WipEout Pure was among the first games released for PSP, and remains one of the best, so naturally we were very keen to talk to the people working on the follow-up. Which is what we're doing here, obviously. In this case it's Clark Davies, introduced to us as 'WipEout designer'. Which probably looks nice on a business card. In light of and the, we flung queries his way about how the game will improve on Pure, and how the new features - like the 'Mag-Strip' sections - have been put to use by the development team.Eurogamer:How does the gameplay in WipEout Pulse compare to previous titles? Obviously you've got the Mag-Strip element in there - what else has changed, and how?Clark Davies:As far as core gameplay is concerned, we've taken everything from Pure and polished and refined it as much as possible.

The handling is smoother, the ships are more evenly balanced. We're confident that the control is the best and most accessible the series has seen to date. Pure was a big leap forward in terms of handling compared to the previous games, so we have been careful to evolve it in the proper way. Apart from the mag strips, each of our tracks has what we are calling a Black Run and a White Run. These are alternative routes offering different challenges depending on the speed class and game mode you're playing with.Outside of that, the biggest difference to the structure of the game is our single player Race Campaign. We've finally given WipEout the progression and reward system it deserves.

Although graphically enhanced, Wipeout Pulse fails to conform to its beloved gameplay. User Rating: 6 Wipeout Pulse PSP. The Wipeout Pulse Corruption glitch is a glitch that occurs in the game. When the game is corrupted, it causes any Gran Turismo game and the previous save game to be corrupted. NOTE: Make sure you back up all your saves to a different memory card before playing this game!

The Race Campaign takes places over a series of grids, each filled with predefined events - combinations of race type, speed class and circuit. We're still finalising these grids, but we really wanted to give players a proper single-player game to work their way through, and Race Campaign should provide that.To top if off, we're planning to ship a grid editor with the game, so players can create their own grids, with any combination of races they like, and save them to Memory Stick. They can go beyond the scope of our single-player game and create evil combinations of races that even we wouldn't dare to! A 16-event grid full of 16-track tournaments anyone? And we haven't forgotten about the little stuff either, so we've totally reworked areas like our statistics screens as well - we've got pages and pages of stats now for players to pour through, with graphical presentation and so on.What else is new? There's MP3 support for your own songs, a new HUD that reacts dynamically when you get hit, the ability to take your own photos in-race, and loads more.

Basically there's no area of the game that hasn't been looked at and improved upon. Davies says that Mag-Strips - shots of which we hope to see soon - will be put to interesting use, and not just used for roller-coaster bits.Eurogamer:Mag-Strip sounds like quite a neat trick - do you have control on a Mag-Strip section of the track, or is it just for show?Clark Davies:You've got full control of your ship on the mag strip sections. The track surface changes visually so you'll know when you're on one, and there's a neat little visual effect to sell the experience as well. Your ship is locked to the track, so if say you stop moving when you're upside down, you won't fall off, but apart from that you have free movement. The biggest benefit from using mag strips is that of greater freedom for the designers when creating the track layouts, and greater freedom for the artists to come up with the kind of architecture that would realistically house these sections. There's a level of grounded realism in how we've approached this feature.

They're certainly not gimmicks - they're an integral part of gameplay - and we've gone beyond the obvious corkscrew or roller-coaster ideas in implementing them without going overboard or detracting from what WipEout is at its core.Eurogamer:Apparently you've got seven game modes. What are all of them then?Clark Davies:Okay, the straight list is: Single Race, Tournament, Time Trial, Zone, Head To Head, Speed Lap, and Eliminator. The first four are carried over from previous games, so looking at the others, Head To Head is a two-player single race, where we've focused on the rivalry and battling you'd get between two racers.

We're trying to differentiate this from a regular race and really push the intensity and personal nature of the race here. Speed Lap is an offshoot of Time Trial, where you're trying to achieve the best lap time possible. And Eliminator makes a welcome return from the pre-Pure games, and that's where weapons will play their biggest part.

We have added three new weapons and we should be upping the damage rate in Eliminator so you can expect plenty of action. We also recommend specific ships for the player to use in different events, which ties in to another new feature where you gain loyalty points for the ship you race with. So we're rewarding players for simply racing, which also ties in to our unlock system.

And by increasing the loyalty for recommended ships we give players a good excuse to see the full range we have on offer.Eurogamer:What sort of role will power-ups play in Pulse? Will you be retaining the system of absorbing power-ups to restore health that you had in Pure? Zone mode will also be returning, but this time it will be applied to all the tracks and not just a handful of specific ones. Woot.Clark Davies:Power-ups are still an important and defining feature of WipEout. We're still using the pad system that's been with the series since the first game. There's no floating pick-ups in WipEout - everything is grounded in the reality and logic of the game world. We've been careful when deciding which items and weapons to add or remove.

Gone is the Disruptor weapon from Pure - it was unfortunately just too random and unpredictable in practice - but we have three new weapons and one returning weapon that hopefully bring a few dimensions to the combat side of gameplay.We also have status effects, things like smoking engines, fire damage, HUD interference, etc, which can be inflicted sparingly and look great, but otherwise have no impact on the gameplay. And we're definitely keeping the absorb mechanic. The choice to absorb or fire your pick-ups added a nice touch of strategy to Pure, and we simply didn't want to drop it.

From a design perspective, it allowed us to remove both the pit lanes and the old energy pick-up without sacrificing the ability to regain energy, and it had the added effect of improving the speed and flow of the gameplay.Eurogamer:You're offering ad hoc and infrastructure multiplayer modes in WipEout Pulse - can you tell us which modes will be available for each, and what they entail? Taichi panda miss. Are you supporting eight players again?Clark Davies:The game modes which work best in multiplayer are unsurprisingly the non-solo events from the single-player game, so that's Single Race, Head To Head, Tournament and Eliminator. They'll play as they do for single-player, only with a few small tweaks such as name tags above the ships for easy identification.

We're also offering LAN play, which is similar to ad hoc, except you first connect to a router. The techy people tell me this enables smoother and more lag-free ad-hoc-style play. Eight players in all multiplayer modes is pretty much our sweet spot.Eurogamer:Will Pulse have more Zone tracks, ala WipEout Pure? We really liked the Zone levels. Please do more of them. As for power-ups, Davies is adamant that the team will keep the 'absorb' mechanic that made the health system in Pure work so well.Clark Davies:We've expanded Zone mode to be playable on most of our regular tracks this time round, so there are no Zone-specific tracks as a result. We're giving the Zoneified regular tracks a visual makeover, so you'll really notice the difference when you play.

And of course, there is a specific Zone ship again, this time with a cool team-based livery depending on who choose.Eurogamer:There's talk of downloadable content for launch and beyond. Presumably you had a decent take-up on the Pure downloads, then?Clark Davies:Definitely no complaints from us on that score. They did great.

For Pulse we will to get them out in a smaller space of time from launch. We were also grateful to be given the chance to reward the European fans for the extra wait for PSP by giving them the exclusive Omega pack with the designer tracks. As for Pulse downloadable content, we certainly have plans, but nothing we can yet talk about.Eurogamer:Can you explain the decision to offer content at launch?

To the average punter that simply raises the question of why it's not on the disc.Clark Davies:The issue here is that in most cases a game is finished about two months before it hits the shelf. So even when everything's done we effectively have our hands tied while the game goes through format QA, mastering, manufacturing, shipping, distribution, etc. The great thing about downloadable content is that we can work on it right up until the last minute, and only have it go through that QA phase. So it's the case that we've scheduled our time well enough so we can carry on working on extra content once the rest of the game is ready. There's really no underhand motives to doing this. The upside to downloadable content is that we can continue to provide content once the game is out.

Giving people content at launch is also an incentive for them to do extra things with their PSPs, like going online.Eurogamer:Among the personalisation options mentioned in the original announcement was a Photo Mode that would allow you to take photos and post them online. Will that be doable directly from the PSP, or will you need to involve a PC to get them there? And by the look of this, you'll still be able to go outside. Which you should, because it's a bit smelly in here.Clark Davies:We're hoping to output the photos into a sensible, PC-ready format, like jpegs, but we haven't quite finalised that yet.

The current solution for getting the photos online is to manually copy them off the Memory Stick and onto a PC, but we're looking at alternatives for this.Eurogamer:Every so often somebody mentions the mystical PS3 WipEout game. Will that and Pulse enjoy any kind of interoperability or compatibility?Clark Davies:WipEout PS3. Yeah, can't really talk about that one yet. Sorry!Eurogamer:Finally, WipEout was the original PlayStation poster-child partly because of its wicked soundtrack. What sort of direction have you chosen for this one, and why?Clark Davies:The soundtrack is an evolution of what WipEout is best known for. Electronica is the starting point, and from there we go through break beat, house, techno and drum and bass.

The line up isn't quite finalised, but one track I can talk about is the song Exceeder by Mason. A version of the song with vocals by Princess Superstar got a fair bit of radio play here in the UK, and we've got the original instrumental track as part of our soundtrack.

Wipeout Pulse (stylised as wipEout pulse) is a futuristic racing video game developed by SCE Studio Liverpool and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable. It was released in December 2007 in Australia and Europe, and in February 2008 in North America. A PlayStation 2 port was released in Europe in June 2009. The game is the seventh instalment of the Wipeout series and serves as a sequel to Wipeout Pure. It takes place in 2207 and revolves around players competing in the FX400 anti-gravity racing league.

The game was developed by Sony Studio Liverpool. Production was centred around focusing on the feedback left by fans regarding Wipeout Pure, and improving on aspects where the development team thought they had failed in with the predecessor. The game features sixteen licensed music tracks from techno artists, including Kraftwerk. Wipeout Pulse received positive reviews upon release. Critics praised the graphics and presentation, although some criticised the repetitiveness and high difficulty.

Gameplay[edit]

Wipeout Pulse is a racing game set in 2207, ten years after the events of Wipeout Pure. As with its predecessor, the game revolves around players competing in the FX400 anti-gravity racing league. Players pilot anti-gravity ships owned by racing corporations (collectively referred to as 'teams' in-game). There are eight teams in Wipeout Pulse, with one ship available for each – although the player eventually gains the ability to change the appearance of their ships.^[1] Each ship has different characteristics; depending on the team chosen, its ship will vary in terms of handling, speed, acceleration and shield strength.^[2]

Every ship is equipped with an energy shield which will protect the player from damage sustained from weapon fire or colliding with walls, although energy is taken away if this happens. If the shield completely runs out, the ship will explode and the player will be eliminated from the race.^[3] In addition, the player's ship is equipped with air brakes which can be used for manoeuvring through difficult corners at high speed.^[4][5] The game features a number of weapons which can be utilised to destroy other opponents or for self-defence. Defensive weapons range from shields—which make the player's ship invulnerable to damage for a short period—to land mines and stationary bombs.^[6] Offensive weaponry vary from machine guns, missiles, plasma bolts, and a 'quake' – which comes in the form of a devastating earthquake that will damage all opponents.^[7][5]

The campaign mode features sixteen grids divided into cells, each containing a separate event which varies from ordinary races to tournaments. Once the player finishes the event in a single cell, they will earn 'completion points' needed to progress to the next grid. Clearing a cell will unlock additional cells adjoining it.^[8][5] Returning game modes from Wipeout Pure include single races, tournaments, time trials, and the 'Zone' mode, which involves the player's ship automatically accelerating to extreme speeds.^[9][5][10] A returning game mode from Wipeout 3 is 'Eliminator', which revolves around a group of competitors attempting to destroy each other the quickest in a set amount of time.^[5]

While the game only ships with twelve tracks, these can be driven both forward and backwards; the race's direction is marked by the suffix 'White' or 'Black' on the race's title (i.e. 'Talon's Junction White') and may show subtle variations depending on which way they are driven.

The game features a number of extras. Players can take screenshots of in-progress races at any time from the Pause menu in the PSP version. Players are rewarded for using the same team's ship over and over via a 'Loyalty' system which unlocks new ship skins. Players were able to create custom skins for any ships at the game's central website using an Adobe Shockwave-based client, which could be downloaded to the PSP by the creator and/or the public at large. Lap times and other records could also be uploaded to the game's website which features a global ranking leaderboard. Both features are no longer available as the site and the game servers were shut down.

A demo of the game was also released on the PlayStation Store on 13 December 2007, which included one track (Moa Therma) and one team (Feisar), as well as Ad-Hoc support for playing with users who purchased the full game (or owned the UMD).^[11]

Expansion packs[edit]

Wipeout Pulse, like its predecessor Wipeout Pure, also has downloadable content packs that include new ships and tracks as well as new campaign grids. A total of four packs were released, each including a new ship, two track variants (i.e. a 'White' variant for a track and a 'Black' variant for another track, and in order to get all variants one has to obtain all four packs) and a new campaign grid named after the downloaded pack. These packs are available to download for the PlayStation Portable version for a price from the PlayStation Store in the European region only. All downloadable packs are already included with the PS2 port.

Development[edit]

Wipeout Pulse was developed by SCE Studio Liverpool. Colin Berry, the lead designer of the game, stated in an interview that the team had received a lot of positive feedback from Wipeout Pure, and was willing to use parts of the feedback to 'help shape some elements of Pulse'.^[12] According to Berry, some people had felt that the previous game was too difficult; the ships were considered too fast and the artificial intelligence (AI) too advanced, whereas others thought that the game was too easy and they wanted 'something more challenging to keep them coming back'. The development team also took steps to decrease the feeling of repetition, which was often cited as one of the main complaints of Wipeout Pure. In addition, the team altered the game's difficulty settings so that players were given the choice to change the speed of the game at any time, in the event that they 'got stuck'. Reflecting on this, Berry said: 'We want the people who buy it, to see all the game, we do not want to lock them out'.^[12]

During development, the team decided early on to focus on creating new content rather than bringing back old race tracks which were featured in previous Wipeout games. Berry, however, acknowledged that classic tracks 'went down well' and sought out the possibility of introducing them through future downloadable content (DLC).^[12] Berry stated that by the end of Wipeout Pure, Sony Studio Liverpool had designed almost 100 tracks as potentials to include in subsequent games, although the team were only satisfied with 32 of them. The remainder of the tracks were either disregarded or amalgamated into other games.^[12] Berry reflected that the tracks using the same 3D computer graphics software as its predecessor meant that certain repetition appeared and caused the team to 'dry up on ideas'. The developers recognised that track design was an important aspect to the game, and also accepted the difficulty in designing a track that is both memorable and enjoyable. Berry felt concerned that the team were starting to repeat design features, and thus decided to create new variables to the track design: as a result of this, the team conceptualised the 'mag strip' – a section of a track which would feature artificial gravity so that a player could safely circumnavigate loops, steep slopes, and upside down sections.^[12]

After the release of Wipeout Pure on the PlayStation Portable, rumours circulated that a port was in development for the PlayStation 2.^[13] In January 2009, Sony issued a statement saying: 'There are over 9.5 million PS2s in the UK and we will continue to support this large userbase with software on an ongoing basis'.^[14] The PlayStation 2 version was released exclusively in Europe in June 2009, featuring enhanced graphics, two-player splitscreen mode and all of the DLC.^[15]

The game also features sixteen licensed music tracks in addition to customisable soundtracks from techno artists, including Aphex Twin, Kraftwerk, DJ Fresh, and Skream.^[16]

Reception[edit]

The game received positive reviews upon release. It holds an average score of 82 per cent at Metacritic, based on an aggregate of 40 reviews.^[17]

Critics unanimously praised the game's visuals and presentation. Jeff Haynes of IGN stated that the game was 'Wipeout at its purest', praising the visual presentation of the courses, cities, and other environments.^[5] Gabe Graziani of GameSpy thought the graphics were beautiful and also commended the design of the tracks.^[18] Eduardo Zacarias of GameZone stated that Wipeout Pulse was a 'very visually pleasing game with some solid visual effects', and also praised the detailed tracks and ships.^[19] A reviewer from Game Revolution considered the game's level of detail to the tracks and smooth frame rate to be 'staggering' on a handheld. The reviewer also praised the 'meticulously constructed' backdrops and 'incredibly styled' presentation.^[20] Guy Cocker of GameSpot said that the visuals were 'superb', though he thought that many aspects were similar to its predecessor, Wipeout Pure.^[10] A reviewer from Edge described the visuals as 'even smoother, brighter, and sharper than Pure's'.^[22]

The various aspects of gameplay were mostly praised, although some reviewers criticised the game's repetitiveness and difficulty. Tom Bradwell from Eurogamer praised the new 'Elimination' mode, stating that it was initially 'alarming' and frustrating, but admitted that it 'grows to be rather good'.^[21] Cocker enjoyed the new tracks, the difficulty levels, and the promise of downloadable content, although he noted that it had not been made available in the United States at the time of his review.^[10] Game Revolution's reviewer surmised that Wipeout Pulse was a more refined version of Wipeout Pure, stating that despite all of the solid and reliable gameplay, the game did not revolutionise the series.^[20] Regarding general gameplay, Zacarias opined that Wipeout Pulse 'doesn't deliver' despite the variety in the game modes and 'racetrack front'.^[19] Haynes similarly gave a negative opinion on the gameplay, stating that the repetition of tracks and balance of weapons for the AI was disappointing.^[5] Graziani criticised the game's difficulty, saying that it was 'extremely challenging to the point of being impenetrable for the uninitiated'.^[18]Edge's reviewer described the game as simply another instalment of Wipeout.^[22]

References[edit]

Citations

1. ^Sony Studio Liverpool 2007, pp. 4–6.
2. ^Sony Studio Liverpool 2007, p. 9.
3. ^Sony Studio Liverpool 2007, pp. 10–11.
4. ^Sony Studio Liverpool 2007, p. 11.
5. ^ ^abcdefghHaynes, Jeff (12 February 2008). 'WipEout Pulse review'. IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
6. ^Sony Studio Liverpool 2007, p. 13.
7. ^Sony Studio Liverpool 2007, p. 12.
8. ^Sony Studio Liverpool 2007, pp. 6–7.
9. ^Sony Studio Liverpool 2007, p. 14.
10. ^ ^abcdCocker, Guy (1 March 2009). 'Wipeout Pulse for PSP review'. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
11. ^'WipEout® Pulse Demo Official PlayStation™Store UK'. web.archive.org. 28 September 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
12. ^ ^abcdeShea, Cam (14 June 2007). 'Wipeout Pulse AU Interview'. IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
13. ^de Matos, Xav (27 January 2009). 'Rumorang: WipEout Pulse for PS2 still in development'. Engadget. AOL. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
14. ^Bramwell, Tom (27 January 2009). 'WipEout Pulse may be heading to PS2'. Eurogamer. Future plc. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
15. ^Goyon, Frederic (19 June 2009). 'Test Wipeout Pulse sur PS2'. Jeuxvideo.com. Webedia. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
16. ^Yoon, Andrew (20 June 2007). 'Complete Wipeout Pulse soundtrack listing'. Engadget. AOL. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
17. ^ ^ab'Wipeout Pulse for PSP'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
18. ^ ^abcGraziani, Gabe (11 February 2008). 'GameSpy: WipEout Pulse review'. GameSpy. IGN. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
19. ^ ^abcZacarias, Eduardo (17 April 2009). 'WipEout Pulse review – PSP'. GameZone. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
20. ^ ^abc'Wipeout Pulse Review'. Game Revolution. Crave Online. 2 December 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
21. ^ ^abBramwell, Tom (21 November 2007). 'Wipeout Pulse review'. Eurogamer. Future plc. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
22. ^ ^abc'Wipeout Pulse'. Review. Edge. No. 182. Bath: Future plc. December 2007. p. 90. ISSN1350-1593.

Bibliography

• Sony Studio Liverpool (2007). Wipeout Pulse instruction manual. Sony Computer Entertainment. pp. 2–22.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)