No other game on the PSP can make your heart, or your adrenaline, pump faster. Racing never looked and felt so good...
The first Wipeout I have ever played was when i first got a PSP in 2006. With the release of Wipeout Pulse, I now find it quite difficult to put down my PSP for the first 2 and a half hours or so. Wipeout Pulse is everything a racing game should be. It has variations in both track and vehicle designs, slick graphics, an adequate AI system, and most importantly, a drive to quell your thirst for speed. Let's face it: racing games on the PSP are best described as mediocre. I assure you that traveling in excess of 500 km/hour is anything BUT mediocre and is sure to keep your blood pumping in overdrive.
The graphics on Pulse really blew me away. I never thought the PSP could pull something like that off, but Pulse proved me wrong. The environments, to the vehicles, to the weapons you use to try to wipe them of the track were presented in great detail and slickness that is extremely rare to find in a PSP games.
Difficulty, on the other hand, can really vary from player to player. If you don't have adequate interest or talent for racing games, you could easily end up trying to finish a race in 1st place over and over again for an hour or so without really getting anywhere.
The soundtrack is upbeat and vibrant but can get repetitive and irritating if you concentrate on them too much. Still, I don't really think you'll pay too much attention to the music because you'll be too busy dodging enemy fire and walls at speeds that can rival that of sound.
The biggest improvement of Pulse is probably the Online Infrastructure capability which allows you to race with up to 8 players worldwide. I mean, a racing game is not a racing game if you can't show your driving skills to the world right? The online play is smooth, but certain lag instances could make it seem like the guy in front of you is teleporting from the left side of the track to the right in the blink of an eye.
All in all, Wipeout Pulse is an awesome game that will always leave you wanting more. Of all the racing games I have played on any console, the wipeout series has always been the fastest and most intense racing game I have ever had the pleasure of getting behind the wheel of. Wipeout Pulse combines the elements of racing and combat as well as online play in an almost perfect manner. In short Wipeout Pulse is everything a racing game should be... and much more. If you love to race at sonic speeds, compete with your friends, or simply shoot stuff, then Wipeout Pulse is a game you wouldn't regret adding to your collection.