If there’s anyone out there that had a bad day today, I’ve got something to bring that smile back to your face. It’s a Eurogamer interview with Clark Davies, the designer on WipEout Pulse, the sequel to Sony Liverpool’s uber-awesome PSP launch hit, WipEout Pure.
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I’ve talked about my chronic love for all things WipEout in a previous blog post, but my heart went through the roof this morning after hearing all the new things they’ve managed to fit in the sequel. Better get some Vicodin for this one, it may knock you into a joy-induced coma.
First off, we have a funky new gameplay element called “Mag-Strips” that keeps your ship grounded to the track. This opens up things like loop-de-loops and other such crazy track formations, but Davies promises it will be utilized for more than “the obvious corkscrew or roller-coaster ideas.” Hey, if it was just the roller-coaster ideas, I’d still be happy.
Then there is the Zone mode. This was probably the best feature in Pure. In a crazy twist, your ship in the Zone mode would continually increase speed without having to hold down the accelerator button. Play for two minutes and you’d be going so fast you were slamming into every wall the level designer created. The only problem with the mode was that it only had four tracks, which could be beaten in less than an hour.
For Pulse, Liverpool is once again including Zone mode, but are now making it so most of the regular tracks will be Zoneified. Not sure what “most” means here, but if it’s more than four, color me tickled pink.
Next we have the much-hoped for Infrastructure mode. For all you non-PSP owners out there, Infrastructure means online multiplayer. Yes, online. Seriously, does it get any better than this? You still with me? I know, it’s so much good stuff that you may need to bust out the defibrillator.
Oh, and did I forget to mention that you can now import your own mp3’s into the game? Yup, along with the unquestionably cool electronica soundtrack that will no doubt be included with Pulse, Liverpool is giving you the ability to upload your own techno tracks into the game. ZOMG, indeed.
Then there’s the Photo Mode, the return of Eliminator Mode and downloadable content, with new tracks and ships.
This game sounds like it could be priced at $100 and would still be worth it. Easily the most anticipated game of the year for me.