[Wipeout]

Psygnosis

Reviewed by: Haralds Jass

Game category: full/CD-ROM
Game type: high-speed racing
Price: ~ US $50

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Hardware/software requirements/recommended:

                      CPU     Graphics         RAM     Disk Space
Minimum         486 DX2/66    VESA Local Bus  8MB     none
Recommended       Pentium      same           16MB     2KB

Also required: 2X CD-ROM drive, DOS 6.0 or later
Control: joystick, keyboard, or mouse
Support: Sound Blaster, SB Pro, SB 16 and SB AWE32

Reviewed version: 1.0 (? - not specified)
Reviewed on: Pentium 90, 16MB RAM, 2X CD-ROM, 64-bit 2MB VRAM ATI mach64
graphics card, SB AWE 32 sound card, and Suncom SFX Gamepad
Reviewer recommends: Pentium 60, 8MB RAM, 2X CD-ROM, joypad/gamepad, and a
supported sound card

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Why?

Many have said that Wipeout is a "revolutionary" and "ground breaking" game
- while it seems just like another fast speed racer (the most like
Nintendo's F-Zero) from the screen shots, with not a lot of originality.
What is all the fuss about?

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The Idea Behind Wipeout

A high-speed racing game ("The F3600 Anti-Gravity Racing League") with a
few extras, such as direct from CD professional techno music, real 3D
environments, and various weapons.

-------------------

The Story So Far

It's 2052 AD and anti-gravity racing has become world's biggest sport. You
are as one of two drivers in one of four major teams. There are six tracks
in the slower Venom class and six in the faster Rapier (Rapier is
accessible only after you have come in 1-3 in the Venom class
championship).

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Gameplay

The gameplay in Wipeout is surprisingly good! It is very balanced - the
difficulty level increases gradually and just right. The game is not as
easy that you can play through the six tracks in championship right away,
but also not as hard that you can keep on practicing and you'll never make
it.

The gameplay is also simple and easy to get into - you just hold down your
accelerator and use the four direction keys, the air brakes on tight turns
(there are no real brakes as Wipeout is not a game in which you ever have
to slow down), and the powerups. That's is - pure, simple gameplay!

There are six powerups - four of them are weapons (mines, shock wave,
rocket, and missile), one is shield and the last is turbo boost. You can
only carry one powerup at a time.

In Wipeout Psygnosis really has come very close to a simple game, which is
fast, fun, and adrenaline pumping! If only the control would be better (see
the Control section of the review for more details), Wipeout would
definitely be an excellent game!

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Graphics and Animation

The graphics are 320X240X256 and there is no option for high-res graphics
(but you can choose even lower-res ones). The good thing is that the
graphics are very fast and will be that way even on Pentium 60 or 486
DX4/100 with a decent graphics card, but the the bad side is that they are
not very detailed.

                                  [Image]
 When you are moving at high-speed, the graphic details are not visible, so
  the low-res graphics aren't that bad (besides, the feel of the speed at
           low-res is a lot better than slow high-res graphics).

Wipeout is obviously a direct conversion of the PlayStation game and the
resolution is good for a TV, but not the (now) standard SVGA for PC. The
colours have been reduced to 256 and the work done there is not very good -
a 256 colour palette can be used more efficiently, as many games have
shown. In Wipeout the 256 colours are too obvious.

                                  [Image]
 This is a screen shot of the PlayStation version of Wipeout - as you see,
   the graphics are a lot better than those in the 256 colour PC version.

The game movement is fast, however, there are a lot of graphics glitches -
you can see "through" objects if you go too close, objects just pop up even
with the far draw distance, and there are other glitches (for example, when
you happen to land, after a jump, on a top of another craft). If all goes
well you won't notice a lot of them, but after playing a game for a while
you'll be accustomed to these graphics glitches.

Overall, animation and graphics are "okay", but with just a bit more work
they could have been much better. Now the game looks more like it is in
beta and not a final version.

-------------------

Sound and Music

The music is direct from CD and is techno by CoLD SToRAGE - there are eight
music tracks, each about five minutes long. The music is appropriate for
the game ("adrenaline pumping") and most of it adds quite a bit to the
high-speed racing.

The sound effects are very poor and minimal. There is no acceleration,
brake, turn, etc. effects - pretty much all the sound effects there are, is
when you bump into the walls of the race track or other racers, and even
then they are minimal. While you really are listening more to the music and
enjoying the high speed (once you have gotten past the horrible control) in
the game and the effects are not necessarily very important, it definitely
would have added to the game if a bit more time and effort was spent on
them.

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Control

Now we have come to the worst part of the game - the control in Wipeout is
simply horrible! Don't even dream of playing this game with a keyboard -
you'll need a good joystick/gamepad such as the Suncom SFX (with two top
buttons like the SNES joypad for the air brakes). However, even that won't
make it a lot easier.

To put it shortly, all the time I was playing Wipeout I felt like I was
under the effect of shock wave, which distorts the control. It is virtually
impossible not to bump into the walls on most turns - I have spent well
over of 10 hours on Wipeout just trying to master the control and I still
have not (I have mastered the control in games which, supposedly, have a
lot worse control in half the time).

                                  [Image]
Luck, not skill, is what you'll need for those tight turns - all because of
                             the poor control.

The only two ways to loose your speed in Wipeout are to either make a bad
jump (too high or too low) or to bump into walls and other cars - not very
innovative. The race tracks are all quite narrow and some turns are
virtually impossible to master. If you have a lot of time and patience, you
probably will achieve that, but in my opinion that just isn't worth it and
it detracts a lot from the actual game play/fun value. If the tracks would
not bump you off and slow you down so much, Wipeout could have been a lot
more fun and then the walls could have been used for some "tricks" (they
should be slippery and just slide you off, without a huge speed loss - a
bit like in bobsled). This seems to me like the only major design flaw in
Wipeout - the way the walls are designed. Instead of the walls slowing me
down incredibly even on a small contact I'd prefer better AI for racers and
more competition against them, instead of constantly trying to stay out of
the walls in the later levels (in the 15-20 hours I have played Wipeout I
have only mastered the first three levels in the Venom class). If this
would have been true for Wipeout it would a lot better game, as I am sure
the vast majority of gamers will agree.

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Game Evaluation

Story/plot.........................20% (the usual in this kind of a game -
very generic)
Graphics..........................64% (decent graphics, poor PC conversion)
Animation........................80% (very good speed, but too many
glitches)
Sound effects...................10% (minimal)
Music...............................92% (good and appropriate - adrenaline
pumping)
Control.............................44% (the major detraction of the game
fun factor)
Extras..............................24% (virtually nothing - not even a
replay or back mirror)
Replay value....................85% (good, but the poor control detracts
from it)
Gameplay.........................96% (well balanced!)

Overall............................76% (a good game, could be excellent if
had a decent control)

Technical Notes

Wipeout is a perfect example of the trend for simplicity in PC games today
- it has no config and has an auto detect for sound card (only Sound
Blasters are supported, so if you don't have one you're out of luck). A
data file of high-scores is optional (and then you don't get to specify
where it is saved - the default c:\Wipeout\ is the only option) and the
game has no install whatsoever. Still, it is not that simple - the Win95 CD
auto-play still is not supported, and neither are non-standard IRQs (I had
IRQ 10 for my AWE32 and the game just started, without any error messages,
because it has none, but I got no WAV sound - only the CD music. In the
manual there are no technical details or help whatsoever, but luckily IRQ 7
had just become available on my system so I changed my AWE32 to IRQ7 in the
Win95 config and then I got sound - the very little of it there is). What
this means is that anyone with a "perfect" SB system and a generic config
will be able to play the game okay, but lots of non-standard system configs
won't do it and the game has no error messages and no help available for
those. That means that many novices will have tech problems and no help
with the game - all because the simplicity approach makes it harder and not
easier and has more negative than positive effects.

                                  [Image]
If you would go any closer than this to this mountain, you would definitely
                   see "through" it (a graphics glitch).

There is a number of other technical gripes about the game which could have
been fixed not to make Wipeout look like an early beta (like it does now),
such as the high volume sound screech upon startup (the sound card
detection), graphics glitches, control, etc.

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Other Stuff (just a few mumblings and quick thoughts)

If only a week or two more were spent on this game working out the bugs it
would be a lot better! ... Another trend - mutliplayer game on the box, but
inside a note that it will be available only later! ... You can't even
input your initials after the high score with keyboard - you have to use
the arrow keys (just shows how quickly and carelessly the conversion was
done)! ... Wipeout has potential, unfortunately, because it was rushed it
is now only the half of the game it could have been ... A rather
interesting graphics glitch to see is when either you land on another craft
or another craft happens to land on you - then the movements (as you or the
AI tries to get off) and the way the A-G racing crafts are built look like
the two A-G crafts are...mating. I don't know how, with this in the game,
Wipeout got rated as 3-18+ by ELSPA.

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Tips and Tricks

   * try all eight available pilots and choose the one which suits you the
     best - there is a considerable difference;
   * when you are in the air, go down (push up with the default controller
     config) as fast as you can, as in the air you are a lot slower than
     when you are on the race track - this is a good way to pass your
     opponents quickly;
   * try to shoot the opponents on the jump - that is a great slow down (at
     least 10 seconds!);
   * remember to use air brakes on tight jumps and right after the arrow in
     the opposite direction to straighten out your craft;
   * if you don't have a straight way ahead and are not straightened out,
     don't bother on using the turbo boost - in the end it will only result
     in you slowing down;
   * don't hold on to bombs if you are the last and always use the shield
     right away so that you could get another (better) weapon sooner.

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Conclusion

Wipeout is a good game with lots of potential, unfortunately, it has
"RUSHED PRODUCT" written all over it. If you have a PlayStation, get the PS
and not the PC CD-ROM version - you'll be better off. If you only have a PC
and you don't mind a few graphic glitches, only music with virtually no
sounds effects, and mainly poor control which takes a lot of time to master
and like fast, adrenaline pumping games Wipeout will provide you with hours
of good gameplay. However, if poor control gets to you, don't bother, as it
takes the speed and the fun out of the game and it will be a few hours of a
more chore-like practise before you can actually start enjoying the game on
the first track. Add a few more hours for each succeeding track.

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Copyright  1996, Haralds Jass for the Games Domain.
