WipEout HD

The Wipeout series as now been a part of the gaming scene for a good long while, since first appearing on Sony's first gaming console in the Playstation. Since then the franchise as appeared on a number of different Sony consoles including the Playstation 2, Playstation portable and now the Playstation 3. It as become a series much loved by it's fans and it was only a matter of time before we saw it make it's PS3 debut, but does it meet the high expectation that fans have come to expect from the series or does it struggle to make a big enough impact on the Playstation Network and PS3 Users. The answer depends on your experience of past Wipeout games because it's clear that developers Studio Liverpool didn't want to do anything radical for the franchises first appearance on PS3. A lot of WipeoutHD feels very familiar and although this maybe an issue for many fans, theres still a great value package on offer here for a very impressive selling price. 

As I said previously, WipeoutHD is very familar for those who have ever touched a past game in the racing series. The gameplay is still very much Wipeout and the general visual style is still very much Wipeout. This may not be a bad thing as WipeoutHD still looks beautiful, but the general feel of the artistic style feels a little old now and it would have been nice to see something a little different but if you have never experienced a Wipeout game before, then you'll find that WipeoutHD is a stunningly beautiful visual experience.  All eight of the games tracks are remastered tracks from the recent two PSP titles in Pure and Pulse, two of the tracks are from Pulse while the other six are from Pure. This may not sit well with past Wipeout fans, it would have been nice to see some brand new tracks on offer here but the tracks included are still a lot of fun and can be challenging for those new to the series. Maybe we will see new tracks as DLC in the near future, but the tracks on offer here felt a little to familar to trully feel unique. But all eight tracks have been remastered beautifully, they look great with sharp visuals that will blow your eyes out of their head sockets.

WipeoutHD's visuals look fantastic and run even better in gameplay, everything here looks sharp and the game is worthy of it's High Definition title. It runs beautifully in 1080p and around 60fps as Studio Liverpool wanted, the only critism I have is that the games artistic visual style as been done all before and even the stunning HD Visuals doesn't help you remove the feeling that you've seen this all before. But both the tracks and racers do indeed look great, even if the visual effects can be a little hit or miss. For example the games missiles explosion effects can look a little old gen but its a small moan of a game that runs and looks better then most PS3 full priced titles on sale at the moment.

The game features a number of different modes, including campaign and online. The campaign sees you racing through different events such as the usual modes of Race, Time Event and Zone. The campaign features different levels of both speed and differculty, these two of course fit hand in hand together as the faster you go the harder the game is to play. But the general feel to this mode is really confortable and although we have seen it before, still fits the general feel to the experience on offer and will please most fans. Of course WipeoutHD features Trophies so you'll be picking up some of these both offline in the campaign and online in the games online mode with which I will speak more of in a little while. The campaign as a simple scoring system of Bronze, Silver and gold medals and although you will be revisiting many modes again and again, it does a good job to space them all correctly and not feel repetitive as you'd expect. Race is how'd you'd expect it to be, a simple race of 8 which sticks to the traditional form of racing we have all come to expect from the Wipeout series. Time Events appear as a multiple lap event where you have a set time to meet consisting the time of mulitple levels rather then just the one quick lap, and the other form is indeed in the form of a quick lap which you'll get a number of set laps to beat. The final mode is Zone, one of the most interesting on offer. Zone isn't new either, but it's still a billiant mode where you race around a single track, then with each lap you start to go faster and faster until you reach the limit of your skill, usually ending up seeing you smacking to many times against a wall and destroying your ship. This mode is beautiful with vibrant colours that change depending on the level of play/speed as you go faster and faster. 

Again, these modes might be a little to familar for those who have experienced the more recent Wipeout games. So if you include yourself as one of these, then you might be wondering if there is enough here to worthy it's price tag, thankfully WipeoutHD also features an impressive Online mode which runs well. You can race against seven fellow gamers on any of the games tracks and it runs very well from my playtime with it. As you'd expect, Wipeout HD's online mode is also a lot of fun to play and playing against other actual gamers will always feel better then playing against the games A.I which though perfectly fine, doesn't always offer the challenge and unpredictability you'd hope for. The game of course also features the expected online leaderboards and many of the things you commonly see with online racers. Wipeout as always been a game which was going to be made better with online action and Wipeout HD is a fine example of this. 

 What would a Wipeout game be without it's music? well not much of a game that's for sure. Anyway, Wipeout HD as a solid offering of songs that can be very hit or miss depending on your style of prefered music. Some songs in the soundtrack are great at pumping you up for a good speed racing while others can feel a little to quiet and not exactly suit Wipeout's audio and visual style. Thankfully HD also features the ability to create your own music playlist using your PS3 to make sure you have the songs in the game you want. It's easy to do once you know how and is a huge plus, have a past Wipeout soundtrack you'd rather listen? then why not copy the songs onto your PS3 Console and create a playlist for use inside the game. The games audio quality is great, with nice small addition which you won't always notice straight away, for instance when you go under a tunnel you'll hear your song begin to echo or the games fantastic male and female announcers. But the addition of the ability to create playlist is a huge advantage as it was clear Studio Liverpool wanted gamers to create their own musical feel to their Wipeout HD experience and despite a solid default soundtrack you can never please everyone so it's a fantastic new addition. Sound effects are solid even if we have heard many of these before. But it's nice to still hear it in full Dolby Digital 5.1 and with a good Suround Sound system, and when all WipeoutHD's audio aspects come together you get a great Wipeout Audio Package.

Despite a lot of this praise, it's sometimes hard not to feel like you've done this all before but just not in High Definition. But saying that theres still great value for your buck with Wipeout HD. The game is currently selling on the Playstation Network for £11.99 (UK Store Price) or $20 (US Store Price) and when you consider that price with what you get overall in the HD Package I'd say thats very good value for money. It's a fair argument to say that developers Studio Liverpool are playing it safe with HD, I don't personally think thats such a bad thing with it being the franchises debut on this new piece of hardware. But it would be nice to think that Studio Liverpool would be willing to try something different with the next game to come along in the series and I'm sure a good amount of the fanbase would agree with that. The original WIpeout was very much ahead of it's time and it's a great tribute that even today the series feels unique and brilliant with only Nintendo's not often seen F-Zero series as a true challenge. It would just be nice to see a few extra risks taken in future titles rather then seeing them play it safe again and again as they have been mostly doing with the recent PSP titles. 

But despite my small moans and groans, theres still great overall package on offer here and is very good value for your buck. Theres enough content to worthy the pretty cheap price and it does indeed look and sound stunning, the 1080p visuals are beautiful and you'll be hard pressed to find a game as visually good looking on the PSN at this current moment in time. Yes, some areas feel a little to familar and some veterans might find it's not the experience they trully wanted from a PS3 Wipeout title. But even those veterans would find it hard not to pick Wipeout HD up for the fantastic visuals alone, not to mention the great online play and overall package at a very solid cheap price when comparing it to some of the games on offer at XBOX LIVE Marketplace. It's not a perfect Wipeout experience thats for sure, but It's still wipeout done well, it would just be nice to see developers Studio Liverpool take a few more risks in future Wipeout titles. 

OVERALL!

For overall value Wipeout HD is a great game, despite the simple fact that so much of it's content is recycled from past games theres still a great amount to have fun with ehre. Your overall view of the games soundtrack will depend on your taste of the songs on offer, but the fact that you can create playlists to play in Wipeout HD is a huge plus and is very welcomed. Online Mode runs well and offers a good amount of fun while theres also something for those looking for a more single player minded experience in the games Campaign and Racebox mode. Many of the events have been done all before, but there still a lot of fun to play especially the games Zone Mode which can be addictive. Wipeout HD looks stunning and part of that is down to the series now familar art style, but the remastered teams and tracks look great on a large HDTV screen and the overall package is worth picking up for vets of the franchise and especially for those who may have never experienced the fun of the Wipeout series as Wipeout HD is a fine entry point for new Wipeout fans out there.

PROS

- Fantastic 1080p 60fps Visual Graphics that run great.
- Solid and fun Online Mode for up to 8 players.
- Custom Playlists.
- Great Overall Value.

CONS

- A lot of recycled content from past games.
- Nothing we really haven't seen before.
- Might not be what Wipeout Vets wanted from a PS3 Wipeout title.

           SCORE!

     8.5 out of 10

Reviewed By Joseph Bayliss (TrueEnglishGent).