What a decade did to WipEout - videos

October 23rd, 2007, 20:00 Posted By: Shrygue

via Computer and Video Games


We remember the first time we saw the camera swoop in behind the ship in WipEout 2097 for the first time. "OMFG" were the words shouted from our young mouths.

The thunder cracks and the rain pours down as the realistically echoing robo-voice counts down from three to one. "GO" he says, the Prodigy music kicked in and we found ourselves in control of a technical masterpiece for that era of gaming.

11 years later and our PS3 is pumping out the slick high-res graphics of WipEout HD, and we know you want to see it. So we recorded a video of the Anulpha Pass track in full-screen for you to admire its silky smooth beauty.

Then we just couldn't resist getting out our old favourite and running them side-by-side, just for nostalgia's sake. Surprisingly, it's still bloody good to play, even after all these years.

The ships in WipEout HD definitely handle far tighter than in 2097 - they don't swing about as much, but there are actually certain little things that we prefer about the old game.

Wall collision is one of the main things. In the old game you can scrape the wall and lose relatively no speed at all, and the scraping sound made by your ship's body as it rubs the wall - the sound of you pushing your aircraft to the very edge of a bend at high speed - is strangely satisfying.

But in the new game, any contact with the wall at all, no matter how slight, slows your ship down to an almost instant halt - not very pleasing at all.

The music in 2097 is better, too, and the overall echoing atmosphere is still brilliant.

See them running side-by-side in the video.


Trailer here

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