AI team members need to be independent and reliable, rather than completely counting on the player for guidance. Enemies, meanwhile, should have a lot of ways to behave, which will keepeach bout of combat inRedfallfresh and engaging.
Back 4 BloodandAliens: Fireteam Elitemay have had their drawbacks, but those flaws could makeRedfallall the better in the end.
Redfallreleases in summer 2022 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
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