The game that made games cool is back. Is it still as good third time around?
It’s been four years since the original Wipeout appeared. A futuristic race game, it had a simple formula. Take a handful of twisty, dark and moody racetracks, ten or fifteen ludicrously fast hovercraft of varying types, and a selection of weapons to liven up proceedings. Wipeout 2097 brought the concept up to date, making the action faster, the weapons more powerful and added a thumping soundtrack from the likes of the Chemical Brothers, Underworld, and the Prodigy.
So what have Psygnosis added to the third in the series? Well, something and nothing, depending on your point of view. The colourful, almost garish graphics that adorned Wipeout 2097 are gone, replaced by a much subtler palette in grey and beige. This extends to the tracks as well - they are far gentler on the eye. What you may not notice is that the slight blockiness that affected the earlier games is gone, replaced by the new high-resolution mode that is used throughout.
New features? Eight new tracks, three new teams, and seven new weapons join some of the predecessors’ best. The craft have gained a limited "turbo-boost", activated by a shoulder button. A split-screen two player mode is a welcome addition, split either horizontally or vertically. As you might expect, the Dual Shock controller is supported and it works very well, delivering a slight vibration on scraping the sides of the track or when using full boost and a bigger kick on collisions.
The music is in the capable hands of DJ Sasha who provides five exclusive tracks, with another nine from artists such as the Propellerheads, Orbital, and Paul Van Dyk. Some old favourites make an appearance too, and as we’ve all come to expect from these games the music is of the very highest quality. Unsurprisingly, Sony and Sasha are planning a club tour to publicise the release. Sound effects will be familiar to fans and do a fine job of augmenting the atmosphere created by the visuals and music.
Crucially, Wip3out has retained the "straight-from-brain-to-screen" feel of the game. The craft controls are easy to pick up and both beginners and master players will be right at home from the off. Although all the tracks take place in the same city each one has its own unique character - from bright, wide, sweeping turns in the shopping mall to narrow, dark and claustrophobic corridors in the industrial circuits. It still shifts, too. Those players who got good at Wipeout 2097 will remember the "Phantom" mode, a hidden race class which was so fast as to provide an enormous challenge to the very best. Wip3out won’t disappoint these people.
Familiar weapons include rockets, guided missiles and everyone’s favourite, the "ripple" effect - this sends a wave down the track ahead of you, rather like sending waves down a rug. It’s still just as powerful. New additions include a force wall, to block the path of your opponents, and an energy drain that steals some of their shield power. To help you use these new toys, a rear view is only a tap of a shoulder button away and there’s also a direction finding arrow that points toward the nearest craft.
The longevity of the game looks good as well. Psygnosis have altered the balance of the game so that new ships and tracks become available much more quickly, but the best stuff is still only available to the advanced player. Once you’re bored of straight racing, there are a variety of challenge and tournament modes to play with. The eliminator challenges you to destroy a certain number of opposing craft before the race finishes to progress to the next stage. The pits are not active in this mode, so no repairing of your craft is possible - although this doesn’t stop the other ships diving down there, just in case. There’s a Grand Prix-style season to play too.
The new two-player mode is great fun, once both players get used to the slightly limiting screen area. However once things really start to get messy there is occasionally a slight graphic glitch to be seen - but bearing in mind the speed and complexity of the graphics, it is no wonder. All things considered, the engine is superb and it’s surprising the poor Playstation doesn’t start smoking from the vents. It’s a minor problem and doesn’t affect the playability of what is a new and very welcome addition to the game. Many of the new game modes can be played split-screen, and it’s fun taking on a friend over the course of four or five races to discover who is really the best.
Many Wipeout 2097 owners will be wondering if this new game is worth shelling out on. Well, happily, the answer is definitely yes. Whilst it doesn’t significantly move the concept ahead, the addition of the new tracks, new craft and especially the split-screen mode mean it is much more fun to play. The new music is inspired, and for fans of this style it’s probably worth mentally subtracting the price of an album from the cost of the game, because as before the CD can be played in an ordinary hi-fi. The gameplay is hugely entertaining both for fans - who will not be disappointed - and for new players, who have in store an experience that is almost as beautiful as it is exhilarating.