Game Analysis: WipEout Pulse

Lately I've been playing around with WipEout Pulse for the PSP

This is much different from other racing games I've ever played and far more challenging! The graphics are sophisticated and refined. Very clean designs for ships and tracks.

The game features 12 tracks. The racing campaign is made up of various hexagonal "grids". Here you can choose which track to race on as well as the challenge attached to it. Different hexagons have different tracks with challenges that you unlock as you race and meet the lowest requirement for it (displayed to the right of the grid).

The available challenge modes are:

• Single Race (ranking-based race against multiple opponents)
• Head-to-Head (single race against one opponent)
• Best Lap (seven-lap time-trials) 
• Eliminator (get points for destroying opponents and finishing laps)
• Zone (survival mode in which your vehicle slowly accelerates and won't stop unless you crash)

The interesting thing about the tracks is that the game allows you to play tracks "in reverse". This makes for a neat experience in changing the view and feel of the track. The direction you'll be facing is stated in the track name (i.e. "Talon's Junction White" versus "Talon's Junction Black" in which White is forward and Black is reverse). A lot of people debate on whether there's 12 or 24 tracks-- but I'll stick with 12, since it's the way the game itself markets it.

Different ships belong to different teams and you rack up "Loyalty" points every time you compete in a race with their ship. Things like picking the same ship consecutively and your ranking in races as that ship increase your Loyalty significantly. Loyalty points allow you to unlock different skins for your ships (I'm a big sucker for that).

There's a healthy variety of pickups in Pulse-- lasers, shields, boost...pretty standard stuff. Using pickups however-- takes up much of your ship's energy (gauge on the bottom right). Having low energy REALLY slows you down! Players can opt to either Use their pickup to get ahead and depleting their own energy OR simply "Absorb" the pickup and regain your ship's energy. It should be noted that hitting other ships / walls will also deplete your ship's energy. Appropriate pickup usage greatly affects your racing strategy.

In terms of control, each ship is equipped with "Airbreaks" (activated via the PSP's shoulder buttons). In order to avoid taking collision damage due to the many difficult tight turns, players will have to spend a significant amount of time mastering their Airbreak techniques. It really makes the difference when it comes to shaving off a couple of extra seconds by hitting boost pads or avoiding collisions.

Having tried out some of the other WipEout games on the consoles, I was a bit weirded out by trying it on PSP but the controls feel right. The loading time is not very long, and the game even lets you make a playlist so you can race to your own music (up to 30 tracks per playlist-- must be in MP3 format)!

WipEout Pulse is a great racing game and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a challenge.