Wonderwallweb.com - Article: Wipeout Pulse

Wipeout is a game I will always think highly of, maybe it’s because it was one of the first games I ever played on the Playstation, after all at the time it was something of a revolution with its gravity defying ship flying around the tracks at high speeds.

When Wipeout Pure hit the PSP the same feelings returned, it was the perfect game to show off the console, so now that the sequel to Pure comes in the form of Wipeout Pulse, do I still feel the same?

The main aim of Wipeout Pulse is still the same as always, race around the tracks while hitting as many boosts and weapon pads as possible, before unleashing them on your opponents, oh and don’t forget to finish in first place.

The controls are fairly simple, the shoulder buttons allow you to use the airbrakes, meaning that you can get around corners without losing much speed, while hitting the X button allows you to accelerate and catch up on your opponents, the square button is for making use of any pick-up’s that you have acquired, which of course are handy for slowing your opponents down and speeding you up.

Before you start a race, choosing the right ship is a must, each ship has its own good and bad points, so this is a something that you must take into account. The main campaign offers races, time trials, speed challenges and tournaments, the more medals you win, the more cells you will unlock, which in turn enables you to unlock new grids which will then offer a new set tracks and challenges.

Thankfully Wipeout Pulse is the sort of game you will never tire of, at first it will take you a while to master but once you do, it is just so addictive, even when you have completed each of the challenges there are records to be broken, meaning that you will always be going back for more.

After your race every one of statistics is saved, which you can then upload to the official website, using this website you can also download new ships, wallpaper and other Wipeout related items.

Wipeout doesn’t just offer single player though, a big addition to this game is the online mode, this enables you to race against up to eight other players, which is pretty impressive and great fun, lag also seems to be at a minimum and finding players couldn’t be easier.

Other features of Wipeout Pulse include the ability to use your own music by adding MP3 tracks to your memory card, this is quite easy to do and let’s face it, there is nothing quite like having your own music when racing at high speeds around a track.

Graphically it is hard to fault Wipeout Pulse, the ships and environments look fantastic and the sound effects compliment these well, this is probably one of the best presented games on the PSP I have seen so far, it really is very impressive.

If you have a PSP and you are looking for a addictive racer to play on it, then Wipeout Pulse is the game for you, it is addictive, online, looks great and most importantly feels great, I’m hooked and I’m sure you will be too.