The lead up to and release ofRedfallhave been marred by negative controversy surrounding the game’s performance and atypical approach to the live-service looter-shooter model. Now that the game has officially released and garnered what can only be described as a mixed reception from critics and fans, the big question surrounding it is how it will grow and evolve as a live-service title in the face of a somewhat catastrophic launch. One area of concern inRedfallis its lack of weapon variety, which comes as a stark contrast to what players have seen in other looter-shooter contemporaries such asBorderlands.
When the originalBorderlandslaunched in 2009 it flaunted its procedurally generated weapons as one of its main selling points, claiming there were “over a billion” guns in the game. Of course these boiled down to variations and re-rolls of a handful of weapon archetypes, butthe variety ofBorderlands' weaponsand the addictive loop of chasing after that next gun that could potentially shake up a build has kept the series at the top of the looter-shooter pile for over a decade. Compared to other games in the genre,Redfall’s weapons just don’t offer much in terms of player incentive to keep chasing loot.
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Redfall Drops the Ball on Loot Progression
Wherelooter-shooters likeBorderlandsandDestinyshine is in their ability to gradually build players up to the power fantasy afforded by each game’s character classes and weapon selection.Redfallmisses an opportunity to be in the same league as other looter-shooters due to introducing players to all of its loot rarities at once instead of dangling the proverbial carrot. Once players have seen the different weapon types at play inRedfallduring the first 1 to 2 hours of gameplay, they’ve seen basically everything the game has to offer in terms of loot.
Players are likely to find purple and gold-tier weapons inRedfallduring the game’s opening moments whereasBorderlandsrequires significant player progressionbefore getting one’s hands on an orange or pearlescent-tier weapon that looks and acts much differently from lower-level gear. By gating loot tier progression behind game progress,Borderlandsentices players to keep growing toward becoming an unstoppable force against the game’s enemies. In contrast,Redfallgives players higher-tier loot in the early game that is largely identical to what players will find toward the end of the campaign.
A Missed Opportunity to Incorporate Borderlands' Unique Weapon Designs
The “sameness” in terms of how weapon types look across the board inRedfallis disappointing given Arkane Studio’s penchant for creative design in its games. A blue or green-tier Strega assault rifle is identical to one in the purple and gold loot pools, and it looks almost interchangable with an assault rifle from many other shooting games. The same can be said about each of the weapon types except forRedfall’s Stake Launcher and UV Beam. In addition to having more weapon types and more unique re-rolls of each weapon,Borderlands' unique weapon designshighlight just how soullessRedfallfeels by comparison.
The launch ofRedfallhas highlighted a number of ways that Arkane failed to draw inspiration from some of the established successes in the looter-shooter genre, includingBorderlands. The developers have stated that theyplan to supportRedfallfor the foreseeable future, and with the game serving as a marquis title for Microsoft’s Gamepass service it’s likely that the company will want to see fixes implemented to improve the state of the game. As a looter-shooter,Redfalldesperately needs a shot in the arm concerning its loot variety and weapon design, and it should look to Gearbox’s successful franchise in the genre for insight on how to course-correct.
Redfallis out now PC and Xbox Series X/S.
