If there were ever one game that is criminally overlooked, it's Wipeout HD. In my humble opinion, it is easily one of the greatest games of this generation. It's not exaggeration when I say this. No other game has given me such thrills and enjoyment. The Fury expansion elevates it to this level.
So why don't many people own it? If this were the only game available for PS3 I would still have been quite happy with my purchase. I know most of the people reading this probably don't have the game.
Difficulty might have put some people off. Well this version of Wipeout is easier than ever. You won't have any trouble getting at least a bronze medal in most of the events if you turn the assist on and the difficulty down. If anything Wipeout's campaign is a breeze for those who've had a bit of practice. The expansion also provides a couple of ways to make some of those trophies a little easier.
The fact that it is a download-only title and not a full release may have put others off. But don't be deceived - this game offers more content than most full games, including oft-neglected features such as split-screen. With its expansion, it boasts 12 full tracks (each with a reversed version) and 4 extra zone tracks. There are so many game modes as well;
Single Race
Time Trial
Speed Lap
Eliminator
Zone
Zone Battle
Tournament
Detonator
Wipeout HD as an arcade racer is unrivalled. No other game manages to provide the sense of speed and excitement as Wipeout can. If you are playing zone mode, with the track pulsating to your own tunes, speeding faster and faster around the track until your reactions can't take any more, the adrenaline will be pumping round your body faster than anything. Skillfully eliminating your opponent using weapons in a lightning-fast race is more exciting than anything any other franchise can currently offer.
Online is really a blast and there are still plenty of wipeout novices playing so it's more noob-friendly than you may think - of course there are many hardcore players out there as well. There is an online ranking system which nobody has reached the top of yet, as well as badges handed out after every race reflecting your performance. At one stage, the servers dried up and nobody was playing. But through excellent support, the addition of new features and game modes, I can see people playing this one for ages. As it stands, there is a really active online community.
I wish more people would bring up Wipeout HD when comparing graphics between systems. In its genre, it has no rival. I've attached some in-game screenshots of it, but in motion at 60fps it's simply gorgeous. The particle effects for weapons are also amazing. The graphics simply add to what is already an amazing experience. The presentation of Wipeout HD is also second-to-none. From the menus to the music to the HUD - it's all flawless.
Wipeout HD is easily worth buying a PS3 for. If I had to rate it out of infinity, it would probably get a 190*. Hopefully this blog can convince a few more people to pick up the game. As for me, well I just got my platinum trophy and I will see you online - Aspherex.
* See my "out of infinity" rating system. I know I slacked off doing these after my first review, but more will come eventually. For reference, Killzone 2 obtained a 100.
This has been my PS3 background for ages. I'm proud of this in-game shot I took - you can see how good this game really looks.
Photo mode allows you to tweak contrast and saturation to show off the Icaras ship. Flying High.
There is actually marginal difference between the ships, but Triakis is the pro's choice ;)
Zone mode is just out of this world. Try zone 92 for size (my record).
Former Deviation Games developers have formed a new studio at Sony Interactive Entertainment in order to work on a brand new PlayStation IP.
Well that's an awesome and very surprising turnaround. Cheers to the new studio and what they'll build!
That's..... confusing, so shut down but just reformed and same employer 🤔 sounds like pretty much what happened to Japan Studio basically just being rebranded as Asobi
It is odd one I don't know how business deals work or the law of that kind of stuff. But is it possible Sony reached out and said hey we want you apart of Sony but don't want to purchase you for what ever reason. How about use disband and we will open a studio and hire you guys type of thing. Is that even possible?
I guess the deviation team fell apart and didn't deliver good progress on what they pitched (they overhyped themselves when the team was announced)so Sony shut them down. They regrouped with a new team and a new pitch so Sony is giving them another shot.
And this time they are keeping it quiet to keep pressure down on the team. So people aren't asking everyday what deviation(or whatever the new team is called) is doing.
Edit: Also Sony never owned them. They just ended their partnership with them. Deviation decided to close on their own.
Good point. You know, i was thinking of Days Gone too. They pitch an idea to Sony for Days Gone 2 but Sony didnt like it do they scrapped the whole thing. Maybe if a good pitch came by...they'd reconsider it.
To be fair, Sony didn't shut them down. Devation was independent. Sony pulled funding on the project they were working on. As a result, they couldn't run so Devation decided to close on their own.
Good for them that they were able to work it out. Hopefully they're developing something interesting.
These days Xenoblade is one of Nintendo’s bigger franchises – at least when it comes to RPGs – but that wasn’t always the case. The first entry came out in English more than a year after its Japanese launch, and that was for European fans only.
Would've been yet another whack move on Nintendo. I'm glad they did. It's one of the few games I got the switch for.
I guess Nintendo forgets how boosting sales numbers work. Why lock a game to a certain region or certain regions? You want sales number then flood the market and release the game in every region.
I just don't understand why companies enjoy locking software behind such specific things. Imagine if Minecraft was only available for Xbox 360 and only North America and never again on anything else..
WTMG's Kyle Nicol: "Heading Out combines genres and styles which might sound incompatible at first glance, but did so in a very interesting manner, resulting in a truly unique roguelike experience. I, for one, really liked the presentation as well, with its slick visuals and soundtrack. It’s not entirely perfect, as the driving could have been more polished, and the pop-in glitches really took me out of the experience at times. That being said, it’s a game unlike any other out there, which wlll definitely keep you engaged through a good few runs."
Best racing game this gen, best PSN game, and one of the best PS3 games period.
Just laughing for the fact that I remember when you said you would write a blog about Wipeout HD and Fury in the comments on an article the other day after I mentioned that WO:HD was 'amazing'.
You fullfilled your promise, good job.
BTW, shove the Shatter soundtrack over the game at some point if you've bought it, it works brilliantly with the game.
I still want Rollcage HD, I'm sure Studio Liverpool owns the rights.
I've enjoyed Wipeout from day one. It's always been of the highest quality and through time has developed a much shallower learning curve. Unfortunately i haven't at this stage purchased a PS3 but i know that wipeout will be the first game that i get for it.
As to why not many people buy wipeout is because it's always been a niche title. This may not be helped by how criminally hard it was when it was first released. It is also a sad state of affairs that every yutz is focusing their attention on more mainstream titles
like GT and Metal gear solid. (Not that there's anything wrong with that)
I think wipeout will always be a game for the purists of hardcore speed, and hopefully this crowd will always be catered for with quality games.
Great blog. I couldn't agree more, being a fan of Wipeout for over a decade myself. Did you take those screenshots yourself? I use one of the pictures I took from Wipeout HD as background for the XMB and everyone who sees it goes "that's awesome". Terribly underrated game.