WipEout Pulse

WipEout Pulse (Retail cover art)

WipEout Pulse is an original anti-gravity combat racing video game developed by Studio Liverpool for the PlayStation® Portable. It was later ported to PlayStation 2 by Spiralhouse. It iterates on the gameplay established in WipEout Pure. It is the sixth mainline installment in the WipEout series.

The player competes in the FX400 Racing League, piloting anti-gravity racing ships that float above the circuits at high speeds. These anti-gravity racing ships are able to obtain and use various Pickups to disrupt other players or assist the pilot. Like all WipEout games, WipEout Pulse focuses on delivering high-speed, high-thrills combat racing action.

The Gameplay, rules and the objective differ based on the Game Mode that the player chooses: WipEout Pulse offers 7 different modes.

The game was released on PlayStation® Portable:

• North America: February 12th, 2008^[1];
• Europe and the UK: December 14th, 2007^[1].

And on PlayStation® 2:

• Europe: June 10th, 2009^[1].

WipEout Pulse is fast and precise; it requires strategy and resource management with Pickups and Shield Energy, and it rewards track knowledge with piloting skills.

While WipEout Pulse's gameplay differs based on the Game Modes, there are common elements that make up the WipEout experience in this entry. This section focuses on these common elements.

Ships float in WipEout Pulse. This is an important distinction to make for anyone coming over from car racing games.

( describe handling)

The handling consists of the following mechanics:

Press and hold the Accelerate button (mapped by default to Cross) to speed up.

The player can also get a speed boost at the start of the race by performing a Perfect Start. The moment the countdown reaches “GO”, press and hold the Accelerate button.

Control your ship through D-Pad or Analog Stick inputs - Steer it left and right, and Pitch it up and down.

• Steering is the basic way to control the direction of your craft.
• Pitching is useful for getting more airtime or reducing it. More airtime may enable some Barrel Rolls, but excessive airtime loses speed.

Airbrakes are a way to turn more aggressively. When an airbrake is engaged, a flap is raised on one side of the ship, increasing that side's air resistance, which helps steer the craft in that direction. They are activated by holding down the Left Airbrake and Right Airbrake buttons (mapped by default to L and R respectively).

At higher speeds, Airbrakes are essential to complete most turns. Ignoring them is a big mistake, but so is overusing them. Using both at the same time will slow the ship down like a normal brake; however, using them to simply turn doesn't drop the craft's speed much.

Sideshifts push the craft to the side quickly. They are activated by quickly tapping either Airbrake button twice (the craft shifts to that Airbrake's side). You can control the distance of the Sideshift by holding the button for longer, or releasing it quickly.

Sideshifts are used to immediately and radically correct the race line. They're a situational tool that is often fired when undershooting a turn, missing a Speed Pad, or recovering from a Weapon impact.

Pickups, also known as Items or Weapons (despite the category not being limited to them), are helpful power-ups that a pilot can obtain by going over a Weapon Pad. Only one can be held by a pilot at a time; when equipped, they get the choice to either Absorb it (ditch it in exchange for some Shield Energy), or to use it.

WipEout Pulse has 13 Pickups. Each one is unique - having their own use cases, varying degrees of usefulness, and even Absorbing for different amounts of Shield Energy. They are split into categories based on their nature. 2 of the pickups are only available in Eliminator.

Each weapons are classifiable in 5 categories:

Ships in WipEout Pulse have Shield Energy. It is a resource that represents the structural integrity of your ship. The starting point is 100% Energy, and when it gets below 0%, the ship fucking explodes lmao.

Shield Energy is reduced by colliding with walls or other players, getting hit by Weapons, going out-of-bounds, or by performing Barrel Rolls. There are also ways to restore the craft's Shield Energy: for example, in Single Races, it is restored by Absorbing Pickups.

Shield Energy management is an important skill in WipEout Pulse. Getting stingy will get you eliminated, setting you way back in the best case, or even failing the event entirely in the worst case. Having enough Shield Energy is also required to successfully perform Barrel Rolls, which are crucial for any high-skill pilot.

It is displayed in percentage points to the player; however, internally, Shield Energy is measured in units. Each Ship has a set capacity for energy units, with various Pickups replenishing set amounts of these units. The only thing that relies on energy percentage are the Barrel Rolls, with them always taking 8% of your Shield Energy when attempted. As such, ships with a lower Shield Energy stat are actually better for Barrel Roll-heavy gameplay: each Pickup the player Absorbs restores a higher percentage of these ships' energy.

Barrel Rolls are tricks that you can perform while your ship is mid-air, awarding a speed boost if completed before landing.

By pressing Left-Right-Left or Right-Left-Right on your steering input when mid-air, you can attempt a Barrel Roll for 8% of your Shield Energy. Your ship will attempt a 360° barrel roll, and if it completes before you land, you will get a quick burst of speed, not unlike a Speed Pad or a Turbo boost. If the ship lands before that happens, you will get disappointment, and your Shield Energy will be taken anyway.

Barrel Rolls are essential for high-level gameplay. They can be performed in spots other than the obvious drops through precise and clever maneuvers for just enough airtime. They enhance the resource management element of Shield Energy while testing the pilot's skill and directly rewarding them for good play.

Additionally, Barrel Rolls are closely linked to Pitch control: pitching up can enable Barrel Rolls that would otherwise be impossible, and pitching down will decrease unwanted airtime - landing faster, wasting less time in the air and getting the speed boost sooner.

These yellow arrow-shaped panels on the track's floor will give the ship a burst of speed when flown over. The speed boost is gained rapidly and will decrease back to cruise velocity over a few moments.

Speed Pads can be placed alone or in series, stacked horizontally or vertically, placed in challenging spots or next to Weapon Pads. Hitting one likely won't change the outcome of the race, but hunting them reliably will give the skilled pilot a competitive edge. Combined with their colorful counterpart, Speed Pads also introduce an element of split-second strategy to the race.

When flown over, Weapon Pads give the player a random Pickup. They shift colors over time and are cross-shaped. In Single Race and Tournament, they will be disabled for a few seconds after someone flies over them; in Eliminator, there is no cooldown. In Head to Head, Weapons Pads are absent.

Weapon Pads also introduce strategy to the race, along with elements of resource management and randomness. A lucky Pickup could single-handedly change the outcome of the race in a split second; neglecting them in favor of going faster will compromise the pilot's Shield Energy.

These sections of the circuit use Mag-Lock technology to keep ships on the track, and enable pilots to fly along the walls, loops and bumpy track sections without falling or detaching. When locked onto a Mag-Strip, the ship is effectively pinned to the track surface without negatively affecting speed, acceleration or steering. All gravity effects from tilted track orientation are negated; also, both cornering drift when turning and pitch control are heavily reduced. Overall, though, the ships' handling feels largely the same on a Mag-Strip.

Mag-Strips debuted in WipEout Pulse. They mostly serve an aesthetic purpose, however they have real gameplay implications: the inability to detach from these sections prevents barrel rolls and potentially enables blind spots for strategic Pickup use. Additionally, some weapons' trajectory is still affected by normal gravity when fired on Mag-Strips, making them drift towards the ground on tilted sections and, ultimately, harder to aim.

Mag-Strip sections are common in the track roster of WipEout Pulse.

WipEout Pulse presents a choice between different ways to pick the Game Mode:

• Campaign mode, with a series of pre-configured events;
  
• Racebox, a way to configure a custom single player event;
  
• Online mode, taking Racebox to PlayStation®Network with the limitation of only 2 modes being available.

Racebox and Online allow the player to pick a Track, while Campaign's Tracks are preset. Regardless, the player gets to pick their Ship and start the race.

FX400's participants

WipEout Pulse features 12 racing teams competing in the FX400 Racing League.

When picking a ship, the game's menu presents you with four of the ship's stats: Speed, Thrust, Handling and Shield. Though these frontend stats represent the ship somewhat, they are strong simplifications of the ships' actual (or, as the community dubbed them, secret) stats. Actual stats are more complex and precisely dictate how each ship handles and feels.

Below is a list of the participating teams. Each title links to the section that describes the WipEout Pulse ships.

Grid 1 of the WipEout Pulse campaign

The Campaign consists of “Grids” - sets of events that are arranged on a hexagon grid. Completing an event fills its cell with an appropriate medal and unlocks adjacent events. Completing a certain number of events in a Grid unlocks the next one.

The player can set the AI difficulty, which will apply to competitive modes of the campaign, like Single Race. Completing events with a higher AI difficulty has no merit other than displaying the highest difficulty you've passed the event on in the information box.

WipEout Pulse's campaign has 20 grids, and Downloadable Content adds 4 more. Each grid is a healthy mix of various modes and tracks.

The game takes place in the FX400 Racing League.

add the lore

WipEout Pulse features 16 music tracks.

• Aphex Twin - Fenix Funk 5 (Wipeout Edit);
• Booka Shade - Steady Rush;
• B Phreak & Groove Allegiance - Break Ya Self (Wipeout Remix);
• DJ Fresh - X-Project (100% Pure mix);
• Dopamine - Flat Out;
• Ed Rush, Optical & Matrix - Frontline;
• Kraftwerk - Aerodynamik (Alex Gopher & Etienne de Crecy Mix);
  • While the game doesn't specify it, the mix is, in fact, the Alex Gopher & Etienne de Crecy Mix.
• Loco Dice - City Lights (Martin Buttich Remix);
• Mason - Exceeder (Special Mix);
• MIST - Smart Systems;
• MoveYa! & Steve Lavers - Chemical;
• Noisia - Seven Stitches;
• Rennie Pilgrem & BLIM - Slingshot (Wipeout Mix);
• Shlomi Aber & Guy Gerber - Sea Of Sand (Wipeout Mix);
• Stanton Warriors - Tokyo;
• Skream - Suspicious Thoughts.

Mirage pack :

Released February 7th 2008^[2];

Contains Edgewinter White, Vostok Reef Black and the Mirage Mantis ship.

Icaras pack :

Released February 14th 2008^[3];

Contains Edgewinter Black, Gemini Dam White and the Icaras ship.

Harimau pack :

Released February 21st 2008^[4];

Contains Orcus White, Gemini Dam Black and the Harimau ship.

Auricom pack :

Released February 28th 2008^[5];

Contains Orcus Black, Vostock Reef White and the Auricom ship.

…

1. According to MobyGames.
2. According to PS Deals.
3. According to PS Deals.
4. According to PS Deals.
5. According to PS Deals.