WipEout Pure

WipEout Pure (EU retail cover art)

WipEout Pure is an original anti-gravity combat racing video game developed by Studio Liverpool for the PlayStation®Portable. It is an attempt at a return to form after the controversial design decisions introduced in WipEout Fusion. The game features original tracks and ships. It is the fifth mainline installment in the WipEout series, and was well-received when it first released.

The player competes in the FX300 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 Pure focuses on delivering high-speed, high-thrills combat racing action.

It was released on UMD®:

• North America: March 16th, 2005^[1];
• Japan: April 7th, 2005^[1];
• Germany: August 30th, 2005^[1];
• Rest of Europe and the UK: September 1st, 2005^[1].

It was also released digitally on PlayStation®Store:

• North America: November 20th, 2007^[2].

WipEout Pure 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 Pure'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 Pure. 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 Pure has 10 Pickups. Each one is unique - having their own use cases, varying degrees of usefulness, and even Absorbing for different amounts of Shield Energy.

Ships in WipEout Pure 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 Pure. 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.

Introduced in WipEout Pure, 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.

WipEout Pure's implementation of Barrel Rolls is somewhat flawed: unlike later games, you're required to complete the full 360° roll for the speed boost to be awarded. While this may sound fair on paper, in practice, pilots find this quite frustrating. Later games allow leeway. Additionally, when AI pilots are on screen, it is very difficult to initiate a Barrel Roll, even with the correct inputs.

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.

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.

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

• Single Player
  
• Multiplayer
  
• Teaser
  

( review)

WipEout Pure features 8 racing teams competing in the FX300 Racing League and many more as downloadable content.

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 Pure ships.

The game takes place in the FX300 Racing League.

add the lore

Out of the UMD, WipEout Pure has 19 music tracks to race to:

• Aphex Twin - Naks Acid;
• CoLD SToRAGE - Onyx;
• Cosmos - Kinection
• Drummatic Twins - Twister;
• Elite Force - Cross the Line;
• FreQ Nasty - Grand Theft;
• Friendly - We Got Juice;
• Jay Tripwire - Room 2;
• LFO - Flu Shot;
• Ming + FS - Hellion;
• Paul Hartnoll - Ignition;
• Photek - C Note;
• Plump DJs - Black Jack 3;
• Rennie Pilgrem & Roxiller - Bug;
• Stanton Warriors - Night Mover;
• T Power - The System;
• Tayo Meets Acid Rockers Uptown - Crafty Youth;
• Themroc - Mean Red;
• Tiësto - Goldrush.

In addition, 2 tracks are used in the intro and main menu respectively:

• Paul Hartnoll - Boot Up;
• Röyksopp - Curves.

…

1. According to MobyGames.
2. According to PS Deals and a thread on WipEoutZone.