Wipeout (video game)

From left to right clockwise, the interface displays the number of laps, current weapon, race position, speedometer, and lap time.

Wipeout is a racing game that is set in 2052, where players compete in the F3600 anti-gravity racing league.[5] The game allows the player to pilot one of a selection of craft in races on several different tracks.[6] There are four racing teams to choose from, and two ships for each team. Each ship has its distinct characteristics of acceleration, top speed, mass, and turning radius.[7] By piloting their craft over power-up pads found on the tracks, the player can pick up various weapons and power-ups such as shields, turbo boosts, mines, shock waves, rockets, or missiles. The power-ups allow the player to either protect their craft or disrupt the competitors' craft.[8]

There are seven race tracks in the game, six of them located in futuristic versions of countries such as Canada, the United States and Japan. After all tracks have been completed on the Rapier Championship, a hidden track (Firestar), set on Mars is unlocked.[9] Wipeout features a multiplayer mode using the PlayStation Link Cable, allowing two player to race against each other and the six remaining AI competitors.[3] The game also supports the NeGcon, a third-party controller designed by Namco.[10]

The controversial WipEout poster featuring television presenter and DJ Sara Cox, leftmost in the poster.

Wipeout was developed and published by Liverpudlian developer Psygnosis (later known as Studio Liverpool), with production starting in the second half of 1994.[2][11] According to Lee Carus, one of the artists, Wipeout took 14 months to develop, and the concept began as a conversation between Nick Burcombe and Jim Bowers at a pub in Oxton, Merseyside. Bowers then started on a concept film which was shown around Psygnosis' offices. It proved popular, and Wipeout was approved and production began.[12] The marketing and artwork were designed by Keith Hopwood and The Designers Republic in Sheffield.[11] Aimed at a fashionable, club-going, music-buying audience, Keith Hopwood and The Designers Republic created art for the packaging, in-game branding, and other promotional materials.[11] A non-playable CGI film mock-up inspired by the game appeared in the teen cult film Hackers (1995), in which both protagonists play the game in a nightclub.[13]

The team was under pressure, as it consisted of around ten people, and they were on a tight schedule. Carus stated that the code had to be rewritten three quarters of the way through development, and that the team was confident that they could complete the game on time.[12] The vehicle designs were based on Matrix Marauders, a 3D grid-based strategy game whose concept was developed by Bowers and released for the Amiga in 1990.[14] Burcombe, the game's future designer, was inspired to create a racing game using the same types of 'anti-gravity' vehicles from SoftImage's animation of two ships racing. The name "Wipeout" was given to the game during a pub conversation, and was inspired by the instrumental song "Wipe Out" by The Surfaris. Designing the tracks proved to be difficult due to the lack of draw distance possible on the system. Players received completely random weapons, resembling Super Mario Kart in their capability to stall rather than destroy opponents.[15] Burcombe said that Wipeout was influenced by Super Mario Kart more than any other game.[12]

Wipeout gained a significant amount of controversy on its initial release.[16] A marketing campaign created and launched by Keith Hopwood and The Designers Republic included an infamous promotional poster, featuring a bloodstained television and radio presenter Sara Cox, which was accused by some of depicting a drug overdose.[13] Next Generation printed the ad with the blood erased; the magazine staff explained that not only had they been under pressure from newsstand retailers about violent imagery in games magazines, but they themselves felt the blood added nothing to the ad other than shock value.[17] The poster branded Wipeout "a dangerous game", with Wipeout's lead artist Neil Thompson suggesting—and designer Nick Burcome denying—that the "E" in Wipeout stood for ecstasy.[13]

Wipeout was first released alongside the PlayStation in Europe in September 1995. It was the PlayStation's best-selling launch title in Europe.[18] The game was released in the United States in November. The game went to number one in all the format charts, with over 1.5 million units of the franchise having been sold to date throughout Europe and North America.[19] Wipeout was ported to the Sega Saturn in 1996. Because the company behind the PlayStation, Sony, owned the applicable rights to the last three tracks of the PlayStation version's soundtrack, new music was added for the Saturn version by Rob Lord and Mark Bandola.[20][21] The Sega Saturn version was released by SoftBank in North America.

Upon release, the game was critically acclaimed. IGN staff praised the game for its originality and unique techno soundtrack, but criticised the difficulty with manoeuvring the vehicles and also the difficulty of the game itself, stating that "there aren't nearly enough competitors" and that the player would have "[pulled] ahead of the other racers with no problem".[28] Edge cited that it was hard to criticise "such a beautifully realised and well-produced game which [exploited] the PlayStation's power so well", but did show similar concerns over the game's longevity regarding its "reliance on track-based power-ups" that would "limit Wipeout's lifespan" in comparison to Super Mario Kart.[26] GamePro gave the PlayStation version a rave review, predicting that "Wipeout's taut action and grueling courses will lure many diehard racing fans to this new system." They particularly praised the challenging gameplay and precise controls. They said the fact that multiplayer is only through the PlayStation Link Cable is the game's one major flaw, since the PlayStation still had a low installed base at this point and thus this would not be an option for most players.[34] A reviewer for Next Generation applauded the stylish and detailed visuals, the "heart-pounding soundtrack", and particularly the exhilarating feel of the racing. He commented that the controls have a potentially frustrating learning curve but are worth mastering, and deemed the game "A new high-water mark".[29] Maximum opined that of all the games in the PlayStation's European launch line-up, "not one title can match up to the awesome nature of Psygnosis' WipeOut. It's an amazing spectacle to behold, it sounds absolutely fantastic and it's the best playing racing game yet beheld on a next generation super console." Making particular note of the lack of pop-up, the coherent style and concept, the soundtrack, the unlockable Rapier mode, and the PAL optimisation,[31] they gave it their "Maximum Game of the Month" award.[35]

The later Saturn version also received generally positive reviews, though most critics agreed that it was not as good as the PlayStation version. In Sega Saturn Magazine, Rad Automatic praised the large number of tracks and the distinctive flavour of each one, and remarked that the gameplay is very easy to get into but provides more than enough challenge. He criticised it as not being as good as the PlayStation version, though he noted that none of the shortcomings impact the gameplay.[36] The four reviewers from Electronic Gaming Monthly similarly praised the number and variety of tracks along with the strong challenge the game presented, and were much more approving of the graphics than Sega Saturn Magazine, describing them as "vibrant" and "gorgeous".[27] A Next Generation critic said that while the graphics are slightly less sharp and the controls feel different, the Saturn version is essentially the same game as the PlayStation version.[30] Both Air Hendrix of GamePro and a reviewer for Maximum argued that the Saturn version is noticeably not as polished as the PlayStation version but still excellent in absolute terms, making it a pointless purchase for PlayStation owners but recommended for Saturn-only players.[37][32] In 1996, GamesMaster ranked the PlayStation version 41st on their "Top 100 Games of All Time."[38]

Video game

• Wipeout at MobyGames

Soundtrack

• European PlayStation edition at Discogs
• North American PlayStation "Greatest Hits" reissue at Discogs
• Sega Saturn edition at Discogs
• Wipeout: The Music LP at Discogs
• Listen to Wipeout music tracks by CoLD SToRAGE on Bandcamp