WipEout Pure follows in the spirit of the previous titles, delivering it’s own brand of futurism, speed and combat racing. Taking control of eight different futuristic vehicles, each with it’s own strengths and weaknesses, players race through twelve varied and classic WipEout themed tracks. Vehicles and tracks are unlocked as players progress, and there are many more that can be downloaded off the net and put directly onto the PSP. Progress is measured by the amount of medals they win. For each race and tournament, you’re awarded a medal if you get a podium finish, while in time trials, the player is awarded a medal if you can beat the clock.
Anyone who’s played a racing game of this ilk will know that speed provides the crux of such a game. Given this, it’s unusual that at the start of the game, WipEout Pure doesn’t feel that fast on the initial 'class' of racing. The pace isn’t demanding, and it’s fairly easy for a player to get accustomed to the controls and the way the game plays. Thankfully, this lull proves to be a false dawn. There are five classes in all, each which has a progressively tougher difficulty level.
This well-judged learning curve is probably the best aspect of the game, and the part that makes it so enjoyable. Getting used to a class is no easy feat. It takes a bit of time to get accustomed to the higher speeds, sharper turns and increased race length. Though once you’ve done that, there is a wholly satisfying felling of accomplishment. WipEout Pure challenges the player to improve their abilities and does so in a fairly frustration-free and engaging manner, with the most cleverly conceived learning curve in ages. It the single player game a huge boost in the longevity stakes.
Another trait of the WipEout series is the way you use the pickups along the way. There's an assortment of weapons such as missiles, rockets, bombs and mines as well power-ups like speed boost, autopilot and shield. The beauty here is that each vehicle has an energy bar. With each crash, destructive move or direct hit from a weapon, the bar drains, though you’re not helpless as your energy slowly fades, as you have the choice of absorbing the pickups instead of using them. Doing so will regain a portion of energy. However, fail to replete your energy and you’ll be left with nothing but a shell. Opponents can be blown up as well, so you’re not at a disadvantage. It introduces an element of risk: with only a minimal amount of energy remaining, do you fire off your weapons and hope to avoid future damage, or repair now?
Gazing into the distance
All the pickups require precision, timing and patience. You can’t just fire missiles gung-ho; you need to time them properly. Autopilot can be used to get out of a tight spot. Otherwise, they’re just a waste. And this certainly can’t be afforded against some very competitive, intelligent and tactically sound opponents. They’ll beat down on you till the very end, especially on the higher classes.
A new addition for the WipEout fans, is a new mode called the Zone. Over four courses, the player is tested to the absolute limits of their racing skill. Not dissimilar to your PE class 'beep' test, the player starts slowly and, as they complete a 'zone', the speed picks up. As does the intensity and the adrenaline. You keep going around the track, completing zones and pinballing through the turns until your vehicle finally explodes. And this is no easy task once you’re in the medal territory or through 15 zones.
The game’s controls are simple yet well refined. The X button is used to accelerate, the square button to use pick-ups and the circle button to absorb them. The shoulder buttons as used for a combination of two options. The first is a dual airbrake that uses each button separately as an airbrake. This makes for intuitive handling. The second is a single airbrake that has one shoulder button as the air brake and one as a side-shift. This is a little less intuitive but in the end, it’s up to the player to see which suits them best. Either way, the controls are quick, responsive and tight, but vehicle handling will depend on individual vehicles.
Round we go!
As with all good racing games, WipEout Pure has the perennial multiplayer mode. However, on the PSP you’ve got the connection through wireless methods. It works very simply and you can play a single race, tournament or time trial with up to eight players. You can play across the Internet through Wifi connection, but PALGN didn’t have a chance to test it out and the wireless drains more power from the battery than normal usage.
If there is anything to fault with WipEout Pure, it's that the game suffers from both a slight lack of variety and a lack of speed in some instances, whilst a lot of the things in the game seem anonymous and give you no reason to care about them. There really isn’t too much that differentiates one track from another, and some of the vehicles feel identical. And though some may feel that there is a general lack of tracks and vehicles, more can be unlocked and even more can be downloaded off the net.
As a bonus for PAL versions, we have an extra set of tracks from the Omega pack. Hopefully, these can alleviate a bit of the sameyness. There are times where you’ll bounce off a wall and find that you’re at a virtual standstill, yet the speedometer reads over 100kph. It just doesn’t feel right and can be distracting at times. Then there is a feeling that nothing particular matters in the game. The vehicles have names and desgins, the tracks have names, but it feels very generic - newcomers to WipEout may find forging an attachment to the game difficult.
As a portable title, WipEout Pure fares a lot better than other titles in the PSP launch line-up in terms of portability. Load times are bearable, and the game can be played during intermissions in length of 15 minutes and above.
Visually, the game is very good. The tracks have a high amount of detail and look well refined, with solid 3D objects moving in the backgrounds, beautifully rendered backgrounds and even snow effects on the screen. Then you’ve got the classic tracks, a trippy collection of colours and odd effects and the minimalist approach for the Zone tracks. In all, they are really striking to look at. The vehicles are solid, colourful and discernible, though one can’t help but feel that they feel a little underdone, given the artistic direction of the game and that they look a little out of place on the tracks. The frame-rate is very solid at what looks like 30fps but starts to struggle a little under big explosions and super-high speeds, though there's nothing in this respect that impedes the gameplay too severely. Visually, it's actually a fairly stellar achievement for a handheld.
Seeing double
Audio is a bit subjective. All the tunes in the game are techno-themed. Some are pretty good, others are a bit annoying and similar, but overall they’re varied, and some are even catchy and fit quite well with the overall theme, though there isn’t any variation when you’re in the final lap or close to the finish or anything, a trick that Super Mario Kart still pulls off better than any other game nowadays. And if you don’t like techno, there’s nothing here that will change your mind. There are a few voiced phrases, but over the normal system speakers, they sound muffled and indistinguishable. They’re much clearer over the headphones. Effectively, the sound is good but underdone, with simple and sharp but minimalist sound effects.
Overall, WipEout Pure is probably one of the finest games at the PSP launch. It combines futuristic combat racing with a high degree of refinement, polish and excellent, challenging gameplay, and it actually makes for a good portable title as well. It’s been a while since PALGN encountered a title with such an intelligent learning curve, and that provides such a satisfying challenge, not to mention you can download many extras and unlock numerous rewards. Anyone who likes racing games (especially arcade or futuristic style) will definitely get something out of this game while WipEout fans will probably be jumping for joy at a successful revival. WipEout has returned to the gaming world with a bang, and given the PSP a pretty decent reason to exist.
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