How do you improve a game that is already genre-defining? That\'s the task faced by WipEout Fusion developer Studio Liverpool, OPS2 paid them a visit, wish-list in hand, and found that fans have nothing to fear - its WlpEout, but not as we know it.
\'The WipEout Experience". It\'s a phrase that WipEout Fusion Lead Designer Rob Francis uses as a collective term for his game as if It were a genre in its own right. It\'s the kind of shorthand speak reserved for genuine benchmarks; classics that sit snugly in their very own genre grooves. Think Resident Evil, Metal Gear, even Tomb Raider.
"It\'s a sign of the strength of the game\'s identity that we never really take much inspiration from other games," says Francis. \'There are a lot of quality racing titles out there, and there is pressure for mass appeal. But we try to resist simply bolting on familiar features for the sake of it. We only ever
pursue things which we think will enhance The WipEout Experience."
The latest WipEout Experience Is currently being \'polished\' for SCEE by a zealous crew at Studio Liverpool, many of whom also worked on Fl 2001. The vibe in the office however Indicates that WipEout Fusion Is the favoured son. Deadline-frantic corner-cutting is not an option. The muted commercial response to Wip3out - last year\'s third PSone instalment - seems to have shocked the team into a conviction to never again take a sidestep when a great leap forward is required. And with the next-gen hike, they wouldn\'t have had an excuse, anyway. \'We\'ve looked long and hard at the things that made the PSone games special," says Studio Liverpool Manager Clemens Wangerin. \'We wanted to make sure that nothing was lost in the PS2 translation. The essence of the game can be boiled down to two things: the music and the speed. Once we had a grip on that, we got to work on how to move things on to a new level - instead of just porting over the original games and buffing up the graphics" So, they have the technology and the philosophy, but can they deliver the next-gen gameplay that WipEout fans and WipEout virgins alike are craving? Many gamers felt that some aspects were missing or certain elements weren\'t quite right In the PSone games. So from our own personal gripes and those expressed by the gaming public at large, OPS2 has made up a wish-llst for our perfect WipEout Experience. Can Studio Liverpool step into the purple turban of the PlayStation 2 Genie and grant us these humble wishes.
1. BETTER HANDLING
The WipEout games on PSone were often criticised for having tar too sensitive handling, and controlling your craft involved a very steep learning curve. This lack of instant expertise often led to much frustration, though once mastered the control was very rewarding. So now we want less fighting the track and grinding the walls, with more focus on reflexes and creative control.
"We\'ve spent a lot of time redesigning the craft dynamics," says Dave Burrows, Lead Programmer \'The PS2 has allowed us to really play with the physics. There\'s more variety in the way the crafts \'drive\'. Traditionally, there\'s the big, cumbersome ship and the sleek, fast one. It\'s more subtle now." \'There\'s also the bonus of an Increased depth of field, giving players more reaction time. Even on a debut glide around a new track, we managed to limit the stop-start grinding to one or two careless clangs. A bit more familiarity, and races will be races - as opposed to frantic efforts to hit as few walls as possible with a vague ambition of finishing somewhere in the rankings."
2. MORE VARIED AND INSPIRED TRACKS
Unfortunately the limitations of PSone meant that the draw distance was limited and tracks were often accused of being similar in style. So how about some loops, twists, corkscrews and upside-down sections? We\'d also like short cuts, freeform areas... WIPEOUT OFF-ROAD!
This wish seems to have been granted as OPS2 plays one of the new tracks: a lush jungle with lots of craggy kinks and foaming waterfalls. Burrows guides his ship over a trigger pad which raises a drawbridge. He zooms up the new ramp and soars over the top of a mountain onto a secret landing area. "We can do a lot more of that kind of thing because of the new design flexibility. On top of the standard reverse mode, there are hidden short cuts and alternative routes - some guarded by barriers which need to be destroyed with missiles. Most of the short cuts are \'hidden\' in the sense that you need to use a turbo to fly to a seemingly inaccessible section. "It\'s a key part of the feedback we get about racing games," says Francis. "Players like to see what corners they can cut, and, because there\'s a lot of big, big leaps and drops, we\'ve used that to give the game a more open-ended, go-anywhere feel." One of the later, more advanced tracks features a gut-spinning vertical drop linked to an immense reverse loop. Francis claims the roller coaster chic was there from day one. \'The difference between WipEout I and 2 was speed. When we Iricreased the speed, we found that the ship would just hammer off the end of drops and then nose-dive Into the track below. Some people liked that feeling of having to pull back to correct in midair When we were redesigning the dynamics for Fusion, we kept the leap effect, but added a few drops and twists where the ship \'sticks\' to the track, to give that pit-of-the-stomach roller coaster effect. Once we had that working, the idea of adding loops and twists came naturally. It wouldnt have been possible in the PSone games. When the artists were designing the levels, the programmers were still working on the craft dynamics. So, a lot of the artists\' more outlandish ideas - loops, drops,
leaps - often served as inspiration for the coders." Probably the most thrilling advantage of being able to \'stick\' the ships to the track Is the new flip-pad. If the road ahead is a little congested or mine-littered, simply drive over the pad and your car will do a 180\' hop up and sail
right over the blockage.
3. SPEED WITHOUT FRONTIERS
A big issue with WipEout Fusion\'s predecessors was that the speed got ridiculously fast, often faster than a human could handle. What if the capacity for speed was limited only by the player\'s skill? And maybe showcased with, say, a special nosebleed-level \'speedway\' track?
"We can do better than that," says Francis, and Burrows calls up \'Zone\' mode - an entirely new challenge where the player controls a ship on constant accelerate with no brakes. The speed gets faster and faster, and the longer you last, the higher the score clocks up. There are special multiplier bonuses for shield energy, hitting all the speed-ups, perfect laps and so on. Francis claims that it\'s the mode that the designers most frequently play against each other. "The idea came from Tetris - the way the blocks fall faster and faster It\'s theoretically Infinite, but eventually, it Just becomes too fast to cope with. The only question is - what level can you reach? I\'d say that you could probably hit around 3OOOkph In Zone mode"
4. MORE CHARACTER
Although the ships, weapons and logos looked very good, there was no feeling that the companies were separate entities. It is easy for computer-controlled cars to just roll on by, glued to their fixed racing lines with little indnridualism, no reaction to shunts and no sneaky manoeuvres. Could we see a little soul in Fusion, perhaps?
This time, the other drivers all come with their own looks, backgrounds and driving styles. At opposite ends of the scale are Ms Natasha Belmondo - lead pilot for Xios, daughter of the Inventor of anti-gravity racing - and Omarr Khumala - lead pilot for Tigron. He\'s bad. He drives a specially customised, Ben Hur-style \'Bull\' craft designed for ramming A grudge system has also been included giving the single-player game a little multiplayer-style spice. "If you eliminate someone in a league race," says Francis. \'They will remember you in the next race. The more eliminations, the trickier the races get. The eliminations give you impressive bonus points on top of your tally for high finishing places also" For example if Khumala is unlocked it makes everything more difficult as all the other pilots will go out of their way to get him- and you, for unlocking him. Not fair, but more fun.
