Redfall Releases Update 3

Highlights

• Redfall’s Update 3 improves performance, stability, and gameplay mechanics, including the addition of a new weapon.
• Despite recent updates, Redfall still struggles to engage players and has a low player count on Steam charts.
• Bethesda is working to improve Redfall, but it remains to be seen if the new update will bring players back.

Redfall received its new Update 3, which improves the game’s performance and stability, changes some gameplay mechanics, and introduces a new weapon. Redfall recently added the option to play at 60 FPS during one of the latest updates, and this one continues the trend of improving the overall experience, but the title is still struggling to keep players engaged.

It’s fair to say that Redfall was one of the biggest disappointments of 2023. Bethesda’s Arkane Studios was known for single-player, immersive experiences, but it developed an open-world co-op shooter that failed to entice gamers and critics. Redfall was launched with game-breaking bugs, terrible enemy AI, and a lackluster execution. Redfall’s player count is very low even after recent updates, and it has a 30-day player average count of only 16 people right now on Steam charts.

RELATED: Xbox Exec Labels Redfall Backlash as Tough ‘Love’

Despite the low number of players, Update 3 is here, improving Redfall in several ways. As part of the update, the AI and powers of some enemies were changed, and a few gameplay mechanics were tweaked. For instance, Jacob’s Camouflage Field skill can now be used without canceling ADS, and Layla’s Psychic Shockwave can no longer shatter Special vampires. Some bugs were also fixed by the patch, such as bound civilians appearing as cultists or co-op players losing their ability to crouch in some situations. Another highlight of the update is a new weapon called the Basilisk. This new Unrivaled Sniper Rifle comes with a unique weapon trait that can petrify vampires when the first bullet of a fully charged magazine is shot.

Other changes include an improved interface, as well as several accessibility options. Arkane Studios also refined search areas for some missions, improved NPC patrol paths, and fixed some audio issues. Overall, it seems that Bethesda is making good on its promise to improve Redfall, but it remains to be seen whether this new update will be able to bring players back when the previous ones did not.

While part of the Austin-based segment of Arkane Studios is working hard to improve the experience of Redfall, some of the studio’s devs seem to be already working on the next game. Back in July, gamers spotted a job listing that indicated that Arkane may be developing a single-player action RPG or immersive sim. At the moment, however, it’s not yet known what game this is. It could be Dishonored 3, Prey 2, or maybe a completely new IP.

Redfall Update 3 Patch Notes

WEAPONS

• Introducing the Basilisk, a new Unrivaled Sniper Rifle with a unique weapon trait: This weapon charges the first bullet in a full magazine with UV power that can petrify Vampires. Does not affect enemies recently Petrified or immune to Petrification.
  • Basilisk can drop anywhere Unrivaled items are eligible, with a higher chance to drop from Bellwether-themed containers in the open world and vampire nests.

AI/NPC

• Shrouds, Anglers, and Siphons are now gated from spawning in the open world until players reach a specific level, or complete certain missions.
• Balanced enemy abilities and traits:
  • Siphon’s Blood Torrent ability takes longer to interrupt when breaking line of sight.
  • Increased Siphon’s resistances to fire.
  • Vampires deal more damage to Bribón and Devinder’s Quantum Kerfuffle decoy when attacking from close range.
  • Soulless enemies deal more damage when attacking players from close range.
  • Watchers react faster to players in line of sight, and spawn reinforcements in combat more often.
• Human enemies are now able to climb awnings.
• Improved quality of enemy pathing and human movement animations.

GAMEPLAY

• Jacob’s Camouflage Field skill will no longer cancel ADS for non-Jacob players.
• Devinder’s Ultraviolent Light skill no longer shatters Special vampires, and instead inflicts a large amount of damage to them. Regular vampires will still shatter.
• Layla’s Psychic Shockwave no longer triggers multiple times from vampire lunge attacks.
• Deathmist Spewers now respond to the UV burst from Emergency Flash Bang Blood Remnants.
• Co-op players no longer lose their crouching ability when exiting a nest.
• Bound civilians no longer show as cultists when pinged.

MISSIONS

• Refined search areas for several missions.
• Added more respawn points to minimize cases where players are blocked from respawning after death.
• Fixed locations where Devinder’s Translocate device can be thrown out of world.
• Improved NPC patrol paths
• “Amelia’s Eulogy” triggers correctly after reloading the game.
• Resolved issues with hostile and friendly states in “One of Us”.
• Improved Totality’s responsiveness during the Black Sun boss fight.

HEROES

• All damage-dealing Hero abilities will now shatter vulnerable Nest hearts.
• Jacob’s Six String backpack cosmetic is now shown with other Backpack cosmetics.
• Hero thumbs should no longer clip into assault rifles when equipped.

USER INTERFACE

• Improved visibility of player locations on the Map.
• Added input curve visuals for Input Response settings.
• Voice chat now has a separate volume control option in the Audio Settings Menu.

ACCESSIBILITY

• Added Single Press options for the following toggle-Hold interactions: ADS, Continuous Fire and all Menus.
• Screen narration no longer repeats the narration for the “Close” prompt when navigating the System Menu.
• Fixed an issue where all platforms read as ‘Xbox’ by the screen narrator.
• Pop-up countdown is narrated properly during first time use of the Accessibility Menu.
• Speech-to-text messages now appear in front of the blur of dialog menus in the Main Menu.
• Message-of-the-Day carousel no longer receives focus priority after exiting out of pop-up windows.
• Increased player flashlight’s fade speed when reflecting off surfaces.
• Reduced Rook lightning dash attack impact brightness.

AUDIO

• Hero outfit foley has been updated and balanced to reduce loudness.
• Resolved issues with audio skipping during psychic echo playbacks.
• Resolved an issue where music would stop playing after a player was revived during a vampire god fight.

PERFORMANCE & STABILITY

• Traversing through Deathmist should no longer cause performance issues.
• Resolved issue with contact shadows interfering with self-shadowing.
• Resolved issue with some Game Settings not persisting between game launches.
• Restored default windowed mode to ‘Windowed Fullscreen’.
• The game client now saves window location between game launches.
• Various performance fixes related to FPS drops and stuttering.
• Addressed edge-case crash condition with late joining game clients.