This exceptional release marks the latest
installment in Sony's long-running futuristic racing series. It once again
shows that, despite being more than a decade old, the Wipeout franchise
still defines the standard for futuristic racing in terms of style, design
and gameplay mechanics. With Wipeout Pulse as the second version for the
PSP following the much-lauded Pulse from the launch window, you'd expect
some significant improvements. These are plentiful and include several
significant gameplay enhancements that redefine the experience without
losing its essential appeal. The most impressive of these are called Mag-Strips
which lock the player's ship onto the course and allow players to race
through massive 90-degree vertical drops and massive circular loops
without dropping off the course. These are quite effective and bring an
exciting new dimension to the game's already intense racing battles. Your
ship's handling changes slightly when you go over these areas, but you
still have a great deal of control thanks to the game's intuitive
controls. Playing with either the analog or digital pad gives your ship
plenty of maneuverability, though we found the analog offered a generally
superior feel, though which style you prefer will largely depend on your
personal preference. While these changes are impressive, the basic
gameplay mechanics and feel of the game haven't changed that much. The
game still requires split second reflexes and features a number of cool
weapons such as the trademark quake, autopilot, missile and bomb pick-ups
on each track.
While
these changes seem superficial, the developers have also gone under the
hood and tweaked the game's difficulty. These changes are subtle, but
you'll notice them immediately. The courses are quite challenging this
time around and seem a bit trickier than they did in Pure, with sharper
turns. Your opponents also seem to be more aggressive this time around,
making for some fierce battles. The controls feel very much the same as in
previous games and most Wipeout veterans should be able to get the hang of
its look in no time, with all the features, including the famous
air-brakes and techniques you've come to expect. The pacing racing and
your ship's performance depends on which ship you decide to use. As in the
previous Wipeout games, players can select from a number of racing teams,
such as the classic Quirex, AG-Systems, Feisar, Auricom, Piranha and new
addition, EG Systems. This time around, each time you win a race with one
of these teams, you'll earn loyalty points which can translate into ship
appearance and enhancements and even unlock new vehicles if you earn
enough points. This system is really well designed and creates a deeper,
more coherent gaming experience than some of the previous games provided.
However, it's still very much a Wipeout game, so the emphasis on speed and
vehicle combat remains at the forefront.
Wipeout Pulse's biggest under-the-hood
changes involve its progression and reward system. The game's structure
has been changed dramatically this time around with the inclusion of a new
grid system. This comes into play during Campaign mode, where you can
navigate through the grid and unlock hexagonal cells. Each cell contains
individual events which that have to be won with medals in order to unlock
adjoining cells and races. The grids themselves are divided into different
stages that can be unlocked by reaching a certain number of points per
race. This structure gives Wipeout Pulse more than 40 unique events in all
that can be unlocked as you progress through the grids. What's even more
impressive about this approach comes into play when you enter the game's
new Race Box mode. Here, you can create your own racing grid tournaments
and unique events and race courses that have been unlocked in the main
mode. You can select which course you want to play, the mode of play such
as Zone, Solo Race or Time trial mode, the number of opponents and whether
weapons will be used. The single player modes are impressive and there are
also several online modes that support both infrastructure and ad-hoc
modes with support for up to four players simultaneously. The developers
have also opened the door to additional online community features with
player-ranking and online tournament modes. You'll also be able to
download additional skins, ships and tracks plus Players can also create
their own grids and upload them online to share with other players. This
extensive online support adds even more value to the game, using the PSP's
abilities effectively to its advantage.
This
user customability is already impressive but this approach also extends
into your ship itself where you can create and use your own skins for a
unique vehicle appearance. You can also download and share skins online
and use the new Photo mode at the end of each race to create snapshots of
the most exciting moments. As the new structure illustrates, Pulse has
been designed to make an even deeper experience. In addition to these new
features, there are also some impressive new single player modes that add
more variety to the gameplay. This includes the Elimination mode, where
the laggard racer on each lap loses automatically, lending higher stakes
to each lap. You can also compete in a head- to-head mode where you battle
against another player. Wipeout Pulse also includes the expected single
race, tournament, time trail and Speed Lap modes which can be mixed and
matched. Pure's most ingenious mode, the Zone mode where you battle an
increasingly fast series of speed boosts until your ship is destroyed also
makes a return appearance. This multitude of modes makes for a much deeper
and more involving experience. The new structure is also well-suited to
portable play, since you can race a few courses and progress quickly
without burning up too much of the PSP's battery life.
Given the forward-looking aesthetic
standard set by the previous games, Wipeout Pulse has a lot to live up to.
It brings up the graphics engine seen in Pure a few notches and features
incredibly detailed environments and tracks. The game doesn't stray far
from the look and feel of previous titles, with the beautiful, Designer's
Republic-inspired landscapes and design very much in evidence this time
around. Pulse moves at a smooth and consistent frame-rate throughout and
doesn't skip on the level of detail, making for an intense experience that
comes at players relentlessly. The coherent and stylish design remains
impressive and extends to the cool opening sequence to the menus and
interface, all of which combine to create one of the best-looking PSP
games to date. As you might expect, the game's thundering techno
soundtrack features some of the top electronic music artists, such as
Aphex Twin, Ed Rush and Optical along with newcomers Mist, Noisia, Loco
Dice and, 8-Phreak to create an excellent musical accompaniment that
enhances the action perfectly. There seems to be more DnB this time
around, but these harder tracks fit with the game's edgier difficulty to
give it a more urban feel.
There
aren't that many racing series that have defined their genre the way
Wipeout has over the past decade, but then again, few have consistently
delivered the same mix of adrenaline-fueled gameplay and stylish visuals
that have become its trademark. Wipeout Pulse offers a prime example of
this approach. Several new gameplay elements have been implemented, such
as mag-strips and the new grid system offers more depth. Player
customization has also been enhanced, with customizable tournaments,
editable ship skins and a clever Race Box mode offering the ability to
create your own racing experience. The game's controls and feel are
familiar yet these tweaks and changes add some fresh elements that give
players a greater degree of freedom to interact with the game. With almost
nothing to fault, Wipeout Pulse delivers an invigorating racing experience
that once again defines the standards of exciting gameplay, artistic
coherence and online technology on the PSP.
- Michael Palisano
Grade: B+
