Redout: Lightspeed Edition (PlayStation 4) Review

Redout: Lightspeed Edition takes a lot of what worked in Wipeout HD, and channels it into a post-apocalyptic wasteland fest. Whereas Wipeout HD seemed to be grounded on the future, Redout seems to be set in wasteland after wasteland. It's interesting, because the level of detail applied to each level is pretty involved. From a distance, deserts seem to be dotted with ancient, crumbling debris, and tundras are breathtakingly gorgeous and expansive.

That level of detail seems to fall away in the actual ships, and other things seen up close. They look nice enough, but perhaps a bit dated and underwhelming. In fact, several graphical assets look like PS2 ones dropped into PS4 environments. Even at a closer glance, some of the visual elements look like this as well, and thanks to some rather irritating controls, you can expect to see some of those up close and personal.

Controls in a game like this need to be tight and effective, and Redout marginally makes that dream a reality. Hitting a curve, and there are a plethora of those, and dragging against the wall, desperately trying to strafe off of the wall as the health bar depletes, never manages to be more than annoying. There's an argument here that each track needs to be replayed, and sure, that's a good point. Learning tracks and getting used to each ship is important here, yet this throws you in the deep end right off the bat, and it's easy to just assume one is bad at racing. Sure, you might very well be, but thanks to the lacklustre controls, it's hard to care sometimes about getting good.

A brief aside, Redout features a health system, based on how much time one spends dragging themselves across a wall. Should one stops doing that for a bit and the spaceship will slowly regenerate. Apart from the control issue, the health bar appears in the back left hand corner, and goes from green to red in a largely invisible HUD. This makes managing your health really difficult and annoying, especially early on when many of the colours in the environment are red, meaning the last remnants of this meter blend into the background.

Fortunately, there's a tremendous amount of unlockables, and the races vary enough to maintain some degree of interest. The player can tackle elimination rounds, solo timed races, and many other modes, all while unlocking new ships, new levels for each ship, and abilities, both active and passive. The price for new unlocks is remarkably low for games of this nature, and Redout definitely leaves enough bread crumbs to leave one wanting a bit more.

The sound track is also pretty stellar, and maintains a good degree of momentum as you play through levels, without being boring when you hear the same track several times over. Really, though, it all gets better the more time you spend with it, but the climb seems unnecessary at times. There are moments where it makes no sense to have such intense, and all too often, difficult, controls, forcing you into such crazy tracks early on. Sure, every single one can (and should) be replayed, but it's just not all that much fun getting better. Redout: Lightspeed Edition is a competent entry into the field, but it feels very limited in its reach, and ends up being underwhelming overall.