Redout: Italian-made sci-fi racer does its best to WipEout

The team behind the game cites WipEout and F-Zero among its influences, but that should be patently obvious from just a cursory glance at the screenshots on this page. Indeed, on first inspection it’s hard to distinguish 34BigThings’ effort from Studio Liverpool’s classic series, but this isn’t the wholesale lifting it initially appears to be. For a start, Redout sports a distinctive aesthetic that blends low-poly, stylised backgrounds with glass-smooth, neon tracks that leap out of the screen thanks to their uncanny realism (that is, as close to realism as a rollercoaster circuit in the sky can get).

But there’s more beneath the attractive visuals: Redout boasts five upgradeable ships and a fully-fledged career mode. The latter will see you begin by participating in smaller events on a handful of the game’s 25 tracks, gaining reputation as you work your way up the league tables until you’re able to enter the SRL (Solar Redout League). You’ll earn cash as you go, which you can plough into new racers and upgrades, but you’ll also be able to seek sponsorship from the big guns.

“There’s a gap in the market for something fast, floaty and fun.”

Rouge Racer
No, not guns. You can’t blast your way to victory Redout ditches weapons in favour of piloting skill. 34BigThings promises direct control over your ship with no on-rails guidance. Whether this will result in a supremely satisfying racing experience or see us ricochet around the track like a red-faced air-hockey puck remains to be seen, but hopefully Redout will feel more 2097 than the original WipEout.

There will also be Time Attack, Speed, Survival, Last Man Standing and Endurance events to add variety, and the five ships available will all handle very differently. 34BigThings might be a relatively unknown quantity, but the prospect of Redout is already raising our pulse.

Release Date: Q3 2015

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