![]() The multiplayer campaign is set up in a similar fashion to the single player one. You unlock the tracks for speed runs as you progress but, oddly, there’s no free play/race option. It’s also surprisingly easy for a WipEout title there were only a handful of events that I struggled with and even those were soon overcome after a few additional attempts. It’s easy to get hooked on it and breeze through the campaign in just a couple of days, which is a testament both to the game’s innate addictiveness and to the short length of the campaign. The single player campaign features almost 70 events set across 3 years (2048, 2049, and 2050), featuring 10 unique tracks. WipEout 2048 features both a single player and multiplayer campaign. The WipEout series has always had an almost-perfectly suited soundtrack and 2048 continues the high standard set by its predecessors. Still, there’s plenty of energetic techno if that’s more your thing, and it all fits perfectly with the game. The music is standard WipEout fare, though with perhaps more dubstep than is typical. Even after downloading the recent match it takes a good 30 seconds for races to load up. In-game, there are now officially two different types of power-up: green pads for defensive ones (speed boost, shields, auto-pilot, mines, etc.), and yellow pads for offensive ones (homing missile, quake, plasma, etc.).Ī lot has been written about the loading times and they are indeed lengthy. It feels suitably futuristic tapping the screen to work your way through the menus, with little beeps confirming your selections. Where they do shine is in menu navigation. The game supports touch-based controls, though the less said about their application to in-game racing the better (seriously, don’t even bother). No new modes, then, but certain other changes have been made to the standard formula. 2048 certainly has that ‘just one more race…’ addictive quality in spades, it’s just a shame that 2048 doesn’t feature any of HD Fury’s modes, nor does it contain any brand new ones (hopefully the canned Zombie mode is something that Studio Liverpool will consider releasing in DLC form). As ever, time trials are weakest of the bunch, and Zone mode isn’t featured quite as heavily as I’d like, but the level of variety on offer is nonetheless an asset to the title. Naturally, a number of other race modes also return, including standard races, combat races, and time trials. Zone mode is the best thing to ever happen to WipEout, so it’s great to see a strong focus on it in the campaign. This time around there’s a distinct 8-bit theme to it a trend I’m not usually a fan of in modern gaming (to say the least), but it works fantastically here, transforming the tracks into stunningly bright, neon-lit colour trips. If the standard track designs are occasionally too muddied with shades of grey and brown then Zone mode is the ultimate antidote. Like WipEout HD before it, it’s a great showcase for the graphical capabilities of Sony’s latest piece of hardware. ![]() It’s easily one of, if not the best looking title currently available on the PS Vita. The art direction is questionable at times, but 2048 still looks fantastic. The stunningly futuristic track designs on show in the year 2050 are noticeably better they climb to great heights, feature massive drops, and offer up some gorgeous vistas. It’s half futuristic, half contemporary race tracks are built around and through roads, parks, and gritty (read: grey and brown) urban architecture. The ultra-futuristic, slick track designs and purity of art style of past WipEout titles is initially replaced by a more muddled art direction. ![]() The intro sequence shows the transformation of motor racing across the generations and well into the future, and WipEout 2048 is the title that’s somewhat intended to bridge the massive gulf between the two visions of motorsport (in terms of art direction and track design at least – the vehicles thankfully remain untouched). Zooming around the tracks, winding in and out of corners without so much as scraping the barriers thanks to judicious use of the air brakes is exhilarating you’ll feel like a WipEout pro when the track layouts start to sink in and you begin to anticipate the tight turns. The good news is it handles as brilliantly as any WipEout title should. Indeed, they are in large part the main reason I own a PSP, so it was fantastic to hear that WipEout 2048 would blaze a trail for Sony’s latest handheld system, just as Pure did when it launched back in 2005 alongside the PSP. WipEout Pure and WipEout Pulse are two of the strongest titles in the PSP’s back catalogue. By Craig Snow, posted on 27 February 2012 / 6,645 Views
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