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WipEout 2048 review

Game: WipEout 2048
Platform: Vita
Genre: Action Racing
Developer: Studio Liverpool

Reader review by Dr_Worm

February 25, 2012

Look down the years, and you’ll find WipeOut has been the go-to series for Sony when they want to show off the budding capabilities of a new console. The PSOne launch was more or less built around the futuristic racer with much being made of its electronic soundtrack blowing away the previous generation’s cartridge-based sound chips and fantastic graphics. With this in mind, it should be to the sum shock of none that the pick of the Vita’s first wave of titles is WipeOut 2048. But maybe for very different reasons than expected.

That’s not to say that all the things we’ve been lauding the franchise for almost two decades for are not all wholly present and making the new handheld system look fantastic by comparison. Though the years have softened the original’s crippling difficulty curve, the game’s length is less artificially bloated with repeated attempts to navigate the harder tracks and bolstered more by a greater number of environments to smash around. Especially considering this is a title housed on a handheld console, things like frame rates, shading and overall graphical sheens are outstanding. The varied and busy electronic soundtracks are standout brilliant, as they have been for Wipeout since day one.

But what really sets the title apart is just how well it makes use of the console’s connectivity. Every track will load up with an aside of all your friend’s best overall times, urging you to shave just a couple more seconds off your personal best for bragging rights. It’s hard to explain just how much such a simple feature adds to the replayability of the titles, and I’ve whittled hours away simply trying to force myself into pole position. There’s also the inclusion of an online race season that makes the game feel constantly alive and never stagnant.

It’s a great inclusion because, at the heart of it, WipeOut hasn’t really changed since its birth late 1995 and with 2048 being a prequel of sorts, it’s nice to see the scenery mixed up a little with tracks being multi-laired street roads and not the custom-made anti-grav shuttle runs all other games have boasted. The courses are wider as easier to navigate, which gives you more breathing room to educate yourself with the tightly implemented touch screen mechanics. And while so much of the game remains the same as it ever was, it’s no bad thing. What’s the point in reinventing the wheel when you can instead buff it to a gleaming neon shine then have it whirl off at 220mph.

-- Good morning, how are you? I'm Dr. Worm.

Rating: 9/10

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