WR: WipEout HD (PS3)

February 19th, 2009 by

wipeout_hd

Developer: Studio Liverpool
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Players: 1-2 (1-8 online)
Hours Played: 30+
Game Progress: Completed all campaigns

When WipEout HD, which has been out for a while now, was first announced it didn?t exactly stir us with an abundant sense of expectation.  How could a game that is not only a downloadable title, but also a port of a handheld game (WipEout Pure and WipEout Pulse on the PSP to be exact) inspire any anticipation? Well, you?ll be pleased to learn that WipEout HD is not only one of the best games available on the Playstation Network but also one of the best high speed racers, period.

For those unfamiliar with the franchise, WipEout is a futuristic, high speed, anti-grav racer, not unlike F-Zero, and traces its roots back to the Playstation One. Since that time it?s spawned iterations on many different platforms including the PSP and even the N64. WipEout HD takes its tracks from the previously released PSP WipEout titles; WipEout Pulse and Pure. Fortunately, the game bears no resemblance to any handheld game when it comes to graphical performance. Running in 1080p full HD and 60 frames per second it looks spectacular. Let?s come back to the visuals in a moment and touch first on gameplay.

The single player experience is divided over 8 campaigns, composed of different events. These events can be: single race (where the player is pitted against 7 other computer opponents), tournament (a series of races on different tracks), speed lap (beat pre-set lap times on a specific track), time trail (same as speed lap but over several laps) and zone (keep your vehicle alive for as many laps as possible as the speed steadily increases, you do this in a fixed vehicle with the best stats of any in the game, but are not able to brake or slow down). Points are awarded for obtaining either bronze, silver or gold medals. Once enough points are obtained the next campaign opens up, usually offering a new track or vehicle, often in a faster speed class, of which there are four (from slowest to fastest: Venom, Flash, Rapier and Phantom).

The game will ultimately appeal more to hardcore gamers as below its sleek, shiny surface lay a very challenging experience. Let?s look at how a typical play-through might go, based on our experience with this title. At first you?ll be zipping through levels no problem: enjoying the scenery, lobbing missiles and other weapons at competitors and hitting boost pads where you can. As tracks and time trial targets become more challenging you find that track positioning and the way you take corners becomes more important as the need to hit more boost pads rises considerably. As the difficulty further increases you find that your choice in vehicle becomes crucial. Each vehicle has different speed, handling, shield and boost attributes that make different race crafts appropriate for different tracks and situations. Once you?ve figured out which vehicles are suitable for what scenario, it?s time to get honest with yourself. You see, the game has pilot assist: a feature, which gently nudges your vehicle away from the edges of the track, preventing your shields from being drained due to track collisions and unintended detours of the track. Seemingly a no-brainer at first, as the high speed action makes it very easy indeed to constantly clip the barriers on either side of the track, the pilot assist feature actually slows your vehicle down every time it steps in. As the difficulty of the tracks, speed classes and time trail targets continues to rise you?ll find that picking the right vehicle, and lining yourself up to grab as many boost pads as possible, simply isn?t enough anymore. The slowdown caused by the pilot assist needs to be remedied by turning this feature off altogether. Eventually you?ll get used to the new race dynamic and notice your track times improving, then it becomes time to use all the tricks you?ve learned up until this point as well as manage to keep your vehicle away from the walls on your own. With each new campaign the total amount of points needed to progress goes up, resulting in the need for more silver and gold medals and fewer bronze ones as it?s not uncommon to have finished all the events in a campaign but still not have enough points to progress to the next campaign. This is where you revisit completed events to obtain better medals and gain more points.

One of the game?s few flaws becomes apparent here as a slight sense of tedium does eventually set in. There are 87 (!) events in total and be prepared to revisit many of them, just so you can obtain that necessary medal. Seeing as how there are only 8 tracks (plus those same 8 in reverse) you?ll be seeing a lot of the tracks during the course of the game. Most gamers will feel compelled to meet the challenge this game throws at you and persevere so that the next campaign may be unlocked, again this is a reminder of the challenging nature of the game and its appeal to the hardcore gamer audience.

During single races and tournaments (as well as most online races) the use of weapons is enabled. These range from missiles, machine guns and the shockwave inducing quake to passive power-ups such as boost and auto pilot. Most of the time, especially during the faster speed classes, the deployment of weapons isn?t critical to the outcome of a race, however there is a further tactical component to weapons usage. Weapons can be ?absorbed? to restore your shields, which are depleted from collisions with the track barriers and hits from weapons, as you progress through the speed classes, the faster you go the more often your vehicle?s shields will be depleted. This makes obtaining weapons (by steering your craft over one of the weapons pads littering the tracks) extremely useful and ultimately critical to keeping your vehicle alive long enough to finish a race.

While at first WipEout may seem like a straightforward high speed racer, it soon becomes apparent that this is a very deep and challenging game that will offer many trails and a lengthy experience.

Most downloadable games are graphically less impressive than their ?disc? counterparts, WipEout HD however is a major exception as it?s one of the best looking games on PS3. The tracks look gorgeous in their high resolution textures and have a very nice level of detail. Whether it?s small ships zooming by in the background or people gathering on a plaza far below the track, the level of detail and use of colours is spectacular. Lighting effects are stunning as well, the flare caused by the engines, the sun shining overhead or the explosion from an impacting missile look extremely realistic. You really don?t get a full appreciation for the game?s visual beauty and the detail that went into the track design until you pause the game and go into picture mode, which allows you to take control of a camera, which is fixed on either one of the vehicles or certain places on the track and zoom in and out and rotate it, getting up close to the graphical splendour this game presents. This picture mode offers unending opportunities to grab that one, stunning shot of one of the vehicles as it thunders down the tracks, and set it as the wallpaper for your PS3 desktop. Further praise goes to the game?s excellent frame rate. WipEout is an extremely fast game, especially during the Phantom speed class, and at no point does the frame rate stutter, even when all vehicles are in close proximity and weapons are going off all around. It?s this combination of gorgeous tracks, stunning textures and smooth frame rate, all in 1080p, that make this bundle of 1GB goodness stand out.

The WipEout franchise has always benefited from being particularly well suited to techno music and WipEout HD is no different. The game?s music tracks are all appropriately instrumental and techno-like to fit its futuristic setting. Some would?ve benefited from a higher BPM (beats per minute) as they don?t quite seem to keep up with the game?s extremely high speeds. Unfortunately there are only 9 different music tracks in the game, so prepare to hear a lot of them as you make your way through the 87 events. Fortunately you can customize the soundtrack with the music you?ve downloaded to your PS3. Sound effects are solid and sound even better in Dolby 5.1 as the whoosh of deployed missiles and the boom of a fired quake weapon give a good sense of where they?re coming from.

You can play the game with another player through split-screen or go online and compete with up to 7 other racers in customized matches. There aren?t many options for online play, just basic, head-to-head races, which thankfully run at a great frame rate and rarely suffer from lag issues. It will take you some time, and a heavy dose of perseverance, to complete the single player component of the game. This is due to the large number of events and high degree of difficulty, especially when attempting to obtain gold medals in time trails or speed laps. Players who stay with it though are rewarded with a surprisingly deep racing experience that looks absolutely stunning and is available for a mere $20 through the Playstation Network. This is undoubtedly WipEout?s biggest claim to greatness: the fact it?s only a fraction of the cost of a standard title while delivering a full gaming experience. If truth be told Studio Liverpool could?ve more than justified releasing this game on a disc and charging full price for it, what is has to offer when it comes to graphics, content and gameplay certainly merits this. Therefore we can only rejoice at the great value offered by this title as it heralds in WipEout?s new foray onto a next generation console.

Summary

Graphics:
+ Great looking tracks with nice design details
+ Sharp and realistic looking textures
+ Fantastic frame rate

Audio:
+ Game appropriate music tracks
+ Customizable sound track
– Only 9 original songs

Gameplay:
+ Fast and deep racer
+ Challenging experience
– Sense of repetition will set in as 87 events are spread out over only 8 race tracks

Lasting Appeal:

+ Lots of events divided into different race types
+ The game constantly pushes you to get better
+ Trophy support (with some of the toughest trophy challenges you can find) and online play
– Tough challenges may dissuade casual gamers from seeing it all the way through

 

9.0

 
If you haven?t downloaded this one yet, what are you waiting for? This next-gen iteration of the WipEout franchise is one of the best values on Playstation Network and offers fantastic graphics and a deep, challenging, not to mention blisteringly fast, racing experience. Beware however, this game is not easy and will push and push you until you?re ready to throw in the towel. But perseverance will bring a sense of accomplishment often missed in other racing games.