Redout

Genre: Futuristic Racing

Players: 1-6 Competitive (Online)

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Review:

Redout is a Futuristic racing game in the vein of F-Zero and Wipeout, where you’re racing futuristic hover-vehicles in various sci-fi settings. And while the Switch is sadly devoid of a game in those two series, it does have the excellent Fast RMX for those looking for a sufficient replacement, so many will likely be curious how this game stacks up against that one.

Firstly, Redout does indeed look very nice, although not as nice as the versions of the game on other platforms – its framerate has been cut down to 30FPS, the textures downgraded, and while the game is still a beauty to look at, the drop in visual quality is noteworthy, especially next to Fast RMX’s 1080p 60FPS.

As for the gameplay… I have issues. These vehicles seem fairly large compared to the track they’re racing on, meaning there’s not much room to maneuver around. In particular, when taking tight turns, it feels like there’s no good way to take them without losing serious speed, even when making full use of the shoulder buttons for “drifting” and releasing the accelerate button – either I’d slam into a wall or slow to a crawl at these corners, every time. I can love a game if I suck at it, but it’s hard for me to love a game if I don’t really see any way I could get better at it.

That’s not the only problem here either. The Switch version of the game has all the DLC from previous versions of the game, but is lacking any sort of local multiplayer, which has to be a crime when it comes to racing games. Again, I look over at Fast RMX and see the 4-player split-screen, and this game’s shortcomings are made even more stark.

Look, I don’t mean to be overly negative here. Redout does a great job delivering a fast-paced racing thrill, and fans of games like F-Zero and Wipeout will certainly find a game they’ll enjoy here. It’s just hard to recommend when this is the worst version of this game, and it’s on a console that has a competitor that’s better in just about every way. So I guess, if all you have is a Switch and you’ve had your fill of Fast RMX, then Redout could be worth a look. Otherwise, you have better options.

tl;dr – Redout is a futuristic racing game like F-Zero and Wipeout with solid high-speed racing. Unfortunately, the transition from other platforms to the Switch stripped this game of local multiplayer, dropped the visuals and framerate, and left an overly-difficult racing game that pales in comparison to Fast RMX. It’s still a decent racing game, but it’s hard to recommend given the circumstances.

Grade: B-

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