One of the defining games of the original Playstation; Wipeout had pulsating visuals, blistering speed and a cool club soundtrack that all made it an essential purchase for speed junkies. It was the title that made Playstation cool. Fast forward two generations of consoles and here we are again with Wipeout HD.
This iteration of the series takes the form of downloadable content off the PSN store at the tidy little sum of £11.99. For this price you get eight tracks, six from PSP game Wipeout Pure and two from Wipeout Pulse; updated nicely to be displayed in stunning 1080p visuals. Studio Liverpool really has shown there should not be any difference in graphics between downloadable and disc based software. It cannot be understated just how beautiful the game looks in HD, setting a whole new bar in visual fidelity for downloadable games.
Your first stop will be Campaign mode; progression through the mode follows a honeycomb structure. Anyone who played through Pulse will immediately be familiar. Win the medals in each event to garner enough points to unlock more races. Once you’ve unlocked all of them move on to the next tier; it’s simple yet effective. Races, time trials, speed laps and even mini tournaments are all within; giving some variety as you progress. Campaign mode starts easy enough on Uplift but even the best players will find themselves very challenged once they reach Meltdown.
Wipeout has always been notorious for its punishing handling, needing skilful use of the airbrakes to make any kind of dent on any races above the Flash speed setting. Fear not newbie racers, for Studio Liverpool has introduced a steering assist feature to help you on your way. The assist automatically guides your craft away from the walls making it slightly more forgiving. The downside is the steering assist slows your craft down when it kicks in, making it intentionally useless on the harder races and time trials.
The controls are the same classic layout as always with X to accelerate and the shoulder buttons controlling the air brakes. As with almost all PS3 games these days there is the optional motion controls. An interesting feature is the alternate motion controls where tilting the controller tilts the ship when airborne; helping to line up a perfect landing to your jump. Optional is the key word here though; give it a try for five minutes until the novelty wears off.
