The second chronological but last played entry in the epic Wipeout series

Yet another title that I got many years ago but has been left by the way side until now.  I had put this entry in the Wipeout series off in apprehension of it's high difficulty level.  But after actually playing it,  it didn't seem terribly difficult after all.

It did however seem very short.  The campaign as it were only consisted of 9 races across 3 difficulty levels. There were other modes too like head to head and time trials but I was not interested in those and only wanted to do the main races.

The game play is the same as every other game in the series.  Namely high speed anti gravity racing that gets more and more high speed as you progress. It's been said that the handling in this game is the best in the entire series but having played them all now,  I would still say that Wip3out had the best handling of all the games in the series.  And is still my favourite by far.  But the handling in this one definitely comes a close second and Wip3out just refined it a little more.

Although this was only the second game in the series, this was the first game to pioneer the absorption of unwanted items allowing you to regain shield power without having to wait to get to the pits at the end of each lap.  It also introduced many of the now staple weapons such as the quake and energy drain. It also featured a huge amount of advertising for Red Bull for some reason.

An excellent Wipeout game all in all even if it was a bit short but it set the precedent of the better handling and more feasible tracks making it much more approachable than the bone shatteringly difficult first game.

It's also a tearful goodbye for me to Wipeout because I have now played every game in the series and with the closing of Studio Liverpool, there will never be any more made.

Quite sad. Goodbye Wipeout. Thanks for the wild ride.

The low point of an otherwise very high series

This one was a struggle to finish. Quite sad really because when I first got it, I was very excited to continue the Wipeout awesomeness after Wip3out. I played it for a little bit after I got it, but never finished it. Now, probably...8 years later, I return to it. Actually, this is the 2nd time that I return to it. I originally tried it back in April and did not care for it much and so moved on to WipEout Pure and WipEout Pulse instead which were much much better. And then I was too weary to go back to it again.

But I finally did. And finally finished it. And it was a bit of a chore because although it looks and sounds like WipEout, it does not feel and does not control like WipEout. It's not something that I can put my finger on. Although the tracks were purposefully made wider to try and make it more accessible, but it was somehow harder and more difficult to control.

But I got through it. For the sake of completeness of the WipEout series and the fact that I had already bought it. But I did not really enjoy it. And I would not recommend it. That is all.

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.

Another excellent title in the Wipeout series. Much better than Pure because of the interesting race grid campaign that mixed up the race types. Also the first appearance of the Zone mode which is so simple yet such a great concept where you control a craft you cant stop and it constantly gets faster and faster so it's a game of survival. Graphics also another big step up from Wipeout Pure and all the ships and tracks are highly detailed and gorgeous. Handling also feels spot on just like Pure and Wipeout 3 did which let me compete in the fastest Phantom class again. Wipeout Fusion is just seeming like a worse and worse game with weirder and weirder handling the more of the series I play. In game photo mode was also a very nice addition that every game should have letting you pause at any time and take an awesome snapshot.

Much more enjoyable than Wipeout Fusion. Like the return to the more traditional racing style and class set-up of the older Wipeouts. Also very pretty looking, especially for a launch PSP title. Think this also looked a lot better than Wipeout Fusion... Providing all the usual Wipeout thrills starting off slow but getting very fast very fast. Lots of extra tracks and ships available via DLC which is a nice addition. Some of the best ships were amongst the DLC ships. Might come back to this some day to do more of the optional stuff, but for now I will leave it with having finished up to Rapier class (the 4th of 5 speed classes) because the last, Phantom class, is obscene. There is a slight lack of screenshots for this title due to the PSP's tendency to lock up while taking them, so I didn't want to chance too many especially given this game's difficulty. Probably will have to go back to Wipeout Fusion at some point. But after being reminded how awesome the good games in the series are, I'm not so keen to go back to that bad one.