Wipeout 2048 Review

The Wipeout name has been synonymous with Sony’s gaming platforms since they got into the industry. And with their new handheld platform being released last month, they decided that a new Wipeout needed to be at the starting line. In hindsight, that was a good decision.

Wipeout 2048 has a metaphorical metric tonne of gameplay held within. You begin in the year 2048, as the name suggests, and you are gradually introduced to the game’s several modes throughout this first season.

The standard Race mode is classic Wipeout. You choose a vehicle and then race a certain number of laps, attempting to finish in a preset minimum place amongst the group whilst using speed pads, weapons and several optional routes to one-up your opponents.

Combat Events have no concern for what place you come in. There is a timer, and you have that amount of time to deal a certain amount of damage to other ships. Being destroyed doesn’t automatically fail you, but it does cost you points. Most of these events are easy enough, but occasionally you’ll come across much higher score requisites. When these occur you will need to be ruthlessly efficient in terms of paths taken and weapon use, and learning to do that is incredibly rewarding.

In the Zone Events, you don’t even use the accelerator. Instead, your ship will start moving at a middling speed, and as you progress your speed will increase dramatically. The point of this mode is ostensibly to keep from damaging your vehicle to the point of exploding until you have passed through a certain number of zones. It sounds simple enough, and you do retain use of your air brakes, but when that constant speed gets to the higher levels, you have to be an incredibly accurate pilot to keep from smashing into corners and meeting a grizzly end.

Time Trials are all about completion time, as per usual in any racing game. You’re given a time to beat, you should probably beat it. ‘Nuff said.

Each of these events will grant you either a Pass or an Elite Pass upon completion. Elite Passes grant twice the amount of XP, and you are rewarded for completing an event near-perfectly. In races, you need a First Place position, for example, and in Zones you would need to pass through quite a lot more than asked for before you inevitably explode.

The more difficult challenges are tied to your vehicle unlocks, but there are really only one or two vehicles per class that are worth using. I have one vehicle focused on firepower that I use for Combat Events, and although I’ve unlocked variants, no other Combat-oriented vehicle has given me any reason to make me change that one out. The same thing goes for the one speed-oriented vehicle that I use. It’s a little disappointing that the stats for each vehicle don’t differ enough within their respective classes to make experimentation more compelling, but all vehicles are at least capable of getting the job done.

Once you complete the 2048 season, you will progress into 2049 and, finally, 2050. These ensuing seasons follow an identical format to the first but ask significantly more of the player’s ability. And I stress, significantly more. Once you hit about 40% completion of 2049, the difficulty curve spikes hard. Not so hard that the game is being downright unfair, but it suffices to say you’ll need to have begun your ascent into Wipeout mastery, otherwise you’ll be left repeating the same race over and over again, probably resulting in a certain shiny handheld device exiting your nearest window.

The controls feel pretty good. The biggest drawback of this iteration over the PS3’s Wipeout HD, specifically, is the rather noticeable frame rate drop from 60 to 30 frames per second. It’s the kind of thing that will only be jarring to players who are used to the former, but speaking as one of those people, it’s worth mentioning. Retaining high frame rate in racing games is almost a prerequisite nowadays, as it allows for much quicker reaction time from the control input, but on the whole Wipeout 2048 handles as well as can be expected from sub-console hardware.

What’s more, the game options allow you to increase the amount of aid you receive when taking corners. This is by no means a revolutionary feature, but is invaluable to players who can’t quite get the hang of the daunting extreme speed and air brakes, and the drift that occurs when combining the two. A hovercraft doesn’t react around corners the same way that a car would in your usual racing games, so this feature is key for aspiring new players who want to perfect the unique talent requirements of Wipeout‘s gameplay.

When it comes to multiplayer, Wipeout 2048 excels on the Vita, allowing the player to race against Wipeout HD players, as well as fellow Vita users. Cross-platform multiplayer is a tough thing to get right, and arguably the PS3 players retain a hefty advantage by playing with double the frame rate, but the experience is enjoyable and welcome regardless.

Wipeout 2048 neither brings the breath of fresh air that the franchise probably deserves at this point nor does it stand out above the crowd when compared to some of the other Vita games available, but it does a lot of things right. It gives the consumer an exciting kart racer that controls really well and doesn’t expect the player to be at a minimum skill level to enjoy it instantly — unlike a lot of modern racing games. It looks great, runs well, is suitable for the typical handheld gaming archetype, and it has a pretty kicking soundtrack. I’m still waiting for the franchise to pull out something amazing, but this is a welcome entry to bide that time.