Hands up: when I loaded up Redout Assault, from 34BigThings, for the first time, I vaguely recalled it as there have been so many announcements of late. However, as soon as it started, it was that game.
The screenshots looked great and had a certain Starwing/Starfox feel to it, which is good. Unlike the reference, this is a modern game in terms of visuals, plus it has the bonus of ship customisation and upgrades.
Paced over nine chapters that feature varying stages that can be repeated for upgrades, how does this fair? Worth adding to your library? Lets. Find. Out.
Redout Assault PS4 Review
The digital version I have is PS4/PS5, but I couldn’t tell you the difference. Playing this on the PS5, loading times were swift, of course, and the visuals were very nice.
Your craft looks ace, with a glow of the engines and varying projectiles pelting out the wings. Equally, the backgrounds are brilliant, considering that space is mostly dull. Scandal.
A heads up, Redout Assault is on rails and a bit like Star Horizon. At first, it felt mildly restricting, but it’s good as you don’t get lost, and there’s plenty of opportunity for sightseeing. Well, you’re in space, why not?
That said, there is some freedom in movement, granting you the options to boost and slow the engines down to collect items. On some of the missions you will need to track items down, so for that part, it’s not on rails.
Fight The Power
You play Leon, a goodie, I would hope, wiping out the rebel scum, though the story progresses and alliances change. Missions range from escorting (phwoar!), item collection, evasion and comms like story progression.
Again, like Starwing, you have a team that contact you through comms asking how you’ve been, the weather and what the mission is. They’re static images of the characters, but the voice acting is great.
While on the sound, the effects were good, but I wasn’t a fan of the soundtrack. The cinematic tracks were better but did upbeat tempo sounded like music from the boot of a Ford Escort/Vauxhall Nova/Fiesta ST – you see, there’s a pattern over the years: boy racers. I do love my music, but here it did feel a bit monotonous in places. Sorry.
Commander Time
My initial critique would be the speed; it’s quite slow, and the rails element feels a bit like being on a ride, sometimes underwater. Redout Assault is definitely enjoyable, but there are lull moments and holding the boost doesn’t get you to your destination that much faster.
As a grinder (steady), I repeated a few levels to level up my ship and on the early stages, I’d wipe out the enemies super quick but then would be waiting for something to happen. My own fault, and perhaps should risk the harder levels without upgrading.
There are a handful of parameters: hull, shield, weapon and missiles. Each time you invest some iridium into one to level up in stages. It takes a bit of time, so adds to the replay value. There are also cards you win after each battle to use as a bonus – a boost on the shield, or increased missiles.
Iridium is the currency in the game from destroying enemies, completing bonus objectives and through destroying iridium rocks. The worst part of this money hoarding is if you die, you lose it all. The upside is you have infinite lives.
Rocket, Ye-ah!
Weaponry was mildly confusing for me in Redout Assault as R2 acts as lock and firing missiles, the L2 button is for manual attacks. But this didn’t happen as expected despite having two weapons to choose from early on; I only seemed to be able to fire missiles.
However, holding down the manual attack and pressing the rockets when locked worked best for bosses. Alas, it didn’t feel as fun holding the button down permanently and didn’t feel so responsive or rapid-fire like.
Still, for the majority of these missions, it was fun – especially when levelling up. Redout Assault is quite generic, but good nevertheless, but can be easily ignored as some of these dialogue moments happen during the action, but you pick it up through repeat plays.
A Race To The Finish
The race sequences in the game are an interesting addition. While you’re still on rails, it’s an excellent way to showcase the presentation and worlds (or galaxies) in the game.
Unfortunately, this was the worst part, with me abandoning the game after continued failed attempts at winning a race. Redout Assault is relatively forgiving as you can often continue a stage without having to restart. In the rare cases that you fail, it’s possible to complete it on the second or third attempt at a sacrifice of iridium.
With the racing, however, any clipping of the environment or another racer and your ship will more or less stop and hover on the spot, making it impossible to capture the leader, even if you 100% your way through the boosts.
Another issue with this is there’s no onscreen display of your position, so you have no idea if you’re at the front. It feels like you are, but bank around a corner and there’s another ship in front of you. It was all too frustrating, so I went back and repeated earlier levels to unlock some more of the objectives instead.
Redout Assault Review Summary
Redout Assault is a very nice looking game, with mostly satisfying gameplay if a little repetitive. From my account, the race sections are disappointing, as you can’t skip them. With the upgrades, there’s the incentive to keep playing, even after completing the final chapters.
