Back to extremely high speed racing action. With a sad air hanging over it.

And so we come to another entry in the WipEout series.  And a game of many firsts and lasts.  Although this is not the last game in the series I have yet to play (still WipEout 2097, WipEout 64 and WipEout Fusion to finish), nor is it the last one in the chronological timeline of the series (it’s the first).  It is one of the first titles to be made for the Playstation Vita and it is more than likely the last WipEout game that will ever be made.  This is because it was the last game to be made by Studio Liverpool (formerly Psygnosis) before it was closed by Sony.  This was a sad day because I can recall playing Psygnosis games such as Chrono Quest way back in the days of the Atari ST and played many of their other titles in days since like Lemmings, Rollcage, Team Buddies and more.

The gameplay is instantly familiar to anyone who has played any of the other WipEout games.  Racing at speeds in the hundreds of miles an hour while hovering just a few feet off the ground and blasting your opponents into pieces while trying to get ahead of them and not die or slam into walls.  The racing style of these games has always been a bit of an acquired taste because it can be extremely unforgiving particularly to a newcomer who will often be slamming off walls continuously unable to control their high speed craft.  But if you stick with it, in time you will be gliding around quite happily.  It never really gets to the point where it’s easy, but you will eventually be able to win.  If you can learn to stop blinking, that is.

The gameplay is mixed up a little in each game and this one is no different.  Instead of a chain of tournaments, there is now a race board that you progress through.  There is a main path to follow with all the mandatory events and also branch off optional ones that can be used to earn extra experience and ships.  Experience is also a thing this time.  Everything you do from hitting boost pads to winning races gets you experience.  Obviously winning races in 1^st place gets you the most, but the more experience you get; the higher your level goes.  And the higher your level goes, the more bonus tracks and ships you can unlock.  Going through the main campaign will only net you a small number of ships and levels and there seems to be a lot more levels and ships to unlock.  Each event now has a pass requirement which used to only be present on some events in previous games.  In combat, you must do a certain number of points of damage.  In races, you must achieve a certain position.  In time trials, you must finish under a certain time, etc.

The main campaign itself is quite short, probably under 5 hours and is not too hard to get through with the exception of a few difficulty walls here and there (mostly at the end).  I’ve always been a big fan of the WipEout series ever since it’s first entry on the original PlayStation and this one is no exception.  No racing game can match the thrill or the tension when you are hurtling round the tight tracks and nailing all the corners.  It is something else.  Very few complaints at all come to mind for this game other than the minor one that Studio Liverpool neglected to enable the Vita's screenshot ability for it.  Yes, there is an in-race photo mode so you can take shots of the racing action and add blur effects and such.  But it is slow and cumbersome to use and I would have much preferred the normal screenshot ability.  Hence the low number of screenshots for this game.

But knowing this was the last WipEout game ever to be released made playing this quite a sombre affair because as I was enjoying it and marvelling at it’s technical achievement on what was at the time, the brand new Vita, I was constantly aware that it was WipEout’s swan song.  I had this game since summer 2012 and I probably should have played it before the studio closed so as not to have this haunting the experience.  This is also the last vita game that I have to play.  And there is only one other on my wish-list, the very ico-like Rime.  So it seems like the Vita will be gathering dust again for a while now unless more titles come out to pique my interest.