Wipeout Pure is all its cracked up to be!
Genre: Racing
Developer: SCE Studio Liverpool
System: Playstation Portable (PSP)
Total Score: 90/100
Value Score: 9.0/10
• Story: 10/10
o Omitted
• Characters: 6/10
o You have a selection of 8 different vehicles with different appearances and different stats. Although it is recommended that you use all different vehicles to improve you can honestly use 2-3 vehicles and finish the game itself. There isnt much anything else as it doesnt seem like there is any additional vehicles to unlock.
• GamePlay: 9/10
o Wipeout Pure's gameplay is like a mixture of two familiar games: F-Zero and Mario Kart. You have the high speed pace racing and futuristic style of racing like in F-Zero and Mario Kart's item/weapon system. It is actually quite nicely done with the gameplay as you have the traditional race with 3 laps in each track, depending on which race you choose it could range from 4 maps to 8 maps. Although the game doesnt tell you or a guide tells you it is best to start at the Tournament mode so you can unlock more modes for single player in tournament and in single race. Gold medals are recommended for single race while Tournament mode is similar to Mario Kart's cc racing cup tournaments where you to have race and get different points depending where you finished off. Get the most points to get gold as it seems like it is useless to have anything less than Gold as Gold unlocks more content. You have about more than 5 different modes of racing which increases the difficulty and the number of tracks. You have time trial and Zone, Time trial like it says you race against the time and occasionally against your own ghosts, while Zone is a speed test to see how long you last while going through a empty road with all sorts of twists and turns without stopping, the more you last the more chance to unlock gold and more modes. You also have multiplayer in local co-op , can unlock more costume like appearances on vehicles and even play online.
• Graphics: 10/10
o Wipeout Pure is one of the first games to release on the PSP and is absolutely one of the best looking games, it literally looks like you are playing a HD game on a Non-HD game system. Each track, each menu and each cutscene both intro and during unlocking via gold (a picture) looks quite nicely made and is a true piece of perfection (art wise). If you are a fan of graphics and art you will love this game as it is honestly one of the best looking portable games in the market.
• Sound: 10/10
o Wipeout Pure uses unique sound effects in races, in the menu and even has a female voice AI companion who often talks in the races depending on when you use a item or a enemy uses a item on you. The AI also appears in other parts in the game such as when you are awarded a medal and other aspects. The game actually sounds futuristic in every way.
• Music: 10/10
o Wipeout Pure's music is consisted of several different techno, upbeat, dubstep tracks made by several artists which are both well known or starting to come out to the public. You'll love all of the sound tracks ranging from the racing tracks to the menus as each feels like a futuristic experience especially if you are one of those techno/future fans.
• Length: 7/10
o Wipeout Pure's length can range from anywhere between 5 hours to whatever after that. You can literally do a lot in the game as there seems to be many modes and many race tracks you can race on. Although at first it seems like everything's the same but once you unlock more and more through tournament mode and other modes you'll notice the number of additional modes, race tracks and options increase a lot.
• Replay Value: 10/10
o As a racing game the replay value is quite high and your experience in Wipeout Pure changes constantly as anything could happen more frequently unlike in other racers where the same thing could happen almost all the time. You have a huge list of options and modes you can choose from and if that isnt enough multiplayer and online will only add more to the Replay Value experience.
• Player Value: 8/10
o Wipeout Pure is honestly one of the best racing games made especially for a portable, this is truly a console experience on a portable that is worth getting. You'll love the sheer difficulty, the amount of content there is available, the unique style gameplay and design and of course the music which matches quite nicely with the overall design of the Wipeout Pure experience.