At last, the latest in the WipEout series. Psygnosis has been hard at work for the past
three years trying to improve upon the seemingly flawless title, WipEout 2097. Have they
done it, or have they wrecked the image of the company's most fashionable franchise?
By Narayan


If there could ever be a racing title that would get us really stirred up, it would have to be
a WipEout game; and there it was, on a sunny September afternoon, just waiting to be
played. We could tell you how Elstinky twisted Narayan's arm in order to be the first to
play Eliminator mode, or how Narayan got Steven into a headlock when he dared to pass
him on the spiral in Mega Mall. But no, that would be too straightforward - you see,
WipEout 3 is what you'd call a crowd pleaser of a game. The previous incarnations were
excellent technology demos for the Playstation, but you'd be hard pressed to find a casual
gamer amongst their followers. Only a small percentage of elite players managed to finish
it, and despite the "trendy" look and sound, it was one for the hardcore minority. With this
latest version, Psygnosis want to unite the two main groups of players that the game's
aimed at: the first being the aforementioned professionals, the second the fashionable
crowd that sees the game as a cool diversion from more technical titles such as Gran
Turismo.

Boot up the game for the first time, and the menu screen might make you feel a bit strange
as it appears before you. We're talking minimalism here, big time. That's not necessarily
bad, mind you - the game's graphics, in-game or not, have been catered for by The
Designer's Republic, one of the UK's most stylish and prolific design houses. They did the
previous WipEout games' graphics too, so if you've played any one of the two in the past
you'll feel right at home with the mood. The bottom line is that the menu looks minimalist
but good, as you'll notice.

And then the music kicks in.

One of WipEout 2097's main selling points was the great high-speed soundtrack by the
likes of The Prodigy, Orbital and The Chemical Brothers that really set the pace for the
main game. As you'd expect, Sony came up tops again and had Sasha, one of the UK's
biggest DJs, come up with some exclusive tracks for the game. Add to that tracks by
(among others) Paul Van Dyk, The Chemical Brothers and Proppellerheads, and you've got
one block rockin' soundtrack for a game.
                                                             
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Screenshots: 1 2 3 4 5

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