Redout 2 brought its high-speed spaceship racing to Xbox last week, and we've given the game a good go in the time since. We've not invested quite enough time in for a full review, but nevertheless, we got a good feel for the game after a few hours of playing. So, is it worth a go on Xbox? Well, we reckon so, as long as you can get past the game's tutorial!

Let us explain; Redout 2 can be rather tough at times. Hitting pretty much any barrier slows you down significantly and the enemy AI is pretty damn good to boot. However, the first real hurdle you'll face is one of the tutorial levels, where the game teaches you its pair of boosting mechanics. You have to hit a certain score level across a few laps to pass, and to be brutally honest, we failed more than we'd like to admit. However, the game doesn't explain that you can utilise both the normal boost and the hyper boost simultaneously, which we absolutely recommend doing, while watching the overheat warning of course. Ahh, tutorial passed, eventually!

Redout 2

Beyond that, we dipped our toe into some arcade races and the beginning of the game's meaty career mode. Across either section you'll be doing broadly the same things; competing in short and speedy races, mastering time trials, you know the drill. The racing out on the track feels very slick on Xbox Series X, with the game doing a great job at conveying the sheer sense of speed on show. We particularly liked tackling time trials, as there's just something about getting into the flow of mastering the corners and bettering your time with each attempt. It just, works!

Visually, the game does leave something to be desired. It's not bad looking by any stretch, it's all just a bit generic. You'll be cruising around various planets at breakneck speed so you hardly have the time to sit and focus on the visuals, but yeah, the graphics and to an extent, the audio, don't quite pop the same way they do on something like Fast Racing Neo, for instance. Load times aren't great either for a Series X|S optimized affair, and generally Redout 2 does feel a bit 'last-gen' all around.

Redout 2 (3)

As previously mentioned, we've not put tons of time into the campaign thus far, but it seems lengthy for those looking for 'the grind'. In the first section alone — after the tutorial — there were dozens and dozens of events to blast through, and we can see this one lasting a while in that regard. The more you compete, the more ship customization options you'll unlock too, so there's incentive there to keep blasting through the career mode. As for online multiplayer? We couldn't find any games when trying at around mid-afternoon here in the UK, so don't expect this one to bustling with online competitors.

Redout 2 is a bit of a mixed bag, then. It's good fun on a surface level, the racing is rewarding, and the career mode seems fairly chunky, but beyond the bare minimum of a smooth and satisfying racing experience, there's nothing overly unique to shout about. Its $30 price tag is probably about right though, so if you're into your Wipeout and F-Zero clones, here's another for the collection!

Have you tried this one out since launch last week? Early thoughts? Let us know down below.