Reviews from

in the past


I know people have problems with this game but for me it was amazing to just zone out to.

Yeah, F-Zero is dead but this is almost there.

Nothing to make it unique in its genre, except that it oddly has a shop for ship upgrades. Those RPG elements add nothing but grinding though. It the game didn't have upgrades, and also had a grand-prixs system instead of missions, it would have had least been a decent game.

Haha spaceships go brrr! I love when a game tells me I'm driving 1000 km/h.


I'm surprisingly conflicted with my thoughts on Redout. For the first little while or so, my thoughts were nothing but positive despite my inability to play well. While they are still positive, there are a lot of issues that quickly came to light.

Chief among those issues is in the enemy AI. The difficulty of that AI is so unbelievably inconsistent, resulting in the majority of tracks being easy first place finishes. However, random races here and there would present AI that almost seem unbeatable at times. One great example of this inconsistency was one of the Class 3 races, where I died several times and still got 50 seconds ahead of second place. Meanwhile, a random Class 2 race had me struggling to get even fourth place.

Another major issue is how focus was put on content. The game has more than enough career mode tracks to keep you busy for a good 10 hours or so, but often lacks variety. There's a lot of rehashes of tracks used previously which isn't a huge issue on paper, but is when you're running the same track in the same event for the third or fourth time. Meanwhile, there are a total of four cars with upgrades that offer zero choice and are pure improvements without any downsides.

Among a handful of other smaller issues like certain modes ruining the pacing, it's a game with a ton of rough edges. However, it still manages to pull off that speedy futuristic racing I came knocking for. It's exhilarating barrelling down a track at 1200 KPH, and while that spectacle has worn off a bit, it's still quite fun.

On top of this, the visuals and music are mostly great. Barring a few exceptions, the worlds the team built are all well crafted and feature plenty of unique locales, while the music only gets better with each world you unlock. Atmosphere can play a huge part in games like this, and it's where the shortcomings are partially forgiven.

Given I got this for free off of EGS, I can't complain too much about it. I'd say it's worth a few bucks if you like a good arcade racer, but wouldn't pay more than that.

Why can we not get another F-Zero? Just put Captain Falcon in this.

It's like F-Zero! I think. This game was mildly amusing until I became aware that a) the gameplay didn't feel that deep b) I wasn't good enough at the game to appreciate it anyway c) most of the content in the game is locked; you need to either grind or buy a DLC to unlock more than 2 racetracks d) the graphics and music were ugly and uninspiring e) why am I playing this, or any racing game, when I can be playing Need for Speed: Most Wanted?

Fun zoom zoom game with no much that points it out from other titles in the genre.

I’ve always tried to keep my eyes and heart open to new games in this specific category, the “futuristic/zero gravity racer” - a genre that genuinely excites me to the point of transforming me through sheer warp frenzy into a twitchy goosebumpy mess overdosing on adrenaline. F-Zero’s almost Scalextric-like handling, its demand for quick, ultra-precice maneuvers without a single lapse in judgement lest you hurtle off the track in a fireball of shame… Wipeout’s buttery smooth handling that feels more like you’re controlling air currents around the track rather than steering the ship yourself, frictionlessly carving through the track like a hot knife through butter. The two series have such strong mechanical identities. There are a fair share of games that try to reach for the stars and achieve what Wipeout and F-Zero accomplished in recent years, but it genuinely feels like a zero sum game; they never even come close.

Redout could possibly be my least favourite of the ZG wave. It all feels so unexciting, man. Stuck in an identity crisis where they’re trying to match the handling of Wipeout HD with the sprawling and twisty maps of F-Zero - neither attempt is remotely successful. I can not stress enough how much I hate the way the ships handle in this, they genuinely feel like cars that weren’t fully programmed - like they’re missing a friction value or something. These should be heavy airships, hovering over the track and powered by immense thrusters, but all my muscle memory is telling me is “Gran Theft Auto 4 car drift”. Turning corners is cumbersome as hell, and the tracks are lousy with right-angles and enough post-processing effects that you can hardly see them until they’re five feet away. The thing that really made me lose heart with Redout was the insistence on adding a shop component where you grind for upgrades for your ship in the form of active and passive abilities. Arcady racing games don’t need this, their leanness is a virtue - all micromanaging happens moment to moment on the track itself. Be more like Mario Kart, man.

With any luck, some more time in the oven will allow Redout 2 the opportunity to brush up on the things I’ve whinged about here, this genuinely isn’t a bad attempt for any studio’s first racing game. I’ll admit I am not particularly fond of the early Wipeout or F-Zero titles, we all fail upwards here.