WipEout HD

Written by Tom Clare in PS3 Game Reviews, Tuesday 21 April, 2009

Released: 2008
Developer: Studio Liverpool
Genre: Racing
Platform: PS3
Version: 1.30

Following three progressively more excellent PSOne titles, the WipEout series seemed to lose its way somewhat in the wake of the new millennium, with only the underwhelming Fusion to show for the PS2 generation. Good things come to those who wait however and in time for Christmas 2008, nearly ten years after the release of Wip3out, Sony’s flagship futuristic racing series makes a scintillating, triumphant return – WipEout HD is easily the best game available from the PlayStation Network.

In many respects, WHD will be familiar fare to long-time fans of the series. The blueprint is pretty much unchanged – you still race ridiculously speedy crafts against seven opponents in sleek futuristic locations, utilising weapons, turbo strips, airbrakes and no small degree of dexterity to achieve victory. Perhaps for the first time however, it feels like WipEout finally has the hardware behind it to handle its bold vision of glorious vistas and mind-boggling velocities. It’s astoundingly smooth and exceptionally pretty, down to the smallest of details – a fact often easy to overlook because of the retina-bursting speeds you encounter.

The gameplay has been honed to near-perfection. The handling could not be better; it’s accurate, effective and satisfyingly tricky to master, especially as the speeds begin to ramp up. The crafts are ideally tuned-in to their surroundings whilst the airbrakes are an essential and highly useful tool that, as you would expect from the series, require plenty of skill and a steady nerve to use effectively. Possibly the most noticeable improvement (over the PSOne iterations) lies in the collision physics. Down the years, WipEout has nurtured a notoriously unforgiving streak, but whilst previously clipping a track-side barrier would virtually bring your craft to a halt, now things are less punishing, as you are allowed scrapes and grazes that scrub off some shield power and speed, though don’t ruin your race. Regrettably, bashing into opponents is still a touch messy, especially against the A.I. who seem quite immune to having their racing-line disrupted by any kind of jostling impact.

WipEout HD’s Campaign mode adds legs to the one-player experience, offering 87 challenges that comprise of a mix of single-races, time-trials, tournaments and the welcome return of WipEout Fusion’s Zone mode. Here we see another example of the benefit reaped by the PS3’s superior hardware, as Zone, previously an enjoyable distraction, has elevated itself to a tremendously enjoyable and addictive challenge. The premise is to avoid destroying your craft on the perimeters of the track, surviving as many Zones (which see a slight increase in speed every few seconds) as possible. The psychedelic, pulsating colour-schemes and nerve-shredding speeds you reach (comfortably more than twice that of what you reach in the races); a simple idea that makes for a thrilling experience. So the single-player has plenty to keep you occupied, but what makes this an essential purchase for PS3 owners is the introduction of an online mode. It’s an intelligent, pain-free setup that allows quick and easy access to single-races and tournaments of various speeds; it’s certainly among the best online racers available, with an irresistible “one more go” factor that will grip you like a vice you for hours on end.

The only gripe concerning the gameplay is the inconsistent value of the weaponry. Stuff like the cannon, plasma and rockets are usually only effective at extreme close-range, and in the higher speed classes, they barely travel any faster than the crafts they’re aimed at, meaning they’re not much use from any kind of distance. If you drop off the back of a competitor in the online races, the excellent though rare quake attack is just about your only real hope of hauling them in as they can lace your path with mines and bombs.

Aside this, the negatives are minor. Whilst it’s nice that Studio Liverpool had a stab at incorporating Sixaxis motion control, it’s is largely unusable due to the demand the game places on reaction times, and thus feels like something of an obsolete inclusion. The new speed-boosting barrel roll is a positive addition, though the side-shift was poorly thought-out as this evasive, lurching manoeuvre occurs when you double-tap an airbrake, something that’s easy to do by accident when you’re aiming to merely feather it. WHD consists of only eight courses, all of which have featured previously in the PSP titles Pure and Pulse – the latter of which in itself offers 12 circuits. Thus owners of the PSP instalments may find less to shout about than those who haven’t played these titles in terms of new content, even if the visuals have been revamped in glorious HD. The two-player split-screen mode, after experiencing the awesome online races, proves to be something of an anti-climax, as the frame-rate is massively reduced and the crafts handling suffers as a result, feeling heavy and cumbersome.

It still represents one of the most rewarding, tricky and addictive racing challenges available. All the courses are short at around thirty seconds in length, though not only does each offer its own distinctive visual backdrop, but also its own feel and driving challenges. Moa Therma is a wide and largely forgiving circuit that requires accurate use of speed strips to in which to succeed, whilst Sebenco Climb sees a punishing series of sharp 90 degree corners that require skilled use of the airbrakes. Then there’s Anulpha Pass which is all about speed and the token future-city track in Metropia which presents perhaps the most effective mix of challenges. The quality of the circuits is consistently very, very good.  

The only blemish presentation-wise (and not remotely damaging in the bigger picture) is a surprising one – the soundtrack. In view of what’s gone before it, WHD did have rather a lot to live up to – whether it was 2097’s era-defining club classics from The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers, or Wip3out’s driving beats that (especially in the case of Sascha’s XPander) complimented the action to exhilarating effect, the series has always been right on the money music-wise. However, in WHD it presents a rare weakness; the melodies aren’t catchy or affecting and don’t really suit the subject matter – the tunes don’t lend any impetus to the racing. That said, you can make your own playlists with music stored on your harddrive, so if you still own the old PSOne games on CD, its possible to relive the good old days should you so choose.

The best part is, you get to sample WipEout HD's near-endless delights for under £15, which makes it one of the best value games of its generation so far. It’s a hardcore racer that won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but for those who yearn for layers of depth, who enjoy the lengthy process of mastering the handling, the tracks and the competitors, the rewards are insurmountable.
 

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