I really must confess, Wipeout was the game that sold me on the Playstation way back in the day, when the "Playstation" was mysteriously locked inside a glass cabinet and all I had was a non-dualshock controller in my greedy hands at a computer trade show in Melbourne. It seems only fitting that at the release of the PSP, a wipeout derivative shows up to show what the device is made of. I'm talking about Wipeout Pure.

I'm going to avoid posting any screenshots in this review. If you want to see them, they're out there, but screenshots really don't do it justice. The game looks like garbage sitting still - okay, maybe "looks like garbage" is a little harsh, but it definitely doesn't show what the game looks like by viewing a single frame.

The story (as if Wipeout Pure needs a freakin' story) is that the old racing league from Wipeout 2097 plummeted, went broke, whatever, and there were only a few racing teams that went on as amateurs. Now there's a new racing league (the FX300, if it matters) and the purists (I imagine that's where the word association of the title comes in) can resume their racingly duties again for profit. Anyway, the story doesn't really matter too much now does it?

Controls and Gameplay

Anyone who's ever played Wipeout (or the bullfrog PC effort "High Octane", or perhaps even Gremlin's "Slipstream 5000") will basically have a good handle on the game's controls and physics. You're flying a jet powered craft, hovering above a track, along with 7 other craft that intend on arriving at the end of the race in front of you. The controls are simple enough, left/right steers, with the L/R buttons actuating a "dual air-brake" to help you screech (I imagine "screech" is the wrong word) around those tight corners, and X is thrust.

As you fly over lit-up Xes on the track, you pick up powerups. You can either use these with the square button, or press the circle button to absorb them to replenish your shields. Which, by the way, take a severe pounding until you get the physics of the game down.

Other than that, there really isn't a lot to it. Pressing thrust as soon as you see the green "Go!" at the starting grid gives you a slight boost, which will be wasted if you don't veer to the left to shoot up the center (you'll crash into the 6th place racer, every time). There's also a nifty barrel roll, which you can execute any time you leave the track such as over a jump. Simply "waggle" the stick (left/right/left or right/left/right) while in the air, and your craft will flip over. Inexplicably, it'll hit the ground with a thump, then take off with a brief turbo boost (but draining some shield energy too).

The game has a very steep progression curve it expects you to keep - once you beat the first two leagues you will require very good reactions for the next few. I've found it helpful to simply "turn early" and try to pick a line down the center of the track, but as fast as the game can get you can't always think about it too much.

Graphics and Sound

As I stated in the introduction, the graphics in Wipeout Pure really don't look their best sitting still. No, not until you're flying down a track at 300MPH do they start to really shine. The tracks are quite panoramic, and with all except the underwater tunnels, the game is completely bright enough to play outside in the sunlight.

The soundtrack is an acquired taste. To fit the futuristic notion of the game, it's pretty well all techno-style music, which also happens to fit the fast pace. It can get repetitive though, but there's always the option to turn it off. I haven't noticed any periods of the sound screwing up or missing, and the sounds are about as realistic as one could expect for a futuristic jet-racing game.

Multiplayer

Wipeout Pure supports ad-hoc multiplayer, which is quite fun when you're on a train (even though the manual expressly deters you from such play in crowded areas) or somesuch, although I personally miss the ability to include computer drones in the multiplayer games (the track seems a little empty with two ships).

Wipeout Pure doesn't support infrastructure mode.

Perhaps what it's most famous for is it's ability to download content via the web. Of course, by utilizing instructions found elsewhere (cheers roto), one can point the rudimentary browser anywhere their heart desires (with a few limitations of course). The primary use of the web browser is of course to download new game content - users can already access a new track, a new ship, and a completely new skin.

The incredibly steep learning curve the game expects you to keep will find some players frustrated. The fact that you can go from 1st to 8th in the small amount of time it takes between going into the last bend and out of the last bend is aggrevating at times, but perseverance pays off.

I've also had one report of someone getting motion sickness from it, I have a tendency to get sleepy from concentrating (something that didn't happen with "NFSU: Rivals"). If you easily get motion sickness from video games you might want to try out someone else's copy first.

As I said earlier, I do miss the ability to populate the track with computer controlled drones during multiplayer sessions. I also don't see anywhere it keeping track of multiplayer opponents you've beaten or been beaten by.

One final gripe could be the game takes too long to initially load, but what can you expect?

This game is definitely fun to play unless you're dead-set against any form of racing game. In fact, until the fabled firmware updates come out with the web browser, this game is probably worth the money just for the web browser. The game shows the graphics capabilities of the PSP off quite well, and as new content appears on the SCE websites, repeated playability is extended quite a bit.

Indeed, it's not entirely outside the realm of possibility the track editors might open up to users after a year or two (either via developer assistance, or someone finding an exploit) - seeing a flood of new tracks and such.

Recommended: Yes