It’s no secret that Arkane Studios’ Redfall had a rocky launch. The newest game from the legendary studio that developed classics like Dishonored and Prey, Redfall had so many issues at launch that even Xbox executives admitted their disappointment, with some higher-ups seeming genuinely surprised that the game was so poorly received by critics and fans alike. In June–a month after it launched–Redfall received an update that did manage to fix a decent amount of the game’s issues, but still left many players feeling underwhelmed and frustrated. Since then, it’s been radio silence, with some players wondering if Bethesda and Arkane have simply chosen to abandon the game. But Bethesda has assured players this isn’t the case, and Arkane echoed that sentiment with the recent release of Game Update 2, Redfall’s latest patch.
Arriving nearly six months after the game’s initial release, Game Update 2 is packed to the brim with desperately needed bug fixes and new features that drastically improve (or entirely remove) previous quality-of-life issues. Players can now pull off incredibly slick-looking stealth takedowns (even with stake-based weapons), and the Bethesda gods have blessed Xbox players with a new performance mode option that truly lets the game’s visuals shine.
Additionally, the number of NPCs has been increased. More vampires are lurking around Redfall, and they’ve gotten smarter, too. Enemies will now jump out of the way if they get hit by friendly fire, and generally seem to spend less time standing around and waiting to get killed. The changes to NPCs and enemies in particular have already earned the game praise from some of its staunchest critics.
