When Redfall was revealed at E3 2021, my heart sank a little. As a fervent Prey defender and diehard Immersive Sim fan, I was worried that Arkane Studios had abandoned the genre it made its name with. I love that Deathloop brought new players into Immersive Sims by offering greater direction and approachability, but I never want to see Arkane give up what makes its games so special in pursuit of broader mainstream success. Redfall, a co-op open-world shooter, initially sounded like my worst fears come to life. Now that we’ve seen some gameplay and heard from director Harvey Smith at Summer Game Fest, it’s clear that Arkane isn’t cashing out. Redfall looks like all the things that Arkane excels at, applied to the open-world RPG genre. It’s not Left 4 Dead, but it might be an Im Sim Dying Light.
