In the footsteps of F-Zero and Wipeout
One of the best things that can be said about Redout is that appearances do not deceive: everything that could be thought that this game should offer after the first glance is exactly what is shown on our screen. Get ready to take hold of your ship’s controls and start immersion in a new level of arcade racing games.
It should be noted, first, the attractive visual finish that the game supports at all times. The menus combine a certain minimalist simplicity with a small futuristic tint when accessing certain options
or modes, all ready to start playing as soon as possible and discover the ins and outs on the fly: the hallmark is the unbridled action and there is nothing better than check that everything works like a charm to get off to a good start. And the eccentric modeling of ships is combined with great and convoluted tracings ,
constant and spectacular effects of light and a soundtrack that completes our experience with an electronic drum. A performance at the height is the icing to give us countless hours of fun while we hallucinate with each advance.
The main mode consists of a league in which we unlock tests as we raise our level of pilot, which is achieved by competing again and again, receiving experience according to our result. We will also have rewards in the form of money with which to acquire new ships and improvements.
As it happens in other games of the same genre, we can repeat an event as many times as we want and there is no imposed order to play those that we unlock. In addition, there are four levels of competition, each with their own ships available and, of course, each with higher levels of speed and demand.
Considering that there are a total of six manufacturers available, we can enjoy up to twenty-four different vehicles, which, together with the twenty totally unique tracks distributed in four locations full of personality, makes excellent numbers for a game of these characteristics.
We also have to emphasize the variety of modalitiesof competition that we can find both in the trajectory mode (the main one we are talking about) and in selecting a simple fast race, among which stand out the classic time trial, race or elimination, but also shine
with their own light more original proposals such as modes speed (a timed test in which time stops while we are traveling above a certain speed), points (in which both the position we occupy and our good work do not collide and circulate at full speed, which will
increase our marker) and, of course, what is possibly the jewel in the crown, the boss mode, consisting of a race through the five circuits of a certain location linked together, so that we will have a more unpredictable challenge,Long and spectacular than ever.
Having commented on all these Redout features , we must focus our attention on several key points of the gameplay. First of all,
we must emphasize that the control is very precise and drinks directly from the latest installments of the acclaimed WipEout saga, although maintaining its own personality traits that will force us to fully apply even to the most experienced to
master it perfectly. Not in vain, in fact, we are facing a game that includes a real challenge for the user, since it offers little mercy from the first moment and makes the good use of improvements and enhancers in our ships very necessary.
At full speed
The first are simple additions that increase certain vehicle statistics, while the latter are a key part of each race, consisting of the items that we can use during the race: we do not pick them up by the stage, but we buy them (and improve them) from the menu and, before each event, we select which ones we want to use, being able to choose an active one (occasional advantages
like impulses, shields or temporary improvements in the control) and another passive one (special characteristics that work permanently during that test,
like having more total health or a faster recharge of the energy bar) . There is no place for missiles and firearms that directly undermine the rival’s health, although a turbo system based on the energy bar that regenerates after each use is included.
The blame for a curve of difficulty so pronounced is found in several factors: the requirement itself, because even for the first time trial we can see ourselves in a hurry; the devilish speed that the ships have from the first moment; and a really aggressive AI that,
incidentally, is the source of the most serious flaws in the game to be affected by some bugs that, although they are getting through updates,
still appear on rare occasions, especially in the form of suicide rivals that can get to leave practically alone in the race, end to which fortunately we have only arrived once.
This error is history if we attend an online mode that is called to become the nest of true masters of speed, but that for now works with dropper due to the low user traffic. With all modes, ships and circuits available, these competitions for up to twelve players should
become the ultimate expression of Redout, a game made for perfectionists of the most arcade driving. However, what we miss is a local multiplayer mode, whose absence is really inexplicable in a title of these characteristics.
