With its proficient, detailed graphics, clean and unique style, and tight controls, WipeOut HD rises to best in series.
The bulk of the gameplay remains the same to that of WipeOut Pulse -- similar tracks, similar ships, similar weapons. So I won't delve into reviewing the core bits. But, the PS3 is able to pull a lot of this gameplay to new heights. Most obviously, the visuals are a massive jump up from the PSP. Though the games always remained as some of the best looking PSP titles, the PS3 pulls it into overdrive. The tracks and ships have jarringly sharp texture mapping, I have yet to actually see an even SLIGHTLY blurry texture in the entire game. I swear, I spent about a half hour on the Select Craft screen just rotating the ships around, zooming in on them, just inspecting all the great detail and mechanics they put into them. In time trials, they even came up with a physical concept for the Best Lap Ghost! As you race around, there's this small droid that zips along projecting your ships last ghost onto the race track. It's very clever! The silky 60fps framerate also means that at those high speeds, you won't miss a thing. The sound design is also a major step up -- the sounds of the engines warming up at a start countdown are almost adrenaline pumping when you play the game with a good surround system. There are far more ambient sounds from the tracks and ships now, such as the "bang" from your ships engine as you jam the accelerator.
Aside from the graphics, though, the PS3 has one major advantage over the PSP versions that makes it truly a better play experience. The PS3 has analog shoulder buttons, allowing you to very finely control the amount of airbrake you apply around corners. While Wipeout HD has a new option called "Pilot Assist" which automatically steers your ship away from course walls and fall-offs, I feel playing with this option enabled is a kind of "Traning Wheels" feature. Racing through the game with Pilot Assist enabled means you'll almost NEVER have to use your airbrakes, and the gameplay will feel a little flat. If you turn Pilot Assist off, however, you'll be in full control, and you'll have a much more interesting time learning how to properly apply airbrakes. After an hour or so getting used to the PS3's pressure sensitive airbrakes, I was soon finding myself darting around sharp corners like a pro GT Racer. (Well, on the slower speeds, anyway. I'm working on improving in the faster classes.) My recommendation would be to play with Pilot Assist until you think you're good enough to get the full, REAL experience of WipeOut control.
To no surprise as well, the game also sports incredibly well designed menu systems and HUD graphics. Studio Liverpool has some talented graphic designers over there, as they understand how to really make something visually interesting with color and shape. In terms of the HUD graphics, I also welcome the new placement of the shield gauge. On the PSP it was always down in the corner, so it was very distracting to take your eyes off the center of the screen to see if you're in need of a recharge. Now, we see the gauge at the top center of the screen, surrounding the Obtained Weapon icon. So when you look at what weapon you've picked up, you'll also easily see what your shield level is as well.
WipeOut is one of those rare games that feels confident through each release, that things become more concise and planned, without compromising the gameplay that we like. It's almost as though they're building the series up to a single, definitive release. This is certainly a step in that direction.