Redfall has received its second major patch, the appropriately titled Update 2. It adds the 60FPS Xbox Series X|S performance mode that publisher Bethesda touted all the way back in April. But that’s not all this update does.
We wouldn’t describe it as a total overhaul, which is perhaps what the game needs, but it makes some pretty significant changes to this co-op vampire killing game.
Redfall wasn’t exactly short on accessibility features, at least compared to some games. But the patch adds in a handful of new ones, including improved narration, improved photosensitivity features and more.
As for gameplay, stealth has been given a kick in the pants, and control sensitivity is more customisable than ever. The open world is a more heavily populated with enemies, there are new vampire nests and so on.
We’ve briefly dived back in and it is a slightly better experience. But it still doesn’t grab us in the way that Arkane’s other games – Prey, Dishonored etc, have (read our review). It still feels like the kind of game you’d wheel out at Halloween, play for a bit, then put away for another year.
But with no offline mode, it’s uncertain how long you’ll be able to play this. According to SteamDB, a total of 21 people the game right now. The release of the patch did cause a spike in players, bringing it up to.. 58 players in the last 24 hours.
True, SteamDB doesn’t take account of the people playing it on Xbox and PC via Game Pass but it’s not a great look. We’re glad that Bethesda and Arkane has delivered on their Performance Mode promise, but five months later? As much as we appreciate this new Redfall update we can’t help but feel the bat has flown.
