Redfall is "not a horde shooter" and the vampires are a metaphor, actually

Upcoming supernatural slayer Redfall might look like Left 4 Dead with vampires, but one of the studio's directors wants to set you straight on that.

In Edge magazine #381, Redfall developer Arkane's Harvey Smith sat down to reminisce on his impressive history in games development. On the subject of Redfall, the Dishonored 2 creative director is quick to address any misgivings you might have about what the game actually entails. "We've pushed this since day one: this is not a zombie game, this is not a horde shooter."

Arkane has insisted time and time again that Redfall isn't a Left 4 Dead spinoff. Sure, the Redfall Bite Back edition offers flashy gun skins and character cosmetics not dissimilar from L4D's spiritual successor Back 4 Blood, but Smith wants to zero in on the more subtle subtext.

"On a narrative level, [Redfall] is about a group of very privileged, controlling-elite people coming into a small, sleepy community, and basically undermining it and warping it to their own needs," Smith told Edge. "This startup, [villainous biotech firm] Aevum, they were vampires before they were vampires. They're the 0.1 percent."

Now that might sound very Umbrella Corporation circa Resident Evil 2, but despite the vampires, Redfall isn't quite a survival horror game either. "It's more of an open-world shooter, and it's a different experience whether you play solo or co-op, even though it's the same missions," he said. This means we can likely bid farewell to biome-specific quests and self-contained maps, as in the likes of Deathloop. "In an open-world game, you can improvise a lot." 

When it comes to its unique DNA and how it fits into the studio's brand, Smith is confident in what Redfall has to offer. "It's built on Arkane's creative values: the immersion, the good audio work, the narrative beats and improvisations," he says, so we can look forward to some vampire-slaying open-world antics when Redfall launches on May 2, 2023.

From Prey to Dishonored, check out our ranking of the best Arkane games ever.