Wipeout 2048 review

You can read this review in full in our print edition.

Our March issue, which goes on sale February 15, includes a Post Script interview with the Wipeout 2048 creative team on how it reimagined the hovercraft racer.

You can subscribe to Edge in print, on iOS via Newsstand and on Android, PC and Mac via Zinio.

--

As Sony embraces the future with its new Vita handheld, Studio Liverpool rewinds the timeline of its poster-child sci-fi racer. Now grounded in a more relatable near-future setting, Wipeout 2048 trades the futurism of, say, Wipeout HD or Fury for an earthier tone than fans may expect. As such, many tracks have wide lanes and are surrounded by contemporary-style architecture, drawing on the modern more than the imaginary.

It’s a less exciting visual treatment than the series’ more typical – and luminous – industrial sci-fi, and the blander setting is yoked to some disarmingly easy initial stages. At first, it feels as if Studio Liverpool has loosened up to make way for casual newcomers to Vita, but the difficulty spikes considerably in the second of the three seasons, seeing the AI step up and tracks become more intimate. As races and challenges go from cosy to cutthroat, success requires a hop into the options to remove pilot assist along with a toggle into the firstperson camera view to secure those extra inches of racing line. It sounds serious, and it is – 2048 has not abandoned the series’ hardcore sensibilities, but simply provided an entry point for a more casual crowd. One case in point where well-honed twitch reactions are rewarded is the game’s ‘skill-cuts’, which provide a get-out clause for those who have been unfairly overwhelmed by a bad hand of pick-ups. These shortcuts require razor-sharp timing of sidesteps – double-taps of the air brake that strafe your craft left or right – and demand dedication to master.

Indeed, learning 2048’s tracks inside and out is as crucial as in the best Wipeouts, and Vita’s responsive thumbsticks are more than capable of handling your delicate (or nervous) twitches, meaning you only have yourself to blame for botched barrel rolls. Speed pads and power-ups are the cornerstones of many challenges, and the restrictions laid out by the designers remix tracks to brilliant, nail-biting effect, with a cannon and leech-beam race through the Downtown map being a particular standout. The focus in 2048, more than any other Wipeout besides Fury, is combat. The wider lanes enable the team to squeeze more craft and effects onscreen, and give you the leeway to bob and weave as you rattle off an array of projectiles and mines.

Sadly, Wipeout 2048 routinely forces you to contend with the barrage of detail in each stage. With all the grittier textures, it’s sometimes difficult to  make out the track from the world beyond it. For once, Vita’s screen feels small as you anxiously memorise tracks framed by towering architecture and populated with elements appropriate to the setting, from flocks of birds to confetti and floating balloons. Furthermore, with a group of warring racers onscreen, the framerate can suffer. It’s not game-breaking, and it doesn’t deter you from pressing on, but it is noticeable in a series built on speed and against the 60fps perfection of Wipeout HD.

That said, Combat (previously known as Eliminator) and Zone modes also make the transition to 2048, and while the former in particular falls victim to framerate and visibility issues, Zone sees the game at its smoothest and most addictive. The later SOL and Empire Climb maps closely capture the ambitious, intricate layouts of classic Wipeout, and the game’s climactic campaign duels can be ranked alongside some of the series’ adrenaline-pumping high points.

Of course, a core component of any Wipeout is the soundscape, and here, as a Liverpudlian might put it, 2048 is sound as a pound. From the sonic boom of a speed pad to the robotic soundbites that announce pick-ups, the audio is as rich and detailed as the backdrops. The licensed music tracks have clearly been selected to complement the onscreen action, too, but it’s a shame 2048 doesn’t allow for custom soundtracks, and the playlist is a little lean.

A multiplayer campaign, cleverly threaded together with an unlock structure that mirrors the singleplayer game, adds weight and value to the package. It brings a unique slant to Vita’s solid online potential, essentially gamifying your experience with friends by encouraging you to pursue objectives across randomly selected maps to progress. With a raft of unlockables to collect, this re-engineering of a campaign game for multiple users is one of 2048’s key successes. 

Ad Hoc play also features randomly assigned modes and tracks, offering voting options between sessions, but never handing full customisation over to hosts. The general lack of matchmaking options throughout is an interesting design choice, presumably intended to discourage power-hungry hosting, but it may also turn out to be a frustration for users looking to get a fix of a particular map and mode with friends. But Vita’s Near certainly makes game hunting feel much more personal than trawling through lobbies, and it’s therefore 2048 – of all the launch games – that most strongly hints at the handheld’s online social potential.  

Overall, then, Wipeout 2048 shines brightest in the relative serenity of multiplayer, with four or fewer racers on the track. The blinkers on the online segment focus the experience further, channelling its thrills into unpredictable bite-size moments, and heightening the sense of achievement and reward.  

Yes, Wipeout 2048 conjures a less fanciful racing grid than we’ve seen previously, and it’s also a less immaculate, less finessed racer than the home console iterations of the series we’ve played down the years. Instead, it’s an attempt to try something new on the newest of platforms. While it may not offer something for everyone, when it flies, it soars. [8]