Test – Redout 2: futuristic elitism

The first Redout managed to establish itself as an excellent futuristic racing game. Its sequel arrives today on PC and consoles. Does the title manage to push the concept further?

Remember, in 2016 came out a futuristic racing game called Redout, which was quite openly inspired by Wipeout and which quickly managed to establish itself as the new reference of the genre on consoles. Without too much difficulty, we would be tempted to say, since there is little competition on the market… The Italian studio 34BigThings had hardly reassured us with its spin-off Redout: Space Assault, a space shooter released in 2019, which had received fairly negative reviews… Enough to worry fans about the fate in store for this sequel.

It goes fast, very fast!

If the first opus had remained relatively “accessible” to the general public, its sequel is intended more for an audience of enthusiasts, largely due to its rather high level of difficulty, but also due to a few small novelties in terms of grip. in hand, which make driving much more complex. In this case, the jump system. If the first part offered to follow relatively classic routes, Redout 2 wants to be much more aggressive in its level-design, with much more complex routes and above all very tense jump sequences. Tense, because you will have to remember to accelerate just before and to orient your stick well to take care of your landing. It doesn’t look like much, but at 1200 km/h, on a winding track, it’s quite the feat. If the jumps represent an interesting addition, it is clear that they greatly complicate the gameplay. The Italian studio seems to have understood this since it also offers a landing aid system for those who need it…

The routes offer a great diversity.

The grip, off-jump also remains much more complex than in a Wipeout because here, you will direct your ship not a stick but two sticks. The left stick controls the direction of your ship, while the right stick controls the diversion of the vehicle. It is therefore necessary to know how to juggle the two in the turns. Added to this is another difficulty, the orientation of the ship’s nose. Concretely, to prevent your ship from turning over during a loop, you will have to tilt the nose of the ship: tilt it forward when you descend, and backward when you climb. Once again, it sounds easy said like that, but at 1200km/h, with several parameters to manage simultaneously, it quickly becomes very complicated.

And then, of course, there’s boost and hyperboost management. The first allows you to accelerate briefly, on command. The second will propel you for quite a while. In both cases, it should not be abused, to avoid overheating and the explosion of the ship… You will have understood that Redout 2 is not an easy game to learn. That being said, the title is resolutely fun, technical and pleasant to control, once the commands are well memorized.

You will also be required to drive on water.

The real strength of the game is of course its excellent sensations of speed. We really have the feeling of driving vehicles that spin at more than 1000km / h in grandiose futuristic settings. From an artistic point of view, Redout 2 is also a real success, whether in terms of its level-design, its breathtaking environments or its artistic direction. The game’s settings are varied, often very original, and truly memorable.

Redout 2 also shines with its well-stocked single player mode, which offers a number of challenges and races on no less than 32 circuits divided into various “series”. Here, the player will be able to upgrade his ship with upgrades earned during races. The concept is well established, even if we deplore the absence of any form of scenario. Redout 2, on the other hand, clearly suffers from a huge flaw: its very badly dosed difficulty. Even in easy mode, it will sometimes take up to 20 times to finish a track. It remains playable, with patience, but clearly, the game is absolutely not intended for beginners. It should be noted in passing that even the “experts” will experience some difficulties during the timed races in which it is necessary to keep a high speed to store a maximum of points. These challenges are particularly tough, the slightest mistake being extremely punitive. So much so that these timed races quickly become a real love killer.

Visually, the game is very successful.

Ultimately, it’s hard not to be disappointed by the new features brought by this Redout 2. The foundations of the first part were solid. The novelties brought by this second episode are difficult to convince.

Redout 2 may be sold at a very attractive price (€29.99), be visually very successful and offer fairly rich content, the title is however intended for a very elitist audience. Do not expect to find an alternative to Wipeout, Redout 2 plays in a completely different race. And if it will please some players, we can’t help but think that the Italian studio could have made its game accessible to a wider audience by readjusting the difficulty of its game…

Conclusion

After a promising first episode, 34BigThings delivers a somewhat disappointing sequel with Redout 2. If the title is visually very impressive, Redout 2 relies too much on the elitism of its gameplay, closing itself off to a whole segment of gamers. The handling has become more complex since the first part, with the management of jumps, which adds a dose of more stress during the games. The difficulty, very badly dosed, and atrociously high during the timed races, will be the cause of many frustrations. To succeed in certain races, you will have to do it sometimes up to 20 times… Elitist, Redout 2 is nonetheless a very fun futuristic racing game, once you have mastered the controls, and which offers a career mode strong, with more than thirty tracks to master. The sensations of speed are excellent, the scenery grandiose and lovers of the genre will clearly get their money’s worth. At €29.99, the bill also has the merit of not being too salty…

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Redout 2

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