With Wipeout Pulse SCE Studios Liverpool brings the future back with this second Wipeout game for the PSP. As the sequel to Wipeout Pure, Wipeout Pulse is the seventh game in the series.
The game is set in the year 2207. There players take part in the FX400 Anti-Gravity Racing League, competing in various types of races at several race courses set around the world.
System: PSP
Genre: Racing-Combat
Release dates: December 12th 2007 (AUS), December 14th 2007 (EURO), February 12th 2008 (USA)
Players: single player, 2-8 local and online multiplayer
Developer: SCE Studios Liverpool
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Origin: England
As is tradition with the Wipeout series, gamers trench race at high speeds in futuristic anti-gravity vehicles outfitted with weapons. Newcomers to the Wipeout franchise will likely revel over the introduction of a training mode, taking you through the basics.
This entry in the racing series features 12 new reversible circuits, a load of fresh high-speed vehicles and some deadly new weaponry. There’s also a new track feature in Pulse called a Mag-Strip, a part of the track that temporarily locks the vehicles onto the track like a magnet, allowing them to race through loops, 90-degree-angled parts of the track, and steep drops.
The game features seven different modes, wireless support, and eight teams (including one called EG-X). The game’s soundtrack features tracks from Stanton Warriors, Loco Dice, and Mason, but players can choose to play their own MP3 files from a memory stick.
The game introduces a new online multiplayer feature, where racers can battle each other at amazing speeds. And if that’s not enough for you, there’s a host of new downloadable content to buy via the PlayStation Store as well.
Watch the Wipeout Pulse launch trailer.
The available circuits are:
* Talon’s Junction, set in an abandoned research park in Wales.
* Moa Therma, on an island chain off the coast of Sicily.
* Metropia, an urban circuit in New Kyoto.
* Arc Prime, a circuit that runs around Seattle.
* De Konstruct, in Geneva.
* Tech De Ra, built upon the remains of a former hydroponic farm in Arizona.
* The Amphesium, a purpose-built stadium-like circuit in Las Vegas, Nevada.
* Fort Gale, set around a weather research station on Gibraltar.
* Basilico, an abandoned city apparently in Nova Scotia.
* Platinum Rush, a circuit set in the parklands of a thawed and preserved Greenland.
* Vertica, located in the Cayman Islands and similar to Moa Therma.
* Outpost 7, a research and communications station built at the very top of the world in northern Finland.
The available music tracks are:
* Aphex Twin – Fenix Funk 5 (Wipeout Edit)
* Booka Shade – Steady Rush
* B-Phreak & Groove Allegiance – Break Ya Self (Wipeout Remix)
* DJ Fresh – X-Project (100% Pure Mix)
* Dopamine – Flat-Out
* Ed Rush, Optical & Matrix – Frontline
* Kraftwerk – Aero Dynamik
* Loco Dice – City Lights (Martin Buttich Remix)
* Mason – Exceeder (Special Mix)
* Mist – Smart Systems
* Move Ya! & Steve Lavers – Chemical
* Noisia- Seven Stitches
* Rennie Pilgrem & Blim – Slingshot (Wipeout Mix)
* Shlomi Aber & Guy Gerber – Sea of Sand (Wipeout Mix)
* Stanton Warriors – Tokyo
* Skream – Suspicious Thoughts
Watch six minutes of in-game Wipeout Pulse video.
So what are the main features of Wipeout Pulse?
* Intense gaming experience loaded with high-tech weapons, high-octane speed, and futuristic anti-gravity combat racing.
* Eight teams including the new EG-X team and 12 new reversible tracks.
* Large variation of in-track design including loops, vertical drops, 90-degree angled sections, and new Mag-Strip track feature allows ships to magnetically stick to tracks.
* Pumping soundtrack licensed by top artists including Mason, Loco Dice, Stanton Warriors, and Kraftwerk.
* Use the custom soundtrack feature that allows playback of MP3s stored on the PSP Memory Stick, if you place them into the MUSIC\WIPEOUT folder, and the game will automatically recognize them, after which you can organize your list to check the ones you want to play.
* An all-new Photo Mode, which captures in-game screenshots and stores them onto the PSP Memory Card.
* The new Cannon weapon replaces the Disruptor Bolt from Wipeout Pure.
* A loyalty system, where players get bonuses for using a particular team regularly. By attaining high ranking positions with your favorite team, and then logging into Wipeout-game.com via Wipeout Pulse with your PlayStation Network account and synchronizing your profile will help raise the overall Team Allegiance score. Once that’s done you’ll see your online rankings on the leaderboards, records, game profiles, as well as having the ability to download other players’ ghosts to try and beat their best times.
* Seven game modes including Single Race, Zone (mode without weapons & acceleration; playable on most normal tracks instead of custom made tracks), Tournament, and Time Trial returning from Wipeout Pure, and the addition of the all-new Speed Lap and Head-to-Head modes, plus the return of Eliminator mode last seen in Wipeout 3 which features 2 all-new weapons exclusive to the game mode: Repulsor and Shurikens.
* 2-8 player wireless multiplayer mode via Ad hoc and Infrastructure modes.
* New tools include a single player campaign editor for grids with full custom race controls with more functionality than regular game grid. These can be shared as well.
* New ship customization features on the official Wipeout Pulse website that has a Flash-based Wipeout Pulse Skin Editor page where players can create their own skin for any ship then download their created skin from the internet via their PSP. The textures used in the skin editor can easily be imported to more professional tools like Photoshop for editing. These can be shared as well.
Watch anti-gravity Wipeout Pulse gameplay footage.
Now let’s see how much fun Wipeout Pulse is on a scale from 1 to 10?
FUN FACTOR – 9.5
The game’s FX400 Anti-Gravity Racing League is touted as the ultimate test of pilot and machine. With spectacular new weapons and an enhanced rules package that boosts engine performance, they aren’t far off. Wipeout Pulse is the whole package: The game looks fantastically sharp, the controls are tight, it plays lightning fast, and graphics and special effects are as spectacular as they are colorful, and then there are lots of new tracks and old & new weapons to have fun with.
If I had to say how much content is packed into the tiny UMD I’d run out of breath before finishing, since I’ve already listed it above let’s put it down in one long sentence: There’s a total of seven different gameplay modes, you can add custom soundtracks, you’ve got a single player campaign editor for grids, you can take and save pictures of every angle of our race, you can save your replays, you can save the ghosts of your best times and exchange them online, a web-based skin editor allows you to edit your very own ship, upload your highscores to online leaderboards, and to top it all of there’s the fantastic 2-8 player local and online multiplayer! As you can tell there’s a clear focus on the community surrounding the game, all of whom you can recognize by their intense look and fast reflexes.
Do you want to know how I know when a game’s really great? It’s when I want to get back to playing it instead of writing this review. So let’s keep it short: If you (even slightly) like arcade experiences or racing games, Wipeout Pulse is very addictive and comes highly recommended!
Graphics – 9.0
The game’s visuals are polished and filled with neat streamlined models. The tracks are long and with the ships acceleration they fly by at lightning speeds. If you’re racing on a track with rain and you move your camera from third- to first-person perspective, you’ll see the rain drops drip on your screen. Whether you’re playing single player, local or online multiplayer, it never slows down and keeps running at a smooth 30 frames-per-second throughout the game. Obviously this makes the game look less detailed than it could be, but environmental (neon) lighting and special effects still look top-notch and your draw distance is amazing despite the speed the game moves at through expansive cities and the like. The overall presentation looks very slick, but I have to be honest and say those weapons pickup icons are pretty cryptic when you first start out, but I suppose the pause-menu / in-game manual can help with that. Again, it all looks very futuristic, very cool.
Audio – 8.0
The Wipeout Pulse soundtrack is in line with it’s tight futuristic look, it’s filled with licensed techno and trance beats. Don’t like that kind of beat-pumping music? No problem! Instead, you can import your own music to create a custom MP3 soundtrack list in addition to or to replace the existing music and remixes. The computer voices are fitting and the sound effects are very well done too.
Ingenuity – 8.5
With a clear focus on bitesize gameplay, the game offers short races that auto-save & -load, easy menu navigation, and various custom controls. For example, Single Airbrake controls add precision for those players with a hard time adapting to the standard arcade controls. Thanks to the mix of zone (race/training without weapons & acceleration), time trial and race modes, you’ll get the hang of acceleration, braking, and power-ups much faster. Building up your skills until you’re in the zone with each level is key to beating the AI-controlled competition in the main race campaign. Likely the developers knew at some point, even on the higher difficulties, players would memorize every corner and as a result gave the AI a weapons selection advantage form time to time, which can be annoying. However, the learning curve is very challenging and you’ll need perseverance to finish the game’s 12 tracks.
Replay Value – 9.0
Expect the game to last you about 10 hours as the tracks get progressively harder. It’s perfect for both a quick play during a break and for long hauls as you travel. While the number of tracks is limited to 12 (not counting their reversal or paid downloadable tracks), ultimately it’s the various gameplay modes let loose on them and the track’s tough learning curves that make them engaging enough for you to discover every corner as you play them over and over and in doing so initial dislike (more like hate) grows into enjoyment. Also very important is that for the first time in the series’ history, the multiplayer modes are online! You’ve got seven different modes to keep you busy, along with plenty of content to unlock as you play more. Throughout February 2008 there’s paid downloadable content coming out for the game in four Wipeout Pulse: Expansion Packs that add new teams and tracks.