Customer Reviews

WipEout Pure - Platinum Edition (PSP)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have run out of superlatives to describe this, but I will sum it up by saying that Wipeout Pure is an excellent game. I am a veteran of the original Wipeout game on PSone and that inspired me to make this my first PSP purchase and it blew me away.

That this game is on the PSP platform makes this game even more exceptional, as it would still be fantastic even if the identical game was on PS2. This way you can take the fun anywhere you go.

The presentation is slick, the graphics are smooth and detailed, the sound fx and soundtrack pushes the psp experience to the limit and I haven't even mentioned the gameplay yet...

Choose your anti-grav ship and get racing. There are several ships to choose from, each with their own attributes, so choose carefully. You are introduced gently into the experience, you are rewarded with higher classes in which your ship increases in speed and your opponents get better. There remains the single races, tournament and time trial modes of the original wipeout and some "classic" circuits are included for your perusal, while a new "zone" mode tests your ability to survive without the use of brakes.

In summary, if you have a PSP, you must buy this game, especially at this price!

Tip: try playing this game on the bus, the cornering motion makes the experience almost a virtual reality.

Having played the various Wipeout games in the past, this was must buy for me.

And it was great. All the things that make a good Wipeout game were here. The soundtrack is good. The tracks good, the weapons good.

To my mind this the best racing game I've played.

For anyone new to Wipeout, you race your antigravity ship around various tracks. Along the way you can pick various weapons to use to slow your opponents down. Similarly they're doing the same to you.

Once you get bored of the built in tracks - and this takes a while based on the different race types and leagues, there is a host of downloadable content - new tracks, new ships, new music. There is plenty here to keep you playing for a while.

If you've got a friend, multi player mode is the way to go.

I bought a PSP with Wipeout Pure off Amazon 2 days ago, and since then havent stopped playing, the exception of having sleep, but very little :)

Everywhere I had looked before, Wipeout Pure had excellent reviews and looked pretty good, so i thought it must be excellent to play, but even then i was wrong, because it still exceded high expectations.

There are many games on the PSP market, but even though Wipeout was a launch date release, it shows no signs of being aged, the graphics are undescribable, every track looks amazing, and all different too, but each track has a cheering crowd to welcome you to the finish line which is fantastic. Even though this is a racing game set into the future, it is very very realistic. Passing neon landscapes at 600km/h has never been so much fun, and you can unlock faster ships to travel at unbelievable speeds, which also increases the difficulty of racing.

There are some different single player race modes. Single Race, Tournament, Time Trial, Zone and Free Play. These are all excellent.

The ships (in the right hands) control brilliantly. After about half an hours practice you will be swooping round corners with complete ease.

The difficulty of the game is quite tough. You have to win gold medals on these single player modes to progress. At first it is pretty easy on "vector" speed to win golds, but as you unlock the faster ship classes like "flash" it starts becoming a real challenge, and you will have to really race well to get a medal. I have been doing some time trials and i find them frustrating because it is very hard to do to get a medal, even on vector, because you have to hit all the speedpads on the course, which is hard at first, and on higher speeds it is easy to miss them.

The weapons in this game, like everything else in the game, superb. There is nothing like missiling an opponent to slow him down and then sneaking ahead at the finish line. But a great thing about these weapons is that they require alot of skill to use, and when you get a turbo boost its brilliant. I wont reveal all the weapons but they are 10 and you should check them out.

So, overall this game would be 10/10 in every area. There is so much to do and it is so much fun to do it all. I havent mentioned the soundtrack, which is also good. Mainly dance music but even though i did not like that type of music, it goes brilliantly with the game. If you have a PSP you MUST buy this game, and if you are buying a PSP, this is a fantastic game to start on, and with a great price and great delivery from amazon, you should probably buy it here :)

However, you should be aware that Wipeout and PSP together will mean you will be racing into the early hours of the morning. I just hope i get bored of it before my GCSE revision comes around, but Wipeout is NEVER boring, and will be enjoyed by all :)

Patrick

One of the problems that seems to crop up when playing on the PSP is the lack of immersion involved in playing most of the PSP catalogue. Even playing Grand Theft Auto VCS seems to suffer from this to an extent, you're constantly reminded that you're playing a game, that you view the character, not yourself. This is the main selling point of WipeOut Pure, it seems. It's possibly the most immersing game I've ever played, on any format or genre. The speed of the original series is replicated here, and the excellently designed tracks all lead you into a non-stop thrill experience.

WipeOut, of course, has existed in one form or another, since the birth of the original Playstation. That's almost ten years! The name `WipeOut' is almost synonymous with the Playstation name, it epitomises the late `90s cool crowd, when gaming became chic, when cool was introduced to the masses. WipeOut was one of these games that helped launch the Playstation as more than a sideman show. Since its debut ten years ago, WipeOut has been transformed into a long running, popular series. However, in the last few years, it seems that the series was on its way out; other genres of the racing simulation overtook it. Mario Kart finally sorted itself out, and realism rally games such as Toca, and the perennial Colin McRae series seemed to gain an upper hand. To make matters worse, WipeOut Fusion was pretty dismal.

However, this game should mark a turn of fortunes for the WipeOut series. Let's see how it fares:

GAMEPLAY: It's a lot of fun. A vast array of weapons are available to knock the opposition away. These include rockets, missiles, bombs, auto-pilots and others. The fast paced action is stunningly brilliant and the computer AI seems to be fine, at least there's no massive problems like in many other games. There's plenty of different game modes too. Perhaps there could have been more than just 7 other AI racers, but that's just me. 5/5

GRAPHICS: The graphics are faultless. They achieve all they set out to do. Many games on the PSP suffer from long distances. It's all very well having a great draw distance, but it's utterly useless, as the number of pixels in the PSP limits this. WipeOut doesn't have really long distances, as there's always a corner nearby. Oddly enough, it doesn't suffer from any blurring, despite the fast nature of the game. 4.5/5

SOUND: The sound is straight out of the late 90's, with little heard trance and techno music. While not being my thing exactly, it works absolutely brilliantly in this game. The fast beats echo the fast turns of the track. You may not like the music by itself, but were you expecting to race to some laid back Marley? The peripheral sounds are also fine, and sound great through headphones. A player from behind fires a rocket at you, which flashes by your left side. It sounds like it too. In fact, I'd recommend listening through headphones, as the PSP's speakers don't do it justice. 5/5

MULTIPLAYER: Well, as far as I'm aware, you can only play Ad-Hoc, although I may be wrong. It's an awesome experience. WipeOut is one of those games that is perfect for a competitive bout with your friends. I've tried it out, and it's been great fun. The lobby, where you organise the games, could be little more organised though. 4/5

SUMMARY:

It's been out for a while now, but it's still the best racer on the PSP. If you want a racing game and don't know which to get, this is the one. Fast, furious, competitive and great in multiplayer, it's a great game. Any faults? Well, it's a little too hard, but I suppose that add to the longevity. It's recently achieved Platinum status too, which means a hefty price drop to at least £19.99. Get it.

This is a great game, and I would recommend it to anyone buying a PSP -there aren't a glut of quality games on this handheld, but this is one of the good uns. Very fast, welcoming to the novice but becomes demanding for the more skilled gamer. Great visuals and soundtracks with a good variety of tracks and ships, especially if you download the free content from the PSP web site. My only niggle is that it takes from starting the PSP 15! presses of the buttons to be able to start a race as you skip menu after menu after FMV etc etc. I know it's picky but it takes ages before you can actually play the game - more a user interface failure than anything, but still sees this being one of the few must have titles.

Wipeout Pure contains a range of vehicles, tracks and modes across all the Wipeout games up to its release. Because of this and the portability of the PSP format, it is my favourite Wipeout game and a worthwhile addition to any PSP collection. It's the best racing game on the format - technically it never chugs, even at the higher speed classes where Wipeout's legendary high speed shines through, and the whole game looks brilliant with light effects, bright colours and detailed explosions. In the same way that Mario Kart DS contains a hand-picked range of features across the whole series and offers up pretty much the perfect incarnation of Mario Kart, so too does Wipeout Pure for the Wipeout series.

The well-balanced weapon set, the downloadable content (new tracks, etc.) and the classic Wipeout gameplay make this one of my favourite PSP titles. I'm not the world's biggest Wipeout fan, but I can appreciate a few tracks before bed or on the train, and found myself getting hooked and spending serious time working through all the modes (the cups, the time trials and zone mode - where you can't slow down and keep going until your ship runs out of energy and explodes).

My only criticism is the lack of an online multiplayer. Sure, you can play with your friends who have PSPs in the same room wirelessly but I would have liked to be able to compete online over the internet. Other than that, this is a great summation of everything that's good about the Wipeout series, and portable to boot.

Wipeout was one of the launch titles for the PSone back in 1995, alongside Ridge Racer. The two games showed the world what Sony and their console were all about. Ten years later, alongside a newer Ridge Racer title, Wipeout once again returned as a launch title, this time for Sony's handheld console, the PSP.

Wipeout Pure is a futuristic racer, set in the year 2197, where you fly your anti-gravity ship around a series of futuristic courses. The aim is to win every single gold medal there is to win, and you can check your progress by selecting Profile and then Progress in the main menu. The medals record is laid out in the form of a grid, so you'll easily be able to see what you've done and what you still have to do. Winning medals will unlock other courses, a couple of extra ships, and more difficulty levels. With over 140 possible gold medals to win Wipeout Pure will keep you occupied for quite some time.

There are four racing modes (not counting Free Play as that's just...free play) where you can win these medals. First there's Single Race where you just pick a course, a ship and then you race. You race off in a field with seven other ships. To help you win races there are speed boasts that you can fly over to gain a brief burst of extra speed. There are also pick-ups you can use that are scattered throughout the courses. Some are defensive and can be used to protect your ship, and some are offensive and can be used to attack your rivals. The use of the boasts and the pick-ups are vital if you're gonna cross the finish line in first place.

Tournament sees you competing in a series of races with points available depending on finishes. Aim to get the most number points by the end of the tournament to get the gold. Time is of the essence in Time Trial. Complete the set number of laps on each course before the time limit expires.

But there's one mode that will have you jumping for joy if you succeed and growling in frustration if you fail. Zone mode. Here your ship accelerates automatically around your chosen course. You just have to worry about steering and braking. Your ship gradually gains more speed as you complete the laps. The aim is to last as long as possible until your ship becomes too fast and crashes into destruction.

Anyone who's never played a Wipeout game before shouldn't worry about being out of their depth whilst playing Pure. There are five difficulty levels, starting off with the tortoise paced Vector, moving onto the slightly faster Venom and so on, until you reach the demon for-experienced-players-only Phantom level. The difficulty level layout is ideal for Wipeout newcomers.

Graphics wise this game isn't as smooth as Ridge Racer, but it still features some nice details in the ship designs as well as the track scenery. One little touch that caught my eye was on the Sinucit course. You're surrounded by tall buildings on a rainy night, and as you race around the course rain drops actually fall on the screen, like if you were watching real rain drops falling on your windows. It's a nice touch. I like it.

The music comes in the form of several high-tempo dancebeat tunes from artists such as Tiesto, Photek and TPower. No, I've never heard of any of these acts either, and their music isn't really my cup of tea. But there's a fair number of tracks to listen to, so you might find a tune that you like.

Wipeout Pure isn't perfect, but it's still an entertaining racer; and with a multiplayer mode allowing up to eight players to race each other there's plenty of fun to be had with your friends. This is a highly recommended purchase for all you PSP owners.

My seven-year-old had been given an older model PSP and complained that there weren't that many 'proper' games for his age group so I went online and my checks wisely included Amazon reviews. Wipeout came up as, not only a good game, but a bargain too. The reviews were right; he loves it. I'm more of a strategy fan myself, but he has been spending almost too much time being Wiped Out! I have since found out that the basic game is quite old, but it obviously stands the test of time.

I love the Wipeout series of games, in fact it was this series of games that got me into games full stop!

I'd been hankering after a PSP for a while and bought the new 3000 with this game, and I'm so happy I did, I can have a quick 10 minute session or play for a couple of hours! And this game is the perfect game to unwind, it starts off deceptively easy, then the difficulty gradually gets harder with amazing AI for the opponents.

This game has that "Just one more go!" quality in spades and translates into the smaller format of PSP perfectly.

My only regret? Why didn't I buy this earlier!