WipEout HD Impressions

It's WipEout... only now it's HD! Seriously, there's not a lot to say; either you're familiar with the series or not. Specifically, WipEout HD takes all its cues from the two recent PSP titles (WipEout Pure and WipEout Pulse)... the campaign mode is especially modeled after WipEout Pulse's. The tracks, teams, and ships are all lifted from those games as well, and so far I think the music is straight from Pulse.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I spent a lot of time with WipEout Pure at the PSP's launch, and it was a fantastic game. The only reason why I never bothered with Pulse is because I'd kinda gotten out of the PSP scene. Still, I know I and some of you were hoping for more stuff from older WipEout (for me, especially WipEout XL and Wip3out). WipEout HD will be supported with DLC, though, so there's always hope.

In any case, WipEout's picked up a bit from the transition from PSP to PS3. The graphics, as mentioned, are HD, and the game is buttery smooth with colorful tracks, ships, engine trails, and weapon effects. I also think WipEout is more comfortable to play with the PS3's controller than it is on the PSP.

At the end of the day, it seems unfair to criticize WipEout HD for rehashing too much of the PSP games and not enough of the PSX games. The simple fact is, for $20 and a 1GB download (that took my PS3 nearly two hours to complete), you're getting a faster, prettier WipEout with both online multiplayer and splitscreen two-player that's really good enough to have been pressed onto a Blu-ray and sold for a lot more. Fans of the series, definitely check it out.