Looking for a game that is a cross between Wipeout and Cuphead? An absurdly fast and even more absurdly challenging antigravity racing game that will break the patience of its players long before it rewards them? Or maybe the craving is for a current-gen game to finally fill the long-stagnant void left by F-Zero?
Well, look no further; Redout 2 has arrived. The latest game from Italian developer 34BigThings employs a control scheme all its own, pushes the speedometer well past the red line, and demands nothing short of mastery before players will even begin to feel like they're doing well in their races. For many, the eventual rewards will not be worth the effort involved in getting there. For those committed to wrangling this beast of a racing game and showing it who's really the boss, here are the best Redout 2 tips for getting started.
8 How To Turn
Yep, this is the first hurdle. Redout 2's unique twin-stick controls mean turning that badass racing ship isn't as simple as moving left or right and reducing speed a little.
In short, players use one stick to control the sideways movement of the ship itself – also called strafing – and the other stick to control the direction the ship's nose is pointing. The trick to turning cleanly is to point the nose of the ship just slightly beyond the turn while strafing the body of the ship at the same time. If executed while maintaining control, the result is the equivalent of drifting around a corner, after which players can boost out of the turn and get back to top speed. For anyone familiar with the space dogfighting game Chorus, it's a similar maneuver to the drift-trance, just much more difficult to pull off.
7 Upgrade, Upgrade, And Upgrade Again
Fans of racing games know that vehicle customization is one of the best parts of the genre. In Redout 2, customization is not only fun, it's fundamental.
In the Ship Select screen, players will see customization options in the bottom corner. There are four categories a ship can be improved in – weapons, hull, missiles, and shield – and each has a meter next to them indicating the degree of improvement achieved. The goal is to max out each of these meters. If a customization option is available and players can unlock it, they should do so without hesitation. Otherwise, they will find themselves at a distinct disadvantage against their fellow racers.
6 Don't Be Too Proud To Use AI Assist
Seriously, especially when engaging in high-speed races later in the campaign. AI assist doesn't exactly set the game to easy mode, it just prevents over-adjusting on turns and air rolls.
For players that want some help but still want to maintain the level of challenge, set Braking and Strafing Assists to 30% and Boost Safety to 5%. This will be virtually imperceptible in moment-to-moment gameplay but will provide just enough guidance to avoid crashing on big turns or over-boosting into walls. Then, as familiarity with the controls grows, players can gradually decrease the assist percentage until it's just them, the controller, and the speedway.
5 Lower The AI Difficulty
Just like with using AI Assist, there is no shame in lowering the AI difficulty in RedOut 2. The default difficulty setting is called "RedOut" but it's basically "Hard Mode" when players are starting out.
Switching the AI difficulty to "Pilot" or "Chill" will still provide a challenge but will feel a lot fairer for players just coming to terms with the game's foundation. Or, set the difficulty all the way down to "Zero" if the goal is simply to unlock more campaign levels and customization options.
4 Learn To Hit The Walls Without Crashing
One of Redout 2's unique mechanics is the ability to hit the walls without crashing. In most racing games, hitting the sides of the track does nothing but slow momentum and make it harder to win races.Redout 2 does things differently in this regard.
When hitting a wall becomes inevitable, slow down to avoid crashing outright and try to turn the ship so that it is aligned parallel to the barrier. Ease into the impact and instead of crashing outright, the ship will simply bounce off the wall and return to the track. Hit the boost to get back up to speed, and it's like the impact never happened.
3 Memorize The Tracks
The fact of the matter is that Redout 2 is much harder when players don't know what's coming next. Being able to anticipate an upcoming turn and knowing when to boost (or hyperboost) is essential to hitting jumps and not ending up a burning wreck. The only way to reliably know these things is to memorize the game's many tracks.
This is a daunting task all on its own, but then consider that many of Redout 2's 36 tracks are very long, with some taking up to 2 minutes to complete a single lap. This means memorization will be no easy feat, but knowing exactly when to hit the boost versus when to hold back can mean the difference between a first-place finish or another disappointing run.
2 Play PvP
In a typical racing game, this would be the last place a new player should venture. Once again, Redout 2 is a different beast. As stated earlier, the AI in this game can be downright sadistic, so much so that it can make the game feel like it's more interested in hurting its players than entertaining them.
The difference in PvP is that, while new players will be struggling with the unusual control scheme, odds are any player they get paired up against will be struggling as well. The individuals who play enough of this game to be considered "good" will be few and far between. Most opponents in PvP will all be having the same difficulties, which levels the playing field more reliably than any AI setting can.
1 Use Every Available Resource
At the end of the day, players struggling with Redout 2 will not be alone. Everyone who picks this game up, even those familiar with the 2016 original, is going to have a steep learning curve ahead of them.
As such, there will be a lot of discussions online regarding tips and tricks for winning races. Make use of these whenever necessary. There will be a lot of players trying to figure out how to solve the same problems, and the online resources available will be necessary to do so, especially given the bare-bones nature of the game's tutorial. YouTube, Google, and even this article, they'll all make the learning process just a little easier. Don't pass them up.
Redout 2 was released on June 16, 2022, and is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
