Wipeout 3 review (PlayStation)

Since you'll find the tournament nigh impossible to beat at first, you'll end up checking out the game's challenge mode, which is made up of tasks in race, weapon, and time categories. Race lets you hone your skills against other opponents, one track at a time. The super-difficult tournament courses can eventually be unlocked, and while they take more than an hour of practice to beat, they are fun to play singly, and they prepare you for the eventual return to the tournament. The weapon mode requires you to destroy a varying number of enemies within a varying number of passes on progressively tougher courses, and time trial sets a time by which you have to finish. These challenges are like the practice mode in House of the Dead 2; they're almost more enjoyable than the main game, and they help you master all the skills you'll need to win.The other main addition to Wipeout on the PlayStation is the split-screen two-player mode. If you wanted to compete against a friend in Wipeout XL, you had to use the PlayStation link cable and set up two TVs with two PlayStations right next to each other. Not only do you not have to put that much work into it anymore, you now have two modes designed to work well with two players. The two-player tournament is a fantastic addition that gives the game a huge amount of replay value. The challenge presented by the single-player tournament is immense, and just imagine it with the addition of a real-live human opponent added to the mix. It's exactly the sort of thing players have been requesting for years, and with it, Psygnosis has set a new standard for console racing games. There's another mode, called elimination, which is similar to the weapon challenge - you compete for the highest number of ships destroyed - but since you fight race-by-race instead of in an elimination tournament, you probably won't return to it very often. It also exists in the single-player side, where it's even more aimless.

Graphics and music have always been especially important to Wipeout, and in W3, they're still quite impressive. The game's techno soundtrack comprises songs from Underworld, Chemical Brothers, and Propellerheads, and while the tracks aren't quite as strong as those in Wipeout XL (the WXL soundtrack was likely the best in any home game, so it's hard to beat), they're still very, very good. The graphics look a little grainy this time out, but pop-up is nonexistent in single-player and not too rough in the multiplayer. Essentially, W3 looks and sounds the way you'd expect it to: great.. It could be said that the series has lost some of its arcade racing-game appeal. It's always been a smart arcade racer, and now it's positively brainy, for better and worse. You'll have to memorize where you want to come out around every corner of every track, just like in Wipeout XL, but now you just have several other things to think about at the same time. W3 should appeal to longtime fans of the series who are looking for a new challenge and perhaps to folks who didn't find the license tests of Gran Turismo too frustrating. It is, however, sure to turn off many new players because of its high level of difficulty. Its pluses far outweigh its flaws, though, and while it doesn't steal the title belt from Wipeout XL as the best futuristic racing game of all time, it's a worthy sequel.