Space is hard, especially when there is a large enemy force deliberately sabotaging your efforts in space. In the year 2395, humans look to the stars to find a new home, and that nearest home is the planet of Mars. With pirates looking to sabotage colonization efforts, the mission to colonize Mars is one that is imperative to human survival. Developer and publisher 34BigThings leave the futuristic racetrack and head to space in their latest release. A departure from its racing predecessor, Redout: Space Assault puts players into a combat situation in the depth of space.
Redout: Space Assault is a spinoff of Redout and is set within the same universe. Redout was a futuristic racing game, inspired by the likes of futuristic racing classics, such as Wipeout and F-Zero. The latest game takes place within the same continuity, trading in high-speed racing for high-speed space combat. Players fly their specialized space interceptor, as part of the Posiden Security Forces. The highly versatile and maneuverable fighter is equipped with a solid arsenal of missiles and lasers, as well as a strong defense system. To protect the future of mankind, players will engage enemy pirate forces, from drones to combat fighters to capital vessels.
Familiar Feel
Redout: Space Assault plays primarily as an on-rails shooter, similar to the likes of Star Fox and Panzer Dragoon. It does take several levels to shake up the formula and provide other variations to the gameplay. Some levels are more of a race, requiring speed and skill to successfully maneuver through a dangerous area. Other levels are more exploration-based, requiring a full, thorough look at an area to retrieve an important objective.
Finally, Space Assault features all-out, guns-blazing dogfights against singular, massive targets, introducing several gameplay mechanics for players to use to successfully defeat. One boss fight requires players to stage around a large target in an orbit around the vessel, then breaking off from that orbit to participate in 360 combat to successfully destroy the vessel. During each mission, players gather gold coins, which add to their bank. The end of each mission yields rewards, especially if players successfully accomplish all objectives in a single mission. Each objective yields a reward that can be used to obtain upgrades and cards for their ship.
Rail Shooting At Its Core
Redout: Space Assault sticks to a tried-and-true formula, and changes up through its multitude of missions and objectives. Each battle is set against a vibrant backdrop of space, filled with space stations, derelict vessels, and asteroids. Flying the space fighter feels tight, responsive, and authentic. The overall sensation of piloting the craft feels very familiar for those that played the original Redout. Of course, Redout: Space Assault isn’t as lightning fast as its predecessor, as the aspects of racing and space combat couldn’t be any more different, but the feedback to the controls and presentation does make it feel comfortably familiar, as an extension from the original Redout.
Fighting the waves of enemy ships and serving encounters with large foes is an exhilarating blast, all to the tune of a thumping soundtrack. Redout: Space Assault is great for rail-shooter enthusiasts, but also a solid experience, even if players are unfamiliar with Redout. On a personal note, Redout: Space Assault is reminiscent of a fantastic portable rail-shooter, Arc Squadron a similar game from Rocket League developers Psyonix. Redout: Space Assault is a refreshing blast for the market today, with its sharp presentation and engaging gameplay.
Impressive Visuals
Visually speaking, Redout: Space Assault looks remarkable, even on the PlayStation 4. Redout: Space Assault started off as an app game for iOS devices and it’s clear the team redid textures and increased the overall visual scope of the game. Levels are rich in detail, and smaller particle effects make a strong impact in creating a visual action-packed sensation of intergalactic chaos. Redout: Space Assault runs steadily at a smooth 60 frames per second, maintaining sublime kinetic energy that persists in each level.
Perhaps the only criticism visually is the feeling of sameness in parts of the game. Parts of Redout: Space Assault take place within the asteroid belt, and at times, it can be difficult to distinguish one level from the other. Fortunately, the missions do shake things up by removing the feeling of sameness in the game. It can be easy to miss and appreciate the smaller details of Redout: Space Assault but taking a moment gives appreciation to the visual fidelity of Redout: Space Assault.
Immersion Breaking Faults
Redout: Space Assault is a strong arcade action title for the price. There are, however, a few blemishes keeping it from greatness. Originally, it was released exclusively for Apple Arcade. While releasing Redout: Space Assault for consoles is an accomplishment, more features could have been added, or planned for release post-launch. Redout: Space Assault does feature a story, with voiced characters. While it’s nice to see a point to all the action, the story never evolves past the generic banter of going on a mission to shoot things and complete an objective. Being that this takes place before the events of Redout, a stronger story and longer narrative could’ve been fleshed out.
Technical Issues
A few technical issues, and an artistic choice, broke the immersion at times. The UI feels rather lifeless. It would have been greatly beneficial to have a health bar, an enemy identifier, and a view of the pilot. One mission had me collide with a passing capital vessel, while on rails. The level had me cross paths with a large vessel and it appeared it wouldn’t interfere with the path, but instead, the overall orientation caused me to crash. It is unclear if this was intended by the developers; If it were, it didn’t feel right.
In another stage, one particular boss fight had a rough transition to its second phase, as the second phase required pursuing the boss. The boss vessel got caught in a path between two structures, making the boss fight easy as the ship was caught in an obstacle with nowhere to go. It would have been preferred not to have this glitch. One visual note would have been a more immersive UI, representing the HUD, to bring further immersion into the action. Finally, while there are plenty of levels to play, the game could have been longer with more missions and more modes. Perhaps a wave-based mode and a top-down arcade mode?
Closing Thoughts
Spaceship shooters, especially 3D ones, are an under-utilized genre, as they are known for being incredibly fun and accessible for a wide range of players. Redout: Space Assault is a welcome sight to see in a marketplace loaded with shooters and roguelikes; it is a sharp-looking space combat adventure, that provides a good amount of speed and action for those looking for something different.
Redout: Space Assault is available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
A PS4 review code for Redout: Space Assault was generously supplied by Sandbox Strategies.
