After a strong late 2021 followed by a fairly barren 2022, Microsoft is counting on a series of game exclusives to excite the Xbox fanbase again.
The company has been under criticism regarding their lack of first-party titles of late – even with all their studio acquisitions in recent years. Two titles, in particular, have been seen as key to answering that criticism – Arkane’s “Redfall” and Bethesda’s “Starfield”.
Well, “Redfall” is now out in stores and the reviews are in. The result is being seen as a rare misfire from developer Arkane. The game has pulled in a 63/100 on Metacritic, far lower than anything Arkane has done in recent years with both “Dishonored” games and “Deathloop” sitting in the superb 88-91 range and “Prey” at a solid 82.
Users are proving even harsher than the critics. On Steam, the game has been met with a ‘Mostly Negative’ reception from users with nearly 1,000 reviews counted.
According to Engadget, the title is reportedly suffering from numerous bugs and glitches, not uncommon these days in the gaming world, but complaints go beyond that. The world itself has scored good notices for its design but has been slammed for its lifelessness, graphics and gameplay mechanics.
“Redfall” was seen as Arkane’s attempt at something new – offering a first-person co-op looter shooter title set within an open world and the vampire genre.
How this will impact the discourse around Xbox isn’t clear, but it puts even more pressure on “Starfield” to deliver for Microsoft as not just an acclaimed title and system seller but one with minimal bugs at launch.
Source: Forbes
