Its roots in King’s novel, Arkane’s immersive sim philosophy, and vampire fiction in general are buried beneath layers of distraction, but they do exist. The game’s narrative is unevenly delivered, presented mostly through brief, stilted, pre-mission cutscenes and bits of in-universe text that can be easily missed while chatting with a co-op partner or avoiding a cultist’s gunfire. In Redfall, players work to take back an island overrun by vampires, driving bullets and stakes through the hearts of bloodthirsty monsters and their human worshipers while trying to uncover how they rose to power in the first place.

It’s a storied lineage to live up to - one whose heights Redfall consistently fails to reach. It’s also the most recent game to come from Arkane Studios, a developer whose portfolio includes the Dishonored series, Prey, and Deathloop.

Redfall stands in the towering, Count Orlok-shaped shadow of more than a century of popular vampire fiction - especially, because of its small-town setting, Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot and the heavily King-indebted TV series, Midnight Mass.

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