Final comment
Is it worth it?
Finally, here we are with the most important question: is it worth buying Redout Space Assault? The answer is a «it depends on how much you like the genre». Because yes, despite the many flaws, this is a title suitable for those who have always been intrigued by this type of game and want to try it, especially thanks to the price, which it is definitely accessible compared to other titles.
But if you are a «veteran», you should look elsewhere. Yes, because in the end if it were not for the technical sector, this prequel would bore you a lot. As always, it depends on your point of view. At the moment Redout Space Assault is available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch e PC.
34BigThings Does What Nintendon’t
HIGH It’s Starfox 64 with humans and modern quality-of-life updates.
LOW No open-flight mode for free-play dogfighting.
WTF Honestly had no idea what character I was for the first 30 minutes.
Star Fox is a legendary series from Nintendo that doesn’t get the love it deserves. The last installment was a disappointment to many and released only on the Wii U regardless, so to fill the void developer 34BigThings has stepped in again to create a sort-of spiritual successor to a beloved Nintendo franchise that’s laying fallow. (Their first was a take on F-Zero).
While 34BigThings certainly offers their own spin and add a fresh coat of futuristic paint, their works tend to wear their inspirations on their sleeve, and from the beginning it’s obvious that Redout: Space Assault is heavily influenced by the Star Fox series.
In both Star Fox and Redout, the player takes control of a ship from a third-person view and goes through various levels blasting baddies. Most of the levels are ‘on rails’, meaning that there is a set path the ship flies along, but some mix it up by giving free range to roam the stage.
Everything from the way the ship controls, the dynamic between linear missions and free-flying mode, and even the dual weapon combination of one which fires directly in front and another which locks on to targets all screams Star Fox. There is some spice added to the formula via multiple weapon types, cosmetic color schemes for the ship and currency used to buy upgrades, but still — Star Fox.
So where does Redout diverge? Instead of following an anthropomorphic fox and his buddies, the player finds themselves in the shoes of a young human pilot named Leon who is part of a peacekeeping force. Players will follow Leon throughout his career as he uncovers the truth of his organization’s intentions and must choose his own path. The story’s high quality surprised me since narrative is something usually lacking in this genre.
When the gameplay hits the high points of indiscriminately blowing up drones and enemy fighters while soaring through beautiful interplanetary set pieces and then follows it up with the solid story behind it, any player will be in for a great ride. However, some issues do arise.
While many of the levels are enjoyable blasting romps through space, some segments offer no fighting in order to create variety. For example, there are several racing sections — a neat idea, but Redout isn’t really designed with these diversions in mind and the need to repeat them multiple times due to bad luck or needing to put in a flawless performance is frustrating. However, only a few levels run the risk of total failure thanks to unlimited lives.
On the other hand, these unlimited lives are both a blessing and a curse — it becomes clear later in the campaign that they’re used as an excuse to blast the player with full-screen attacks and giant lasers without much consideration given to how a player could avoid them. These scenarios have little consequence since the player respawns and all that’s lost is a bit of time and currency, but these deaths are unnecessary and they wear on one’s patience.
While it may lack Nintendo’s trademark polish in some areas, Redout: Space Assault is still a good title that delivers several hours of flying and fighting, and the Star Fox nostalgia older players will certainly experience is a bonus.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
— Mitch Zehe
Disclosures: This game is developed and published by 34BigThings. It is currently available on XBO, PS4, Switch, iOS and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 8 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E10+ and contains Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, and Mild Language. This game contains sci-fi ship-on-ship combat with explosions. Topics such as death and refugees are touched on. I think this should be safe for most kids.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. The game can be played in its entirety without sound. However, two levels incorporate sound into finding certain objects in the environment. Being that there is no timer, these are still doable, but frustrating as there is no visual indicator.
Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.
Tags: Flying Redout Shooter Space Star Fox
Comment
iPad
App Store
Free
6.5
4.9
Redout: Space Assault is an immediate and enjoyable arcade shooter, but very far from the idea we had made of the new 34BigThings title. Arrived perhaps too early on Apple Arcade, see the total lack of the even advertised multiplayer sector and an incomplete campaign, the game suffers due to the setting on tracks, which excessively trivializes the gameplay and does not find in the basic upgrade system the bite necessary to raise the level of experience.
PRO
- Simple and immediate
- New weapons and upgrades
- Smooth and pleasant with the controller
- The gameplay on rails is uninspiring
- Insubstantial challenge, thickness not received
- Technical realization without treble
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Off the rail
It’s not all on rails, though. There are some sections where the player is free to roam around. These are usually basic, uninspired ‘collect three of this thing’ missions, however.
Other than that there are races, which were pretty fun at first. The game makes movement easier here by guiding you with neon rails, and the electronic/orchestral soundtrack suitably heightens the action. Many of the actual racecourses are poorly designed, though, bringing the game’s better moments back down. One race required maneuvering underneath a huge mechanical piston – a feat of perfect timing, with the annoyance being augmented by the plethora of clunky movement patterns. What’s more, dying at this section places you back directly in front of it. Because of the timing issue, you could be stuck in a loop unable to move through it.
The gameplay really brought out the worst elements of on-rail mechanics. It’s fundamental that a rail shooter makes what is a naturally restrictive movement method feel natural, and Space Assault is almost wholly unsuccessful in this regard.
Welcome upgrades
There are no lives and no score. When blown up, you’ll simply lose the money you’ve accumulated during the level and begin right where you died. As such, the game doesn’t offer much of a penalty for performing badly. You’ll lose money that is used for upgrades, but given the amount you get for completing a level; it isn’t much of a consequence.The upgrade system is a welcome edition for sure. Shield and Hull upgrades increase your health – a prospect not particularly exciting given the above. Missile upgrades increase the number of projectiles you can use at once, but the most interesting option of the four are the weapon upgrades.The player unlocks new weapons as they progress through the game.Some of these upgrades are machine gun based like the Gatling laser, while others like the Tesla chain beam have the ability to electrify multiple enemies at once.There’s a decent variety here and as you pump more money into weapon upgrades, more options open up.Alongside choosing a primary weapon, you’re eventually able to choose additional weaponry. These exist as secondary versions of those you can choose from in the primary section, and you’re able to mix these up however you want.For example; the player could choose the long-range Rail gun as a primary and the shotgun-Esq Scattershot in the additional slot. This would enable them to deal with long and close range enemies effectively.Three different weapons can be equipped at the same time, so there’s a welcome degree of customization on offer.
A Screeching Halt
My biggest beef with the campaign itself is that there is no way to get unstuck in your progression if you get hung up on a specific stage. As far as I can tell, there’s no skipping a particularly difficult mission in Redout: Space Assault, even if you fail countless times. This is not an exaggeration; I was hung up on the first chase stage for well over an hour. Additionally, there are a handful of missions where the objectives are to clear 60-80% of all enemies to progress. Call me crazy, but replaying the same mission ad nauseam, just for the fucks and chuckles of it, is the antithesis of fun.
Probably my most unexpected complaint is the fact that it didn’t look overwhelmingly impressive, even on a fairly stout PC. Considering how much the visuals of Redout: Space Assault popped on an iOS device’s screen, I was expecting the same on my monitor. Instead, things looked merely fine. Not terrible. Nothing exceptional. Just fine. It’s hard to say if it was the multiple similar-looking locations or the repetitively generic enemy ships, but the charm that it had in the palm of my hand just didn’t translate to the “big screen.”
Despite having a ton of potential, it appears that Redout: Space Assault leaves a bit to be desired when compared to other space combat titles available on PC. There just aren’t enough enhancements over its previous mobile iteration to justify its own existence. If you’re hard up for some interstellar shooting shenanigans, feel free to give it a look, but know that most likely you will end up disappointed. This is a flight that you are better off missing entirely.
Stumbling blocks
Once you’ve gotten past those pesky settings updates and ship customizations, it’s time to dive into the moderate length campaign. Under most circumstances, it should be easy to clear in six to seven hours. Missions take a handful of different forms including the standard “on rails” shooter, free-roaming non-rails dogfights, vehicle chases, and races. Just to clarify, you might as well turn off all of your weapons in races, because you’re merely trying to beat fellow competitors to the finish line. On the other hand, in a chase scenario, the goal is to cause enough mayhem and damage to disable a vehicle before it can escape.
Considering that the dogfighting and rail-shooting segments in Redout: Space Assault are rather numerous, they tend to be the most polished and balanced aspects of the overall package. Races and chases, on the other hand, tend to be a bit more difficult to clear on the first (not to mention the 20th) attempt. Part of the problem is that, in the case of races, there’s no way to enhance your ship’s specs, aside from the shields and hull strength. Unfortunately, neither of those will help you win a race, which means that you can only progress by either memorizing the track or simply not sucking. Git Gud rules definitely apply here.
If a mission was a chase, I was even more hosed. Not only do you need to pilot well enough to keep up with the target, but you also need to equip weaponry that is strong enough to disable the adversary. This meant that once I failed a mission from the umpteenth time, I needed to go back to grinding through prior missions. After picking up side objectives here and there, I eventually earned enough space bucks to upgrade my weapon and missile stats to competent levels.
Galactic espionage
Compelling narratives have never been the focal point of arcade-style rail shooters, but this one manages to take up a significant amount of time telling one.The game immediately opens with a conversation between two pilots, with ambiguity as to which one your character actually is.There’s no real intro or backstory here, and it’s a while before you realize what’s going on and where you are.
Your character is Leon, a fighter pilot for either a government or private organization named Poseidon. There’s large-scale corruption involved, the development of a powerful new weapon, and the archetypal, unwaveringly strong moral compass of our hero. None of it is very interesting, the characters are weak, and the voice acting is pretty poor, too. Characters’ lines are often delivered with a lack of intonation or off tone. Many voices sound as if the actors were pulled from the street and asked to deliver a line, with no context on what they were reading and the emotions they were required to elicit. To make matters worse, these moments of exposition often last too long. For example, there’s one mission that consists of attempting to maintain a radio signal with another character. The whole thing consists of listening to this person and Leon discuss the story, but there’s no substance to any of it.
Despite the poor dialogue and dearth of meaningful narrative, one can still deduce that the game takes place within our own galaxy. Earth is usually visible in the shot as well as the Moon, and the rendition of the solar system is nicely done at least.
Cosmic vistas and sparkling liveries
While there’s nothing revolutionary about the graphics, the scenery does look nice.The game’s backdrops are colorful, star-speckled mirages and the visible planets in the game are well designed. With grand space stations and weaving asteroid belts, the aesthetic works well for the most part – even if it is a little textbook and repetitive. It’s a shame there wasn’t a greater variety of locals. Every location is pretty much the same other than being slightly bigger or smaller. Everything blurs together creating scenery that’s indistinguishable from one mission to the next.There’s a lot of variety in the paint job options of Leon’s ship, though. The player has loads of different designs to choose from, with the ability to match any two colors. There must be hundreds of combinations, and effort has gone into making each design distinct.
Nice but he doesn’t dance
Despite all these problems concerning the gameplay, Redout Space Assault is a title that shines a little from a graphic point of view. The first impact with the game map makes you scream «wow!» to all. Also, the explosions, the other spacecraft and everything around us is well done, but as we have already said, it is far too repetitive.
The audio is well equalized and there is no noise pollution. All sounds are clean and clearly distinguishable, which is also useful in terms of gameplay to understand what kind of ship is coming and from where. The music doesn’t stick with it, can’t hit the player or even load it, even though it’s not bad.
During our test we did not encounter any particular problems with the game, no bugs or glitches were encountered and the uploads are relatively fast. Spanish is only available in texts. In short, from a technical point of view it is an excellent game, but it lacks in what is its crucial element: the gameplay.
Камни преткновения
После того, как вы прошли эти надоедливые обновления настроек и настройки кораблей, пришло время погрузиться в кампанию умеренной продолжительности. В большинстве случаев это должно быть легко очистить за шесть-семь часов. Миссии принимают несколько различных форм, включая стандартный шутер «на рельсах», воздушные бои без рельсов в свободном перемещении, автомобильные погони и гонки. Чтобы уточнить, вы можете также выключить все свое оружие в гонках, потому что вы просто пытаетесь обогнать других конкурентов до финиша. С другой стороны, в сценарии погони цель состоит в том, чтобы вызвать достаточно хаоса и повреждений, чтобы вывести транспортное средство из строя, прежде чем оно сможет сбежать.
Учитывая, что сегменты воздушного боя и стрельбы по рельсам в Redout: Space Assault довольно многочисленны, они, как правило, являются наиболее отточенными и сбалансированными аспектами общего пакета. С другой стороны, гонки и погони, как правило, сложнее пройти с первой (не говоря уже о 20-й) попытке. Частично проблема в том, что в случае гонок нет возможности улучшить характеристики вашего корабля, кроме щитов и прочности корпуса. К сожалению, ни один из них не поможет вам выиграть гонку, а это значит, что вы можете прогрессировать, только запомнив трассу или просто не отсасывая. Здесь определенно применимы правила Git Gud.
Если миссия была погоней, меня еще больше обливали. Вам нужно не только достаточно хорошо пилотировать, чтобы не отставать от цели, но вам также необходимо вооружиться достаточно мощным оружием, чтобы вывести из строя противника. Это означало, что как только я провалил миссию в который раз я провалил миссию, мне нужно было вернуться к проработке предыдущих миссий. Подбирая побочные цели здесь и там, я в конце концов заработал достаточно космических баксов, чтобы улучшить характеристики моего оружия и ракет до нужного уровня.
A missed opportunity
Summary: Redout: Space Assault puts you in control of a Super Orbital Recon Fighter during the Colonization of Mars. A thrilling combination of fast-paced action with roguelike elements is at the core of the gaming experience.
Genres: Action, , Indie, Simulation, Space Combat
Platforms: Nintendo Switch (Review Version), iPhone/iPad, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Developers: 34BigThings srl
Publishers: 34BigThings srl
Initial release date: 22 Jan, 2021
Redout: Space Assault
Gameplay
Visuals
Audio
Story
Value
Reader Rating0 Votes
Pros
Some nice looking vistas
Adaptable upgrade options
Cons
Poorly executed story
Clunky gameplay
2.7
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Control is everything
For a game like this, tight controls are everything. Facing dozens of enemies in a piddling little fighter naturally results in a high likelihood of frequent death. As such, rail shooters necessitate sharp controls to match your own reflexes. Redout: Space Assault has a problem here, possibly its biggest problem; the game’s movement mechanics don’t gel well at all. Movement drags painfully and is too slow, making it difficult to avoid incoming enemy projectiles and to maneuver the ship through tight spaces.There’s the Starfox-famous barrel roll move which helps, but during fights that need it the most, it’s oddly taken away from the player.Several sections require the destruction of parts of a larger ship, which are invariably armed with missiles that the barrel role exists to avoid. They were the perfect opportunity to use the mechanic, but trying to barrel roll during these sections just results in a meandering strife. To make matters worse, the projectiles are clumsily designed. Enemies will mostly fire these huge, successive red energy balls that are very difficult to avoid, especially considering the game’s issues with depth.The camera feels too zoomed in most of the time and it’s difficult to really tell how far away the enemies are from your ship.One issue compounds the next, resulting in lackluster, often frustrating gameplay.Enemies can also hit you from behind – something deeply infuriating when most of the game is on rails.
Визжащая остановка
Моя самая большая претензия к самой кампании заключается в том, что нет возможности вырваться из игры, если вы зациклились на каком-то конкретном этапе. Насколько я могу судить, в Redout: Space Assault нельзя пропустить особенно сложную миссию , даже если вы терпите неудачу бесчисленное количество раз. Это не преувеличение; Я был зациклен на первом этапе погони более часа. Кроме того, есть несколько миссий, цель которых состоит в том, чтобы очистить 60-80% всех врагов для продвижения. Можете называть меня сумасшедшим, но повторение одной и той же миссии до тошноты, просто ради шуток и смешков, — это полная противоположность веселью.
Наверное, самой неожиданной моей жалобой является то, что он не выглядел впечатляюще даже на довольно крепком ПК. Учитывая, сколько визуальных эффектов Redout: Space Assault появлялось на экране устройства iOS, я ожидал того же на своем мониторе. Вместо этого все выглядело просто прекрасно. Не страшно. Ничего особенного. Просто отлично . Трудно сказать, было ли это несколько похожих на вид локаций или повторяющиеся типичные вражеские корабли, но очарование, которое он имел в моей ладони, просто не транслировалось на «большой экран».
Несмотря на огромный потенциал, похоже, что Redout: Space Assault оставляет желать лучшего по сравнению с другими названиями космических боев, доступными на ПК. По сравнению с его предыдущей мобильной версией просто недостаточно улучшений, чтобы оправдать собственное существование. Если вам не терпится какие-то махинации с межзвездной съемкой, не стесняйтесь взглянуть на это, но знайте, что, скорее всего, вы в конечном итоге разочаруетесь. Это рейс, который вам лучше полностью пропустить.
Redout: Space Assault
6/10
Суммарно
В Redout: Space Assault есть что нравится, но этого недостаточно, чтобы отличаться от iOS. Проблемы с механикой, не говоря уже о спорадических скачках сложности, мешают прогрессу в кампании и лишают игроков того, что в противном случае могло бы стать незабываемым опытом. Пристегнитесь, потому что приземление будет очень ухабистым.
A fake arcade
Redout Space Assault is a title that may recall some cabinet games, but in three dimensions and much more fluid. The player will be able to move anywhere and his goal it will dodge the bullets of the enemy ships and then delete them. There are different types of enemies that can be defeated in various ways, but in the end it does nothing but always repeating the same thing over and over, although there are some moments from Bullet Hell.
The various levels are on tracks, therefore you will not be able to choose the direction, but we will always be forced to go forward: and it is for this reason (the total lack of exploration) that Redout Space Assault it becomes very repetitive and, consequently, boring. To increase the feeling of repetitiveness there is also the fact that, even from a graphic point of view, the settings are always the same.
Also, as far as gameplay is concerned, there isn’t that feeling of speed which should give a spaceship racing against dangerous enemies. To make matters worse there is also the fact that improving the spacecraft is not useful, unless you have it any kind of familiarity with the controller. The elements that can be improved are the thrusters, the weapons, the speed and the shield. By completing the missions you will get points that can be spent for this purpose.
There are other types of missions in Redout Space Assault, but in reality they do not improve the situation, indeed the parts of the game not on tracks make the title even more boring, showing all its limits: in fact, since there is nothing to explore, the only thing you really want reach is the end of the level. Are there races in this prequel? Yes but they are nothing like the Redout we have known and that reminded us of old glories like Wipeout.
Shooting the lights out
I have personally always been a huge fan of the “on rails” shooter style, especially when it’s set in space. By all accounts, Redout: Space Assault should be directly in my wheelhouse. Hell, I even remember playing the game when it joined Apple Arcade in 2019. And while it was hardly groundbreaking, it was a perfectly adequate adaptation of the genre for mobile devices.
Fast forward a couple of years and the game has now arrived on PC. At the risk of sounding petty, I’ll say it appears that not much has changed in the port. All nine chapters have made the jump, with no exclusive content that I am aware of. The main story itself revolves around the career of a pilot named Leon who is an employee of the Poseidon Corporation, working in what amounts to a space security force. After witnessing several events that make him second guess his allegiances, he sets out on his own, eventually taking up with the local resistance.
After starting (and actually quitting in the middle of the first level) my first order of business was to actually disable the autofire mode. For some god-forsaken reason, this is enabled by default, mirroring the configuration of the mobile installment. Hopefully this default setting will be patched out at a future date, because if I just wanted an “easy button” for my games, I wouldn’t have even bothered plugging in my controller! I’m sure there are some that would rather have their games essentially play themselves, but I am not one of them. However, if you don’t opt to turn it off, the functionality will fire off a blast of “garden variety” weapons every time an opponent enters the crosshairs.
Luckily, in Redout: Space Assault there are minor enhancements that can be made to the ship to help keep things interesting during combat. These customizations allow you to increase the hull and shield strength or power up both missiles and primary weapons. Don’t confuse these with skill trees, however, because this is essentially the player’s only way to become more competitive. The one exception to the rule is that weapons can take numerous forms such as scattershot blasts, lighting chains that travel between nearby opponents, and Gatling guns.
