Now, ten years later, we're on the cusp of another gaming revolution with the release of Sony's PSP, a highly anticipated handheld hitting the streets in March. Sony apparently realizes that gamers are still craving fast-paced, out-of-this-world racing action, so they're going to be giving the fans what they want with WipeOut Pure. For the most part, the core gameplay experience has remained the same, which, in this case, is a very good thing indeed.
When beginning the game, the first thing you must do is choose a race mode. You can do Time Trials if you want to get a little practice in, or Single Race if you would rather try your hand with a bit of competition. As is the case with most racing games, there is a grand prix type of event (called Tournament here), that requires you to finish near the front of the pack to move on to the next track. Finally, there's an interesting type of race called Zone Mode, which forces you to navigate the track without being able to slow down. It's a fun event, and it definitely made me a better racer after only a few minutes.
Like the original game, the racing in WipeOut Pure is intense, particularly when you choose one of the more challenging classes. Each new class gives you a bit more power under the hood, from the relatively slow Vector class to the blazing Phantom division. In the build that I played, only the first two classes were unlocked, so you'll probably need to beat them before you can move up to the next level.
After picking a class, you've got to decide which league you want to join. There are three choices, and the only difference between them is the tracks that they feature. Each one has four distinct tracks (that's a total of twelve for all of the math majors out there), and they all look great. I was always a big fan of the track design in the original game, and this one looks even better. I played the Alpha league (Beta and Classic are the others) and raced on everything from a futuristic island paradise to a Tron-like nighttime cityscape.
