10 Most Disappointing Triple-A Games Of 2023
9. Redfall
Much like Forspoken, there was admittedly a hefty amount of pre-release skepticism regarding Redfall's ability to deliver on its open-world looter-shooter promises - especially in such a crowded, oversaturated genre.
Yet the pedigree of Arkane Studios (Dishonored, Death Loop) speaks of itself, enough that many had faith that they would put out a satisfying end product.
But Redfall is one of the most startlingly poor AAA efforts from any major studio this year - a soulless, unwieldy FPS without even a single interesting bone in its body.
From the shoddy, gossamer-thin story - told here through ugly storyboard-style cutscenes - to the charmless characters, repetitive missions, atrocious enemy AI, and abundance of launch day bugs, it was painfully clear that Redfall was shoved out the door while it was still barely cooking.
The fallout of its release was vitriolic enough that Microsoft's Phil Spencer even apologised for the rough launch, and though Arkane promised to keep working on the game, updates have been sporadic-at-best.
Between this and the game's concurrent Steam player count hitting single figures last month - and at some points not even enough for a four-player team - it's safe to say that Redfall is dead and abandoned. What a dispiriting outcome for a title from a generally terrific studio.