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Geek Review: WipEout Omega Collection

WipEout on the PlayStation 1 is without doubt a bona fide classic. It featured amazing graphics for the time and a killer soundtrack that you could impress your friends with. It was truly a system seller and a fantastic game in its own right. But it has never been a franchise that Sony has made prominent on its home consoles with the series moving to the PSP and then the Vita.

There was hope of a new instalment for consoles but in the end the PlayStation 3 received a HD upgrade of the Pure and Pulse versions of the game.  Which now leads us to the Omega Collection for PlayStation 4. Again this is not a new game but a full remaster of WipEout HD, WipEout Fury (the expansion to HD) and WipEout 2048 all in glorious native 4K and 60fps.

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All of the content from these games are included so if you haven’t played these before, you’ll be surprised by the amount of content here as this collection consists of three campaigns that include over fifty races each in the form of three championships in one campaign and eight events in the other two. That’s over one hundred and fifty races to spend your time mastering, each one with a unique twist.

The events and championship series all contain different types of races that include: eliminator, time trial, speed lap, zone, zone battle and detonator. These modes  see you either racing against other drivers, battling against them or trying to achieve the fastest times or collect the highest points. As you progress, the speed classes of each race increase which unlocks more ships for you to use. Each game has a slightly different progression system.

In WipEout 2048, when you complete any race the next one will unlock immediately and you will receive a Pass or Elite Pass rank depending on your race placement which will help you unlock more vehicles. WipEout HD and Fury use the classic Gold, Silver and Bronze rewards that gives you points that goes towards unlocking the next event. As far as vehicles and tracks go, WipEout 2048 is the lesser of the two titles with only 16 vehicles and 10 tracks but WipEout HD and Fury are stuffed to the brim. What you get is 92 vehicles and 24 tracks in total which will keep you busy for quite sometime.

All three of the championship series have their own distinct look including menus and tracks and this will be probably the best these games will ever look. The regular PS4 version is gorgeous but the PS4 Pro version running in native 4K is simply stunning. Where the game falls short though is the soundtrack. The original games had a fantastic lineup of licensed tracks from the likes of The Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, Underworld, Fluke and many more. Here in the remaster they have been completely removed most likely due to rights issues. What we get instead is a collection of generic tunes and a few new licensed tracks. It’s a disappointment as the pumping soundtracks was a definite highlight to the games. This issue can easily be solved though. Using the PS4 Spotify app, you can create a WipEout playlist and you will be happy again!

The WipEout series has always been a showcase on how to keep racing exciting and the classic gameplay holds up beautifully still so if you’re after some lightning fast races then Omega Collection is more than enough to satisfy your lust.

WipEout Omega Collection is now available on PlayStation 4.

GEEK REVIEW SCORE

Summary

The classic WipEout games arrive on PS4 and PS4 Pro (which runs in native 4K). It looks and runs beautifully and has enough content to last you several weeks. Only the soundtrack is a letdown but that can be fixed with Spotify! Recommended.

Overall
8/10
8/10
  • Gameplay - 8/10
    8/10
  • Soundtrack - 6/10
    6/10
  • Presentation - 9/10
    9/10
  • Value - 9/10
    9/10
User Review
0 (0 votes)