Racing games are probably my favorite genre and futuristic racing games like WipeOut and F-Zero are the best of the best, so you can only imagine my delight when that genre came to VR with games like Radial-G Racing Revolved. Now there’s a new kid on the block. Redout: Enhanced Edition is a futuristic anti-grav racing game that makes no attempt to hide its inspirational source material with winding, twisting, looping tracks and wedge-shaped racers, all streaking by at blistering speeds.
The first thing you’ll notice about Redout is the art style, which looks like a shinier more refined version of the graphics you’d find in a Borderlands game. There are surprisingly few polygons used to create the ships and the environments, which allows the UE4 engine to spend its time cranking out insane shading and lighting effects at 60fps on even modest hardware. Redout scales nicely, so you can throw some insane power at the game and crank out 4K resolutions with a full track of 12 racers zipping through all sorts of crazy environments and weather effects.
Redout is loaded with content starting with a 100+ event career mode that allows you to level up and improve your ship throughout a lengthy solo game. There are 25 tracks divided across five distinctly unique locations that host seven custom event types ranging from standard races to score-based endurance events. As you rise up through the ranks, you’ll also explore new and faster classes of racing and get to pick from six racing teams to further fine-tune your own personal style of racing.
While Redout isn’t a combat racer there are plenty of power-ups that will enhance your racing experience adding faster turbo, enhanced shields, better magnetic grip, and even a cool self-repair bot. You get to decide which power-ups to upgrade and equip as you go deeper into this massive career. And when you’re ready to race against the human elite you can head online for some incredible 12-player racing.
One of Redout’s most impressive features is its unbridled sensation of speed. The streaking and blurring effects used when you are at top speed or hit that turbo button are unlike anything I’ve played before. It’s not uncommon to get an “out of control” feel, and only the best racers will know when and where to use that turbo, so you don’t go slamming into a wall. Track memorization is critical.
Another impressive feature is the control scheme and the handling of these ships. Obviously, things get easier after several hours and several upgrades, but even in their unaltered state these racing rockets handle like a dream, allowing you to steer and strafe like a pro after just a few races. Strafing (drifting) is an art form in Redout, and it is totally possible to race all the tracks at top speeds without ever letting off the throttle.
Redout looks and plays amazing on a standard monitor using a gamepad, but there is also support for VR using the Vive or the Oculus Rift. While strapping on a VR headset does add some extreme immersion to the gameplay you will take a significant hit in overall visual fidelity and performance. While VR is certainly appreciated and great fun for anyone who has a headset, those wanting to play the game more “seriously” will want to stick with a traditional monitor.
Of final note would be the outstanding soundtrack for Redout, which is also sold separately or as part of the Deluxe Edition. These electronic jams somehow seem to sync with the actual gameplay and racing speeds adding a whole new level of dynamic energy to the experience. And if you’re playing on a surround system the 5.1 mix will totally blow you away.
Redout: Enhanced Edition is a great game and some of the best futuristic racing action I’ve had on my PC in nearly a year. The career mode will take weeks, perhaps months, of regular play to complete and the multiplayer racing will keep competitive gamers coming back beyond that. Being a hybrid game, I’m going to give the standard version of the game a 4.5 and the VR version a 3.5 with an overall average of 4. Even despite some sacrifices in quality the VR version is highly entertaining and certainly worth checking out since it’s already part of the game.
