WipEout Pulse Hands-on Preview

Many will tell you that the first Wipeout on the original PlayStation was a key ingredient in bursting video games from the status of extraordinarily popular children’s toys up to their current role as a culture spanning, all encompassing entertainment phenomenon.

Along with Sony’s infamous flyers handed out at Glastonbury festival that were designed to have a certain second use as a piece of drug taking paraphernalia, it was Wipeout’s pounding club-land soundtrack that was largely responsible for tens of thousands of over-18s realising it was OK to play video games. Or so legend has it.

Others will say it is a kart-racer with delusions of grandeur, that is both too fast and too difficult to have any credit as an arcade racer, but too simple to warrant the attention enjoyed by ‘serious’ driving games.

Regardless of your opinion, there is no doubt that Wipeout is still an intense, demanding racer that has carried its distinct brand and loyal fanbase for years, and with Pulse the series makes a welcome return to the PSP, following on from 2005’s Wipeout Pure. Tucking into the tracks made available for the preview build of the game, there is a marked improvement in graphics and smoothness, but on the whole the game’s style is largely unchanged.

Again the racing focuses on high speed cornering chasing a racing line that pushes you to the very limits of control, creating highly-strung races where the slightest mistake could knock you from first to last in an instance. Air-breaking is the steering method of choice for proficient players, letting you make wide arcing turns that send the back of your futuristic hovercraft out sideways as you sweep round corners with almost no drop in speed.

Once more a range of weapons and power-ups litter each course, offering all the traditional mines and forward firing rockets, along with various boosts and an autopilot, with each giving any racer certain strategic advantages. 24 new tracks are included, though those on offer did look and feel rather similar to previous versions of the game, which is of course a danger of developing an established series, treading the fine line between improvement and ruining a proven formula.

There is also a continued emphasis on contemporary dance music floor fillers as the soundtrack to the series. With tracks already confirmed by current darlings of pounding bass such as The Stanton Warriors and Loco Dice, Wipeout’s developers have not only demonstrated that they know what a good tune to race to sounds like, but shown they have an ear to the ground when it comes to fashionable music producers.

Considering the main game dynamics, the style of racing, the handling and the soundtrack, Pulse seems more like an upgrade pack of new tracks than a true sequel to Pure, but as of yet we have not looked at the other additions to the game, alluded to tantalisingly by dead links in the menu screens of the preview build.

Sony will be rightly keen for you to hear that you can download your own tunes from your memory stick or download new raceways, skins and tunes from the game’s website. You’ll also be able to custom paint your ship’s bodywork on your PC before returning to the smaller silicone screen with your new creation.

The most significant development, however, might be of less interest to gadget fans wanting to show off their PSP’s increasing abilities, but has a far more significant effect on the core of the game that is the racing. The new feature, labelled ‘Mag-Strip’, lays a magnetic line through the centre of the tracks, allowing you to lock on your angular racing craft. What this means is that the game’s level designers have managed to get away with far more exaggerated layouts than possible in previous versions of the game, where the tracks were always gentle and undulating. Now loops, sheer drops and right-angled changes in course direction all feature.

And there’s a little something called online play too. The ability to race head to head with fellow gamers is something Wipeout fans have wanted for a long time, and it’s going to be possible in Pulse. What’s more, the game will feature online leaderboards so you can see how you compare to the best in the world.

With a smattering of new features and the welcome introduction of online play, Pulse looks unlikely to disappoint Wipeout fans and newcomers to the series. Expect a thorough review of Pulse when it arrives on the PSP later this year.