Fast, Fun, Addictive
Most people are at least somewhat familiar with the Wipeout series. Basically, players take the controls of one of several different ships, each with a different level of thrust, top speed, handling, and shields. You can control the action from a first or two levels of third person perspective, and the name of the game is speed. There are a handful of racing modes including racing against the CPU and various time trial courses too. Each track has certain square pieces placed randomly throughout; one is a blue arrow and that accelerates the player forward for a short, but vital speed burst, the other is a red x and gives the player an item. Items can be used at the player’s digression; items include shields, auto-pilot, and speed boost, as well as several weapons like the energy leech, mines, missiles, and cannon. Using quick reflexes and these items, your goal is to get to the end of the race before a clock runs out or fellow racer beats you.
Single player options take the form of Campaign and Racebox. With Racebox, you can specify just about every detail that you want in setting up a race against a friend or CPU opponents, including whether or not weapons are allowed, what speed class of ships you want available, etc. You won’t have many choice of ships or tracks though, until you begin to play the Campaign.
The Campaign feature about eight chapters with six to eight events each. The challenges include beating CPU opponents in races, surviving zone trials, and timed events. My favorite event is the time trial where you have a certain amount of time to complete a track a certain amount of times (i.e., laps). The amount of time counts down from the mark needed for Gold, so you know exactly what you’re shooting for as you race.
In Campaign, you don’t have to get a Gold on every event, but the more Gold medals you get, the quicker you’ll earn enough points to unlock the next set of events; not to mention it’s great for Trophies, which WipeoutHD fully supports with, I believe, eighty-six different ones to shoot for.
Handling your ship in WipeoutHD is easy to learn, but challenging to master. Choosing the right ship for each event is important, and furthermore, mixing up your selection helps build Loyalty across the different ship manufacturers. Doing so only unlocks a few extra skins for these ships. Anyway, regardless of the ship you choose, the default controls are comfortable and responsive. To give your ship thrust, press X. To use your air brakes, just tap R2 and L2, depending on which way you want to apply your brakes. If you double tap either, you’ll do a quick sideways maneuver that’s perfect for making that last second move to either avoid a mine or bomb, or catch a speed pad. You can also barrel roll anytime your ship catches some air by tapping Left, Right, Left, and in doing so you lose a little energy, but gain a quick burst of speed once you land.
Energy in WipeoutHD is a measure of your ship’s well being, and it’s important to be aware of. Fortunately, your on board computer will warn you when your energy is getting low with a verbal warning as well as a beeping sound, because lets face it, you hardly have time to look at the HUD while racing (unless of course you get an AutoPilot pick up). You can loose energy by bumping walls, other ships, flying off course (at which point your immediately reset a few seconds back), or by taking damage from an enemy weapon. One thing I love about Wipeout is the ability to earn energy back by absorbing your weapon pickups instead of using them. This ability to fix your ship while continuing the race makes the experience much more intense and satisfying. Also, the ability to turn on Pilot Assist in the in-game options menu is huge; enabling this feature makes the game so much more accessible and fun, as this option makes controlling your speedy ship so much easier. Pilot Assist does a great job of keeping you off the walls. It’s still very possible to hit walls, but the Pilot Assist will make a night and day difference for most players.
The Campaign mode features around sixty events that will take even the most dedicated and accomplished pilot many hours to complete. Personally, I’m barely halfway through the Campaign and it’s become extremely challenging, but thanks to the quick load times and fun factor, I keep coming back for more. Seriously though, the difficulty jump in WipeoutHD is significant; the first third of the Campaign alone will not prepare you for what lay ahead, so get ready to take it online or spend some time in the Racebox to improve. Oh, one feature that can help in Campaign is the ability to change the AI difficulty on a per event basis, a handy option for those times when you just can’t seem to win. However, even on Novice, the AI is no slouch.
Final Thoughts
WipeoutHD looks and sounds great. The visuals are slick, shiny, and run at a full 60fps. The variety of colors and the speed at which they fly by is sweet and just right for the series. The audio is great too, combining tracks from the PSP’s Pure and Pulse titles to create a smooth techno soundtrack. Sound effects are also very good. Heck, I even liked the artsy white menus.
I’ve spent most of my time thus far with WipeoutHD in the campaign mode, but in what time I have made for multiplayer, my impressions are positive. I might not have won a lot of races, but each online game I’ve played has been as smooth as the single player experience. There are dozens and dozens of available matches to join across Europe and the US right now, and you can always start your own, too. It’s too early to say for sure, but all indications thus far are great for a thriving and lasting online community for this addictive racer.
To sum up, you basically get the combination of two great Wipeout PSP titles in one sweet HD package for a great price of $20. Given how good this title looks and sounds, and the improved controls, even Pure and Pulse veterans should take note. Everyone else needs to stop reading and start downloading, a challenging, fun, and addictive futuristic race awaits.