Spoilers for Redfall AheadPlayers of Arkane Studio’s new co-op shooter,Redfall, are presented with the seemingly straightforward task of freeing a once-sleepy seaside town from the grips of the vampiric forces that now consume it. But as they make their way deeper intoRedfall’s twisted storyit soon becomes clear that the game’s many enemies, both human and undead, are obsessed with getting their hands on the mysterious “gateway sample.” While the nature of the sought-after sample remains elusive throughout much of the early game, the Gateway proves to be the key to understanding the tragic events that befell the residents of the Arkane shooter’s titular town.
Players first learn about the Gateway while exploring theOverton Theatre inRedfall’s starting area. After loading up a film reel uncovered at a ruined Aevum blood clinic in an earlier mission onto one of the theater’s projectors, gamers get their first introduction to the Gateway and learn the origins of one ofRedfall’s terrifying Vampire Gods. The unsettling film shows one of Aevum’s founders, Peter Addison, injecting himself with something known as the “gateway sample” before transforming into the monstrosity known as the Hollow Man.
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The Gateway is the Mysterious Power Fueling Redfall’s Vampires
Further investigation into the Hollow Man’s origins reveals that Addison had been injecting himself withblood from his daughter Ameliain a process called parabiosis to fight off the degenerative disease that was taking his life. After killing Amelia in the process of the monstrous treatments, Addison begins to deteriorate until being introduced to the powerful “gateway sample,” which fuels his transformation into the horrifying Hollow Man. Players eventually learn that the Gateway played a similar role in the creation of the game’s other Vampire Gods.
The metamorphosis of each ofRedfall’s four Vampire Godsinto their present, terrifying forms was fueled in some way by their experimentation with the Gateway. In the case of the menacing Miss Whisper, Aevum researcher Dr. Alice Young had been using the sample to experiment on patients at her rehabilitation facility before being transformed by its power. Another Aevum founder, neuroscientist Thomas Kildere, took on the vampiric form of Bloody Tom after taking the sample as part of his increasingly dangerous deep dives into psychedelics in a quest to understand the Gateway’s power.
A Tragic Fate for Redfall’s Young Woman
The true nature of the Gateway is eventually shown to be inexorably tied to the tragic fate of the Young Woman whose ghostly voice rings out fromGrave Locks hidden throughoutRedfall. In the course of uncovering the origins of the Vampire Gods players discover that Aevum’s founders had learned about the existence of the Young Woman, whose blood possessed remarkable healing properties. Seeking to use her gift for their own power and profit, the group lured her to Aevum’s labs in Redfall with promises that she would heal the world. Instead, the Young Woman who the founders would come to call the Gateway would be exploited and eventually eliminated by the bloodthirsty quartet.
Usingthe blood of the Young Woman, revealed to be named Grace, Aevum’s founders amassed a fortune selling miracle drugs. When the ghoulish truth behind their breakthrough treatments was on the verge of being revealed, rather than losing the power they’d amassed, they chose to use the last of her life force to fuel their twisted evolution. After defeating the last of the Vampire Gods players learn that, although Grace perished at the hands of Aevum’s founders, the Gateway lives on.
Through a conversation with Grace’s spirit following the defeat of the Black Sun, players come to learn that her power is still out there in the world and being coveted by other dark forces. The game closes as the spirit of Grace embraces her role as The Gateway and players are teased with the prospect of aRedfallsequel that, given the game’s poor reception, will likely never come.
Redfallis available now for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
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