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[Draugoth]

Written Article:

Redfall's 60fps patch works - but this isn't the redemption story we were hoping for

Redfall was a key 2023 Microsoft exclusive that didn't land especially well with players or critics. Many aspects of th…

www.eurogamer.net

There was genuine promise with Redfall when we first took a look at it, but unfortunately, it was abundantly clear that the game had been rushed to gamers in a totally unfinished state, rife with gameplay issues, a multitude of technical problems and bugs. Indicative of it all was that a game marketed with 60fps material shipped at 30fps. Five months later, Patch 1.2 brings us the 60fps mode it should have had at launch and it's OK - but what about everything else?

• 00:00 Overview
• 01:06 Fixes for glitches and visual issues
• 05:48 Mode comparisons and performance
• 11:14 Analysis and conclusion

 

[acm2000]

did they remember the turn the AI on yet?

edit: video doesnt mention it so im guessing no, tried it at launch and it was so bad it was just unplayable so shouldve been a priority to fix.

 

[GymWolf]

If only 60 fps was the real problem...

 

[analog_future]

did they remember the turn the AI on yet?

If only 60 fps was the real problem...

Honestly seems like about as good of an update as we could've hoped for:

By embracing upsampling and optimising the launch code's poor CPU profile, Arkane has managed to double the frame-rate while actually improving visual settings on the whole, with much better close-range shadows and the addition of SSR on Series S.


I played a fair amount of Redfall at launch and I do feel that the updated Xbox releases make for a substantially better game, as the basic gunplay is in a much better state at the higher frame-rate. Enemy AI seems to have been improved as well, and the game's analogue stick response is better by default. However, the mission design is still lackluster, and the world feels quite empty, even though the patch notes say the enemy density has been increased.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Honestly seems like about as good of an update as we could've hoped for:

They need to add more content.

Games like these tend to have 100s of hours of content.

 

[R3TRODYCE]

Nope

Tried it again yesterday and it was still ass.

 

[Fake]

Does Patch 1.2 Redeem The Game?​

No.

 

[Darsxx82]

It is commendable that they have continued working and improving the technological aspect as promised. Unfortunately it is a demonstration that it had to be delayed and that it was released in an early access state.

Currently the only option for the game to be revisited and valued would be to launch an expansion changing the structure to that of an SP action game with its own story and cinematics (not the current illustrations) and perhaps collecting some vampire movie license.

Anyway, after having fulfilled the promise of 60fps, perhaps the best thing would be to start a new project and do what they know how to do very well, as they demonstrated with Prey.

 

[Mortisfacio]

If only 60 fps was the real problem...

Yah... I played this with my son and it was torture. I was torn between being the father that just wants to spend time with his kid, no matter what, and going the opposite route and deleting the game and exposing him to something better instead so he understands how bad the game is. I chose the former and it's been keeping me up most nights with regret.

 

[Ozriel]

It is commendable that they have continued working and improving the technological aspect as promised. Unfortunately it is a demonstration that it had to be delayed and that it was released in an early access state.

Currently the only option for the game to be revisited and valued would be to launch an expansion changing the structure to that of an SP action game with its own story and cinematics (not the current illustrations) and perhaps collecting some vampire movie license.

Anyway, after having fulfilled the promise of 60fps, perhaps the best thing would be to start a new project and do what they know how to do very well, as they demonstrated with Prey.

They should have delayed the game.

The real issue has to be the internal play testing that convinced them that the game was ready for release. Did nobody truly see the lack of melee animations, the poor enemy AI, the bugs and the sparse open world?

 

[SEGAvangelist]

did they remember the turn the AI on yet?

edit: video doesnt mention it so im guessing no, tried it at launch and it was so bad it was just unplayable so shouldve been a priority to fix.

The video did mention improved AI, actually. The human NPC AI is still pretty weak, though. Vampires are a lot better now.

 

[Revolutionary]

Does Patch 1.2 Redeem The Game?​

The AI is still garbage, so no.

 

[GymWolf]

Yah... I played this with my son and it was torture. I was torn between being the father that just wants to spend time with his kid, no matter what, and going the opposite route and deleting the game and exposing him to something better instead so he understands how bad the game is. I chose the former and it's been keeping me up most nights with regret.

I'm the biggest arkane fanboy in gaf and i couldn't play this thing for more than 10 hours.

I played on pc maxed out at way higher framerate than 60, that's why i said what i said.

 

[Luck]

Summary anyone?

 

[adamsapple]

Summary:

Notable fixes:
- One of the biggest glaring issues about textures taking way too long to fully load has been fixed.
- Originally some decals could take as long as 18~ seconds to load. Completely fixed now.
- Shadow quality and aliasing has been 'comprehensively fixed'.
- Some lighting related issues and pop-in still present both interior and outdoors.
- Some glitches also remain which cause shadows to not pop-up unless games performance/quality setting is changed once.

New Options
- Series X: Quality and Performance mode (30 and 60 FPS respectively)
- Visual settings are more-or-less the same
- Both modes resolve to 4K.
- Performance up-samples from 1080p and Quality renders native 4K with FSR2.
- Final image is a convincing 4K image on both.

- Series S:
- Shadows updated to match Series X but the cascade distance and pop-in is worse
- Foliage is lower than Series X.
- SSR added to Series S which was absent in launch code
- Quality: 972p. Performance: 720p. Both use FSR2 to up-scale to 1440p.

Performance:
- Quality mode on both consoles locks to 30 FPS with no drops seen.
- Performance mode has some traversal stutter but manages to hit 60 FPS on both pretty consistently.
- Couple of dips in multi-player but no prolonged drops.
- PC version has also been updated to run 50% faster on the same specs so a lot of CPU optimization has taken place.

Conclusion:
- Using FSR2 up-sampling, Arkane has done a good job doubling the performance while also improving visual features.
- Some annoying glitches and oversight still remains but good last-hurrah for the game.

 

[Rambone]

 

[SEGAvangelist]

I'm the biggest arkane fanboy in gaf and i couldn't play this thing for more than 10 hours.

I played on pc maxed out at way higher framerate than 60, that's why i said what i said.

I don't see how being a huge Arkane fan would actually make you like this game. I imagine it would do the opposite.

 

[GymWolf]

I don't see how being a huge Arkane fan would actually make you like this game. I imagine it would do the opposite.

Because people who aren't fans of arkane never even gave the game a chance because it looked like hot shit.

And i would have been ok if the game was nothing like an arkane game (it was already pretty obvious from the trailers) but still a good game, but it's neither.

 

[Sethbacca]

They need to add more content.

Games like these tend to have 100s of hours of content.

why would anyone want 100+ hours of this?

 

[GymWolf]

why would anyone want 100+ hours of this?

Spoiler

 

[adamsapple]

why would anyone want 100+ hours of this?

They did promise at least one more character as DLC before the game released, but that got side tracked for this massive overhaul the game has received.

I bet we'll get that one character by years end and that will be it for Redfall. Arkane will move onto their next.

 

[MarkMe2525]

I'm the biggest arkane fanboy in gaf and i couldn't play this thing for more than 10 hours.

I played on pc maxed out at way higher framerate than 60, that's why i said what i said.

Same here, Arkane has created some of my favorite experiences. This.... well this was a shit show. I'm hesitant to even redownload it to check out the patch.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

why would anyone want 100+ hours of this?

What is "this"?

100+ hrs of content means good quality of course.

This game clearly seems inspired from The Division 2. I have put good amount of hrs into D2. Not against doing same with this game.

It still needs a lot of work to get there.

 

[Dr_Ifto]

If only 60 fps was the real problem...

First thing I said.

The AI had issues, clipping was an issue, T pose was an issue, loot, etc. The game needed another year in the oven.

 

[JackMcGunns]

If only 60 fps was the real problem...

Did you watch the video? they fixed a lot more than just the framerate, but yea, the game needs more that just visual fixing unfortunately, but it does help a lot, the game was a complete unplayabe mess, now it's at least playable, but just not that good lol.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

They did promise at least one more character as DLC before the game released, but that got side tracked for this massive overhaul the game has received.

I bet we'll get that one character by years end and that will be it for Redfall. Arkane will move onto their next.

It's 2 heroes, so I expect at least 2 more major patches for the game before they give up.

Upgrade to the Bite Back Edition and receive the Redfall Hero Pass, the Throwback Outfit Pack, Laser Beam multi-weapon skin, and the Tactical Knife Stake weapon attachment for close-range fights. The Redfall Hero Pass gives you access to two future heroes with unique powers and gameplay. The Throwback Outfit Pack includes a unique outfit and backpack for each of the four base heroes inspired by their lives before Redfall.

 

[GymWolf]

Did you watch the video? they fixed a lot more than just the framerate, but yea, the game needs more that just visual fixing unfortunately, but it does help a lot, the game was a complete unplayabe mess, now it's at least playable, but just not that good lol.

Did they fixed the shit, uninteresting powers? The dull writing? Enemy variety? Mission variety? More interesting loot? More interesting open world? Better boss fights?

The game has a multitude of core problems that can't be fixed by patches, they need devs downright working on new content and core changes, and that is not gonna happen unless M like to burn money, believe me, i gave a 10 hours chance to the game before bailing out, i'm not an M hater.

 

[JackMcGunns]

Did they fixed the shit, uninteresting powers? The dull writing? Enemy variety? Mission variety? More interesting loot? More interesting open world?

The game has a multitude of core problems that can't be fixed by patches, they need devs downright working on new content and core changes, and that is not ginna happen, believe me, i gave a 10 hours chance to the game before bailing out, i'm not an M hater.

So you didn't watch the video, nor did you read my full reply lol. The game was downright unplayable, the framerate hitching, shadow issues, texture pop-in was just horrendous, that's aside of just being a dull game. I'm only saying that other things were improved, like the texture pop-in, the shadow issues and other bugs, it's at least playable now, but still needs another year in the cooker.

 

[GymWolf]

So you didn't watch the video, nor did you read my full reply lol.

I didn't watched the video but i don't see how what you say contrast with what i said.

It was not an unplayable mess on pc on my end so i didn't experiencex all the shit that console players experienced, the game running smooth was probably one of the few saving grace.

 

[Mortisfacio]

I didn't watched the video but i don't see how what you say contrast with what i said.

It was not an unplayable mess on pc on my end so i didn't experiencex all the shit that console players experienced, the game was running pretty smooth.

• Players can now sneak up and take down unaware Cultists & Bellwether enemies with staked weapons.
• Increased open world enemy population and mission encounter balancing.
• Added unique open world enemy encounters in Redfall Commons.
• Increased ammo pickups in areas surrounding the Fire Station to help new players maintain early-game resources.
• Enemies now reposition to avoid friendly fire.
• Bribón is now guaranteed to shock nearby enemies while using Siren with the Robot Rock skill activated.
• Fixed several scenarios where enemies could become stuck in an idle state and stop engaging with the player.
• Added new Vampire Nest spawns to Old Town and Sedgewick neighborhoods.

The more notable gameplay updates to the patch. Not enough to make the game good, but they're improvements.

 

[Riky]

It's a lot lot better than it was at launch, but it still needs matchmaking putting in or it will die for good.
Got 40 hours out of it and enjoyed it.

 

[Negotiator101]

Summary:

Notable fixes:
- One of the biggest glaring issues about textures taking way too long to fully load has been fixed.
- Originally some decals could take as long as 18~ seconds to load. Completely fixed now.
- Shadow quality and aliasing has been 'comprehensively fixed'.
- Some lighting related issues and pop-in still present both interior and outdoors.
- Some glitches also remain which cause shadows to not pop-up unless games performance/quality setting is changed once.

New Options
- Series X: Quality and Performance mode (30 and 60 FPS respectively)
- Visual settings are more-or-less the same
- Both modes resolve to 4K.
- Performance up-samples from 1080p and Quality renders native 4K with FSR2.
- Final image is a convincing 4K image on both.

- Series S:
- Shadows updated to match Series X but the cascade distance and pop-in is worse
- Foliage is lower than Series X.
- SSR added to Series S which was absent in launch code
- Quality: 972p. Performance: 720p. Both use FSR2 to up-scale to 1440p.

Performance:
- Quality mode on both consoles locks to 30 FPS with no drops seen.
- Performance mode has some traversal stutter but manages to hit 60 FPS on both pretty consistently.
- Couple of dips in multi-player but no prolonged drops.
- PC version has also been updated to run 50% faster on the same specs so a lot of CPU optimization has taken place.

Conclusion:
- Using FSR2 up-sampling, Arkane has done a good job doubling the performance while also improving visual features.
- Some annoying glitches and oversight still remains but good last-hurrah for the game.

Sounds really good actually, only played it for about 10mins on release because it had dreadful controls seems that's been fixed as well, will download again.

 

[acm2000]

The video did mention improved AI, actually. The human NPC AI is still pretty weak, though. Vampires are a lot better now.

oh mustve missed that bit, i'd be impressed if they managed to make the vampire AI worse.

 

[GymWolf]

President donald dump?

 

[Roberts]

• Fixed several scenarios where enemies could become stuck in an idle state and stop engaging with the player.

This still happens sometimes (3 times during my 20 hour playtime). One time a rook followed me into the house. I ran around the table, turned around only to discover that he decided to hang out there, standing motionless at the other end of the table. You can shoot me, buddy, I'm just going to stand there and sniff some stale living room air.

Anyway, vampire AI is definitely a whole lot better than cultists. Sometimes they attack you head on, sometimes they are more evasive and that's kind of cool, actually.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

They need to add more content.

Games like these tend to have 100s of hours of content.

Did you leave a decimal out of that 100?

 

[King Dazzar]

Prior to this patch I'd have given it a 4 or 5. After the patch, its maybe a 6. Avoid, unless low bar mediocrity is what gets you off.

 

[Pedro Motta]

They did promise at least one more character as DLC before the game released, but that got side tracked for this massive overhaul the game has received.

I bet we'll get that one character by years end and that will be it for Redfall. Arkane will move onto their next.

"massive overhaul"

 

[adamsapple]

"massive overhaul"

Yes, at least watch the video or read the patch notes my guy.

 

[SenkiDala]

The AI is still garbage, so no.

I mean the mention that the AI is improved so what are you talking about ?

Shit on the game all you want but they're trying to improve things, there's no need to lie.

 

[adamsapple]

I mean the mention that the AI is improved so what are you talking about ?

What do you think are the odds that the posters giving 2 word replies in this thread have even seen the video before commenting?

I'd say pretty high they haven't.

 

[Skifi28]

Performance up-samples from 1080p

convincing 4K

Honestly, I'd have to see that live to believe it. That would be FSR2 performance which usually looks like poop, unless they pulled off some kind of magic. I suppose not being third person and taking place only at night must help hide some of the artifacts, but still.

 

[Revolutionary]

I mean the mention that the AI is improved so what are you talking about ?

Shit on the game all you want but they're trying to improve things, there's no need to lie.

Because I watched a video when the patch came out and it was clear that the human AI was still garbage. But to be fair, the vampire AI does seem improved from it's barely functional launch state. You could literally walk around in a circle around vampires and they were unable to hit you lol

 

[newtypepilot]

a slightly polished turd is still a turd

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Honestly, I'd have to see that live to believe it. That would be FSR2 performance which usually looks like poop, unless they pulled off some kind of magic. I suppose not being third person and taking place only at night must help hide some of the artifacts, but still.

It looks really good. I had no clue it was upsampling from 1080p.

 

[adamsapple]

Honestly, I'd have to see that live to believe it. That would be FSR2 performance which usually looks like poop, unless they pulled off some kind of magic. I suppose not being third person and taking place only at night must help hide some of the artifacts, but still.

This is one case where I have to agree with them.

In the below sets, one is from the Performance mode and one is from Quality, can you tell which is which easily ? These pictures are direct feed from my own console.

To my eyes, this is probably one of the best implementations of FSR2 in a console game I have seen. It's practically indistinguishable from native.

 

[SenkiDala]

What do you think are the odds that the posters giving 2 word replies in this thread have even seen the video before commenting?

I'd say pretty high they haven't.

I'm naive.

 

[Skifi28]

This is one case where I have to agree with them.

In the below sets, one is from the Performance mode and one is from Quality, can you tell which is which easily ?

These pictures are direct feed from my own console.

This is quite impressive, you'd expect an obvious difference at least in the first picture that is quite bright. I wonder if they're just using the latest version of FSR2 that many other games don't, or they're doing anything else fancy on top of it to clean up the image. How does it hold up during camera movement? Any obvious occlusion artifacts when reloading? Unfortunately I can't watch the video right now, but I'm not sure youtube would really help in such comparisons anyway.

 

[adamsapple]

This is quite impressive, you'd expect an obvious difference at least in the first picture that is quite bright. I wonder if they're just using the latest version of FSR2 that many other games don't, or they're doing anything else fancy on top of it to clean up the image. How does it hold up during camera movement? Any obvious occlusion artifacts when reloading? Unfortunately I can't watch the video right now, but I'm not sure youtube would really help in such comparisons anyway.

I play on a 32 inch monitor so I don't have a huge view port like people who might be on 70 inch OLEDs, but to me, even during movement, it felt like they are practically close. The 30 FPS judder and 60 FPS fluidity probably gives the performance a bit of a bias.

But, yeah, for the longest time I was convinced that they were both running the same visual settings with maybe things like shadow draw distance etc lowered.

I'm extremely surprised to read that the Performance mode is up-sampling all the way from 1080p to 2160p. Maybe it has DRS and DF didn't catch it ? If VGTech does a video on this, they're usually very good at catching it.

 

[Skifi28]

I play on a 32 inch monitor so I don't have a huge view port like people who might be on 70 inch OLEDs, but to me, even during movement, it felt like they are practically close. The 30 FPS judder and 60 FPS fluidity probably gives the performance a bit of a bias.

But, yeah, for the longest time I was convinced that they were both running the same visual settings with maybe things like shadow draw distance etc lowered.

I'm extremely surprised to read that the Performance mode is up-sampling all the way from 1080p to 2160p. Maybe it has DRS and DF didn't catch it ? If VGTech does a video on this, they're usually very good at catching it.

This is really worth looking into, I've played game with DLSS quality where the difference was obvious from native.