Redout: Enhanced Edition

Look, there aren't many racing games out there that scratch the particular itch this one does, including Redout 2. Twinstick racing in the style of this game is unknown to me, and the way this game utilizes the second stick to enhance the nuance of controlling your ship is brilliant. All I do at this point is chase Pure Time Attack lap records on tracks I like, and I feel like there's so much to learn even after years of shaving tenths of seconds off my best times; I've got a handful of tracks I'm top 10 on, and I hope to increase that number and start to port more top 5 times.

Technically, the game is visually very striking and its art style is remarkably flexible at a wide range of graphical settings, with the basic settings being nice and stylistically consistent with the top settings adding a glimmer and sheen to the game that makes it pop beautifully.

There are some absolutely excellent songs in the track list, and they contribute so much to the experience of playing the game. I've never bothered with the multiplayer and I don't care much for playing with powerups, because I feel like the core mechanics of the game already allow for so much skill expression as is that I am completely content with the skill progression available therein.

I will continue to play this game for years to come. Expect to see my name creep into more top 10s in time :)

Let me make this clear: I WANT to like this game. I adore anti-gravity racers like F-Zero and Wipeout. This game SHOULD be everything I want and more. The music is great, the vehicle designs are wonderful, the controls are good, and the actual layouts of the tracks are great too, going in all manner of different directions to emphasize the zero-gravity nature of the game.

So then why am I giving this game a negative review?

The answer is simple: The actual art direction of the tracks and their environments. For some ungodly reason, the devs decided that the tracks, the walls, and in some cases the environments themselves, should all be portrayed in this really weird psychedelic way that wouldn't look out of place in an LSD trip. And worst of all, they did this while also designing the floor of the track and the walls of the track in such a way that they look translucent, and often times blend in with the environments. Not only does this cause significant amounts of eye-strain when you're playing the game, it also makes the game just straight up *unplayable* for a large number of tracks, because it becomes impossible to tell where the actual walls are, which is a bit of a problem when you're expected to be going several hundred MPH in this game.

You can even see this phenomenon in several of the actual screenshots on the store page, in particular the third, fourth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh screenshots on this page all have this issue to varying degrees. Furthermore, the first track in the Neptune Pack DLC is especially egregious, since there's a jump in the middle of the lap that you can't actually see, because there's no dedicated ramp for it, and the track doesn't have any obvious indicators that you're about to enter a jump until you find yourself inadvertently respawning after crashing into some of the scenery. As far as I can tell, there's no visual indicator that this jump happens, and you just have to rely on pure muscle memory after dying to that section of the track a dozen times over.

All in all, there's so much about this game that *would* be amazing, but unfortunately the ONE main problem it has, is something that affects such a major, fundamental part of the gameplay, in such a way as to render the game totally unplayable. It's a major reason why I refuse to buy the sequel, since it looks like it has the same visual direction for all of it's tracks as well.

The AI is badly calibrated and obviously cheating on some races (especially coastline pure).
even with the upgraded fastest ship, AI overtakes on a straight line like its using a boost even though powerup are supposed to be deactivated.

I grew up on "Zero-G Racers" like F-Zero and Wipeout and was looking for a game like this to fill the void in my soul. I am aware of BallisticNG and haven't tried it yet, but I know that it is technically the spiritual successor to Wipeout, but with similar GFX to an older game. I wanted something new. Fast RMX was another great one that I play on the Nintendo Switch. THIS game, Redout, scratches that itch the best. Awesome graphics in this enhanced version, SO SO SO many tracks to race on across many types of environments, that you never feel bored. A great amount of cool looking ships, with lots of customization, including color pallets, and both active and passive ship modules. The music is fast paced and super catchy and gets you into the mood for speed. I highly recommend this game if you are looking for a fast paced racing game with nice GFX and a bit of a retro feel.

Runs great on Steam Deck with a couple of settings changes.

TLDR: If you just want a casual spectacle game with big speed numbers (and/or you liked F-Zero), I highly recommend Redout. If you want an in-depth AG racing game to sink your teeth into, pick up BallisticNG instead.

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Redout is super well polished and put together, but it's honestly kinda mid so far as AG racers go. Despite the name, it pulls more from the F-Zero side of the AG racing game family tree as opposed to Wipeout, and as a result the gameplay is actually pretty shallow. Really, the only things it takes from Wipeout are some of the aesthetics of its presentation (which are hit or miss and generally read more as copying the form without understanding the underpinning commentary, but that's an entirely different essay).
Gameplay primarily focuses on the spectacle of speed, and while it does that very well that means it has incredibly minimal substance. Ships are near uncontrollable (the best analogy I can use is Minecraft ice boating physics; to be clear, I'm saying this with a couple top 100 times to my name), which severely limits how interesting track design can be. As a result, progression is not through conquering interesting track design or learning how to beat AI that can give you a run for your money, but from simply adding more zeroes to the speedometer.
It's still enjoyable, don't get me wrong - the game is absolutely gorgeous and the dynamic music really elevates the experience a ton - but the skill floor is the exact same as the skill ceiling. Even at Veteran (maximum) difficulty, you'll never see an AI opponent after the first 20ish seconds of the race until you start lapping them. The few mildly difficult tracks in the game (Alaska Vertigo and Revolve; Europa Surface Sprint; Moon Spacepark and Explorer) end up reading as a blip on the radar.
The boss tracks, in my opinion, are probably the main draw. Each boss track is all 5 tracks from a given location smashed together into a several-minutes-per-lap endurance test, and while the AI somehow does even worse than it normally does when presented with a boss track, getting good at each of them feels amazing (even if the endgame stuff is roughly as difficult as the early game stuff).

If you want gameplay depth, look elsewhere (I highly recommend BallisticNG). If you just want to play a casual racing game that makes you feel cool, Redout is more or less the pinnacle.

cool game but most of the maps are locked behind dlc, so thumbs down

Ur kind of crazy👍

I remember liking the idea and most of the execution of this game from years ago, but finding it too difficult to get any skill at before the tracks get too much.

Nowadays, I have gotten to the point where games that were particularly hard for me, aren't anymore, so I figured I'd give this another chance. I tried the tutorial level to brush up, and immediately remembered the problem. The actual tutorial level is so narrow for the entire run, that it should be something you experience at the end of any reasonably balanced game. It's maybe 2.5X the width of your vehicle. I don't think any race in F-Zero GX even gets half as narrow as the tutorial level in this game. That's insane. I'm not interested in the frustration that would be required to get good at this.

If you're not playing this in VR you're missing the entire experience of what it really means to be an F-Zero pilot
the sense of speed comes at you at high octane. The adrenaline was spot on. The immersion of being the pilot was addicting. I need more!! The bad reviews must be from those who didn't try the VR experience. Don't let their misleading information steer you away from this game. Grab yourself your VR headset and strap in.
i'll be 100% coming back for more.

This is the natural next step if you loved F-Zero, Extreme-G, or Wipeout, but are disappointed by the lack of support in the arcade racing category. Wonderful sense of speed, lots of technical nuance, fun and interesting track designs, high difficulty, plenty of variety, plays well online. Downsides: huge difficulty spikes between tracks, many of the upgrade parts are not generally useful.

fast flying cars racing
become a true racist

This game scratches that itch, that F-Zero did back in the day. Going fast never felt so good, and it's a one of the kind.
Shame that Redout 2 wasn't as polished or good as this one, but you can still play this one and have a blast.

The soundtrack is amazing, but make sure like every racing game out there to play with a controller.

The game does have a myriad of modes, including a campaign pseudo story mode, and its a blast to drive your hovership going at 400 miles per hour on insane tracks. All the DLC are worth it as well specially Mars Pack .

i give this a 9.5/10 Get it!

incredible pc benchmark - high vfx detail, high framerate, low disk size

it’s also hella fun

I kinda like it but then again I don't. It looks really good the music is great and the overall vibe is groovy. There is fun to be had here but not for everyone. There is hard but fair and there is just plain hard and this is way too hard to be fun or rewarding enough for me personaly. I can't play this game for more than 20 min before I get a bit pissed and have to quit to keep my sanity intact. If there was a difficulty for describing this game it would be Lonsdaleite Hard. You will have to go through hell and torture to GIT GUD. It doesn't feel that rewarding to overcome that insane difficulty of steering and taking corners and trying to go insanely fast.
The game just feels too hard to control properly. It just gave me a feeling of oh finally I got through that then I didn't want to do that again cause it felt like torture at a certain point. The game ramps up and gets frustrating very fast and halfway through the career you begin doubting if it's really you or there is just too much of an ask. The tracks and turns are hard to see and predict you will have to spend hours just to get familiar with the track and even then it's hard. I get the feeling the tracks are a little on the slim side if they were just a bit wider I could make more adjustments. Slight mistakes are very punishing and mistakes are very easy to make. Some of the jumps and twists and loops are very hard to navigate and feel like gotcha moments when you crash into stuff like a kamikaze pilot. You have to be a diehard anti grav superomegafan to enjoy this, casuals should stay well clear of this. Also more than half the game is $ DLC $. Warning !! If you have problems with shiny lights or flickering lights or suffer epileptic seizures you will most likely die if you play this game!! So what are you waiting for go and git gud or git far away at the speed of mcfckn lightballs and find someting a little more doable.

Game sucks. Seriously the rubber banding is actually garbage. I have come back to this game over and over for the last 3 years and it's a chore to play. It's not fun. Go play FAST RMX on Switch.

does what it says on the tin

Legit Wipeout and F--Zero heir.

I CANNOT SEE A THING IN THIS GAME. Not a guide to a track, not a track limit, everything is bright and glowing and indiscernible. I've become too old for this game to be non-epileptic to me. Too many colors, too much "pump". I wish I could play it with better reaction time but alas it's too flashy.

bullshit

hard and fast

This game delivers an exhilarating, futuristic racing experience with stunning visuals and smooth controls. Its fast-paced, gravity-defying tracks give you all the "zoomies" you could ask for, providing endless thrills. The soundtrack thumps, too!

Bought the game for the OST. Game is amazing too. I spend many many hours offline.

Redout 2 is complete dissapointement.

Underrated gem

5/10

WipeOut from Wish.

Finally a good arcade racing game!
Space ships, mad speeds, challenging bots, cool music.
I bet Hot Wheels should be envy about Readout tracks!

Lean into your turns and you'll figure it out. It's a nice rush.

great until you get to iv ships. Then it becomes almost unplayable. Very bright. Dont play if you're sensetive to light. Might be because i through 6 hours in one sitting. Great soundtrack. Had a lot of wth that's awesome moments. Torwards the end game it became a little meh and too overpaced for my liking. Computer keeps up with you though. which is a blessing and a curse. Mostly a curse.

Thrilling. It takes a bit getting used to how to turn, but it is very engaging once you get the hang of it. Wouldn't buy it at full price, though.

Best modern F-Zero-type racing game there is. No contest.