Wipeout Pure - PSP Go review
At its core, Studio Liverpool’s Wipeout Pure for PSP is the game any Wipeout fan would expect; pilot ludicrously fast anti-gravity racers around futuristic raceways of increasing difficulty against AI opponents (or humans over wifi). But since its 32bit roots each subsequent instalment has added feature upon feature with critically diminishing returns. Studio Liverpool have clearly recognised that the franchise has lost a little of the initial appeal with every tacked on addition and in developing Wipeout Pure they first took a machete to the previous instalments and kick-started a decelerating franchise in the process.
Wipeout Pure presents you with a living, breathing microcosm that destroys the bricks and mortar that surround your physical self and engulfs you in its digital arms entirely within seconds of selecting your craft and your track. The solid graphics with believable real world textures wrapped around architecture that begs to be explored at something less than 200mph, and sounds that feel like they have come straight from Skywalker Ranch help the environment crackle with life. As you progress through the ranks, there is a palpable feeling of ‘being there’, particularly when wearing earphones. Unless it’s to your particular taste, I recommend turning the electronica music down to zero in order to fully take in the exquisite sound effects of the jets, the air brakes and the cheering crowds.
The futuristic world that the game takes place in may have been first created in 1995 but it took fifteen years to fit it into the palm of your hand and the PSP Go is the perfect machine to showcase just how far the series has progressed in that time. Sony’s hand-held console looks and feels like an extension of the very craft in the cockpit of which you are invited to sit. The illusion of immersion is maintained in part by the convenient coincidence that the PSP is the same shape as the steering wheel in many modern Formula one racing cars.
Wipeout Pure is the 6th version of the futuristic anti-gravity racer to come to home or portable consoles and, as the name suggests, it is a stripped back addition to a franchise that has previously come under fire for its increasing convolution in regards to the addition of various modes and distractions that only served to direct attention from the reason the original Wipeout was so popular in the first place; the unbridled sense of speed and extremely tactile, unforgiving controls. Not since the PlayStation One original have I felt so bound to my chosen anti-gravity vehicle or as responsible for its welfare as the wing tip grazes the hoarding as it glides around a bend. The power is definitely back in the players’ hands after the frustratingly steep difficulty spikes that were representative of previous instalments. Successful mastering of the tricky air-brakes is the key to gold medal victory; get your head out of the world of tyres and tarmac, that knowledge is useless here.
Gone, too, are the pit lanes that doubled as shield regenerating zones in the ludicrously titled Wip3out, instead a more strategic element has been introduced; if the players shield energy is running low then the opportunity is there to ‘absorb’ the current, or next available, weapon power-up to top up the energy level. The weapons themselves, whether or not you choose to sacrifice them, are varied and careful use can mean the difference between being first to cross the line or being a fireball of springs, hydraulics and sponsor stickers. Simple rockets, floating mines, homing missiles and a devastating ‘quake’ power up, that oscillates the entire track like a devastating sound-wave, help to secure your finishing place in the top three.
Additional modes are kept to a minimum; time trial, free play, multiplayer and The Zone. Zone is a great extra gameplay mode in Pure and in some ways is to Wipeout as VR Missions is to Metal Gear Solid; the ‘real world’ is left behind and you enter a computer simulated environment in which to hone your skills. Zone mode is something of an endurance test as your craft steadily accelerates giving the player no way to slow it down. It is up to you to steer, apply the air brakes and navigate the course as expertly as you can for as long as you can stand it. With each successfully completed ‘zone’ (a section of track) the speed is increased a little more. It’s a nice distraction from the game proper and, with its’ uniquely washed out palette of stark white and silver, looks beautiful too; like Tron’s light-cycle races reimagined by Stanley Kubrick.
Precious few games have the power to dissolve our surroundings; to completely evanesce the physical things that tie us to reality. Some games, although very good, don’t let reality fall down around us like a house of cards, and no matter how much we will them to, some games never let us forget that we are sitting in front of a screen holding a controller. Escapism is, after all, the fascination of the player. We pick up, with our relatively tiny hands, entire worlds created for us to immerse ourselves. We may not know how it feels to ‘become’ a mage, a gladiator, a ninja, or an assassin; but we know how we would like it to feel. And we trust the representations delivered to us, in the format of a video game, to take us to those places; to truly leave the real world behind. If you are a racing fan and a PSP owner, it would be remiss of you not to let the virtual world of Wipeout Pure into your life.
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