WipEout Pure
The PSP needed a killer app, and this is most definitely it.
Published: March 7, 2005
No one game more perfectly illustrates the kind of game and the sense of style that the PlayStation brand carries than the WipEout series (and yes, we're dorks and we like it with the big E). Married to the PlayStation name since the first console was released, it defined what high-speed polygon-pushing power was in the little grey brick, and helped sell more than a few PlayStations along the way.
Somewhere down the line, though, due to staff departures and a general shakeup at Sony Europe's Liverpool development house (formerly Psygnosis), the WipEout franchise hit the skids. WipEout Fusion was apparently bad enough for Sony Computer Entertainment America to pass on the publishing of its former racing staple, and instead BAM! picked it up to mixed reviews.
With an all-new team almost entirely comprised of series newcomers, though, it appears the Studio Liverpool has one goal in mind: complete enslavement of every PSP owner. WipEout Pure is the game to own when you finally give in and plop down $250 come the end of this month. It's fast, gorgeous and plays effortlessly with others via either an online mode or ad-hoc local Wi-Fi.
Pure's soundtrack will arrive intact from the Euro release, so artists like Aphex Twin, Tiesto, Photek and Plump DJs means geeky raver nerds like us will have plenty to bob our heads to as we zip around the tracks.
And then there's the first of what we hope will be many add-on packs to come. New tracks, new hovercraft, new interface skins, new music, all of it should be available on or near launch completely free of charge for those who chew through the game's already impressive 12 track, eight team roster. Everything about the game, from the floaty yet precise controls to the re-engineered track design to the homages to old-school series races feels so incredibly polished and updated that it's impossible to put it all into words. This just feels like an amazing game right from the opening cinematic, and despite our already high hopes, every expectation we had for the game was exceeded.
Part of this lies in the subtle but important changes to the formula. Studio Liverpool unbuckled the craft from the track to allow for both some impressive jumps and a better sensation of speed and handling. The physics engine was tweaked to allow for more realistic (if you can call racing hovercraft around at 200 miles an hour realistic) responses to the track undulations. It's actually possible now to "grind" on the railings of the tracks in normal use should you manage to land on them properly.
The Zone mode from WipEout Fusion was also tweaked eschewing the normal race tracks for the pearly white set of wide, phosphorescently lit tracks that better emphasize the mode's increasing sense of speed (for those that didn't play the original Zone mode, you simply keep racing around a track ticking through "zones" at increasing speeds without being able to heal to see how far you can get). The level designs are build for pure speed and the kind of exhilaration you can only get from barreling around a corner faster than you can think as your fingers magically steer your nimble (or ass-heavy depending on how you play) craft around the corner with the smoothness of a 70's blaxploitation pimp wooing a lady.
Wireless multiplayer was an unequivocal blast, and creating, finding or joining a game was literally a matter of a half-dozen button presses. After about three or more racers entered the fray, the framerate did start to take a noticeable hit, but the two player matches that you'll likely play with random strangers as you go about your day (oh we hope we hope we hope we can have random challenges as the PSP takes off) work as if you were playing against the CPU.
Every good system launch needs that must-have title and this is hands-down the game you need if you pick up a PSP. The polish, added value in the downloadable packs, the music, the Wi-Fi multiplayer, and the general feeling that this game is pushing your PSP so hard it's going to melt all add up to an experience that genuinely feels like it couldn't be done on any other system, and in the PS2's lineup of ports and rehashes (admittedly good ones, but ports nonetheless), this is the kind of game that gamers need. Now if we can just hold out until we get our final copy...
Somewhere down the line, though, due to staff departures and a general shakeup at Sony Europe's Liverpool development house (formerly Psygnosis), the WipEout franchise hit the skids. WipEout Fusion was apparently bad enough for Sony Computer Entertainment America to pass on the publishing of its former racing staple, and instead BAM! picked it up to mixed reviews.
With an all-new team almost entirely comprised of series newcomers, though, it appears the Studio Liverpool has one goal in mind: complete enslavement of every PSP owner. WipEout Pure is the game to own when you finally give in and plop down $250 come the end of this month. It's fast, gorgeous and plays effortlessly with others via either an online mode or ad-hoc local Wi-Fi.
Pure's soundtrack will arrive intact from the Euro release, so artists like Aphex Twin, Tiesto, Photek and Plump DJs means geeky raver nerds like us will have plenty to bob our heads to as we zip around the tracks.
And then there's the first of what we hope will be many add-on packs to come. New tracks, new hovercraft, new interface skins, new music, all of it should be available on or near launch completely free of charge for those who chew through the game's already impressive 12 track, eight team roster. Everything about the game, from the floaty yet precise controls to the re-engineered track design to the homages to old-school series races feels so incredibly polished and updated that it's impossible to put it all into words. This just feels like an amazing game right from the opening cinematic, and despite our already high hopes, every expectation we had for the game was exceeded.
Part of this lies in the subtle but important changes to the formula. Studio Liverpool unbuckled the craft from the track to allow for both some impressive jumps and a better sensation of speed and handling. The physics engine was tweaked to allow for more realistic (if you can call racing hovercraft around at 200 miles an hour realistic) responses to the track undulations. It's actually possible now to "grind" on the railings of the tracks in normal use should you manage to land on them properly.
The Zone mode from WipEout Fusion was also tweaked eschewing the normal race tracks for the pearly white set of wide, phosphorescently lit tracks that better emphasize the mode's increasing sense of speed (for those that didn't play the original Zone mode, you simply keep racing around a track ticking through "zones" at increasing speeds without being able to heal to see how far you can get). The level designs are build for pure speed and the kind of exhilaration you can only get from barreling around a corner faster than you can think as your fingers magically steer your nimble (or ass-heavy depending on how you play) craft around the corner with the smoothness of a 70's blaxploitation pimp wooing a lady.
Wireless multiplayer was an unequivocal blast, and creating, finding or joining a game was literally a matter of a half-dozen button presses. After about three or more racers entered the fray, the framerate did start to take a noticeable hit, but the two player matches that you'll likely play with random strangers as you go about your day (oh we hope we hope we hope we can have random challenges as the PSP takes off) work as if you were playing against the CPU.
Every good system launch needs that must-have title and this is hands-down the game you need if you pick up a PSP. The polish, added value in the downloadable packs, the music, the Wi-Fi multiplayer, and the general feeling that this game is pushing your PSP so hard it's going to melt all add up to an experience that genuinely feels like it couldn't be done on any other system, and in the PS2's lineup of ports and rehashes (admittedly good ones, but ports nonetheless), this is the kind of game that gamers need. Now if we can just hold out until we get our final copy...