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WipEout Pure Mini Review

Jon Wilcox

26/08/2005

The iconic PlayStation franchise makes its debut on PSP - but will it 'wipeout' the competition?

One of the early franchises developed for PlayStation back in the mid-1990s was WipEout, which seemed to personify the very essence of the Sony console. After several iterations across both PlayStation and a heavily delayed and average PlayStation2 release, it seemed almost natural to expect a WipEout title on PSPâ¦an expectation that is now realised.

Set at the end of the 22nd Century (2197 to be precise), WipEout PURE sees the SCEE Liverpool Studio team go back to basics in an attempt to revive the series and take it back to the glory days of WipEout 2097. Six teams from past WipEout titles and two brand new constructors aim to win the inaugural FX300 league, born from the ashes of the F9000 competition decades before. Taking place on the Pacific Island of Makana across twelve new tracks and four classic tracks, the game offers several gamemodes such as Single Race, Tournament, Time Trial, Free Play, and Zone - which takes the idea of high speed racing to the extreme. While the first four are self-explanatory, Zone perhaps needs clarification.

In a nutshell the idea is to survive for as long as possible as the player's craft endlessly accelerates; needless to say the use of airbrakes has never been more important especially when travelling at speeds over 850mph! It's a great bit of original gameplay that perfectly suits the franchise that would look out of place in other racing seriesâ¦Five classes of race are available in the game, although three are initially locked, but from the slower Vector and Venom classes through to the breakneck suicidal Phantom class the well constructed learning curve from the previous games is retained and further polished with the inclusion of a new mid-range class called Flash. Single Race, Time Trial, and Tournament are all available to play via ad hoc Wi-Fi so up to eight PSPs can engage in futuristic racing, although it does not support Game Sharing, which would have been a nice bonus!

Aside from the thrill of the race itself, the player's performance is kept on record as a series of progression tables, which list the gold, silver, and bronze medals won across the various gamemodes - thereby unlocking hidden content and other features. Lap times and other records can be retrieved at any time, and the game also allows players to both broadcast and receive records from other PSPs via Wi-Fi. The more statistical minded PURE racers can also see a complete breakdown of figures (including the total amount of time a player has spent looking at the Stats page)â¦The three report options are all very useful an provide a player with an up-to-date idea of their progression through the game, although some might find it a case of information overload.

Piloting the vehicles with the PSP 'nipple' is rather tricky and over-sensitive at first, but skilful use of the two airbrakes (via the L and R shoulder-buttons) soon brings the craft under some control. For WipEout veterans, PURE is 100% intuitive with the same control system as previous titles in the franchise, and to be honest they aren't exactly the most complex to learn either - this is an arcade racer in every sense. As with the other WipEout titles in the past, the craft are enabled with a host of weaponry that the player can enable by flying over the activation areas on the tracks and using the Square and Circle buttons to activate or absorb an unlocked power. Incidentally, all of the much loved weapons are available in PURE ranging from the defensive Shield right through to the more destructive Plasma Boltâ¦

Visually WipEout PURE is PURE PSP, making use of the crisp screen ensuring that the game actually looks better than the PS2's WipEout Fusion. The handheld has no problems with the high speed racing and twisting courses, and there was no frame rate problems - instead the player is left with the sort of smooth graphics that leave you in awe. Continuing the WipEout tradition of using techno-dance music as a soundtrack, PURE features a host of bands including Aphex Twin, LFO, and Freq Nasty that give the game that extra edge - so WipEout newbies don't expect a chilled out session from the likes of Moby or St. Germainâ¦

One of the unofficial bonuses linked with WipEout PURE on its initial release in the US was the web browser that could unlocked with a little bit hacking. Of course the demand to know the detailed step-by-step instructions to obtain the browser has since become obsolete since the release of Version 2.00 of the PSP Firmware, which includes an official browser. Not that gamers have had to rely on such trickery to further the attraction of PURE. Already downloadable content packs (Gamma Pack 1, 2, 3, and Classic Pack 1) have been released in the US - as well as a Coca-Cola sponsored pack - and SCEE has already announced that this will continue the Classic Pack, and (exclusive to the PAL territories) an Omega Pack. The extra tracks included in the Packs look set to be added to in the future with plans to release addition soundtracks also in the works, so expect WipEout PURE to linger for a while.

Considered one of the grand-daddy franchises for PlayStation, WipEout has made a great transition over to the PSP, and will delight fans of the series especially after the disappointing Fusion on PlayStation2. This is a back-to-basics affair for Liverpool Studio, but that doesn't mean that gameplay is thin on the ground or simplified - this is literally WipEout in its purest form and SCEE couldn't have summed up the gameplay better. WipEout. Pure.