WipeOut Omega Collection VR review

Reviewed on: PS VR

WipeOut Omega Collection was released for PS4 in June 2017 and, as the name says, it is a compilation of the games WipeOut HD (Sep/2008 – PS3), its expansion Fury (Jul/2009 – PS3) and WipeOut 2048 (Feb/2012 – Playstation Vita). But don’t dwell on the fact that this is merely a bundle of old games; it is a REMASTERED game, with beautiful graphics – locked at 60 FPS – that draw a lot of attention to the great work done by the studio.

Time to “See What It’s Got”!

WipeOut Omega Collection is a futuristic racing game that at first will remind you a lot of Mario Kart, Sonic All Star Racing, Rock and Roll Racing (wow, I dug that one up) and others of the same vein.

The game treats us to beautiful scenery, some blending colonial and futuristic styles and others reminding us of bright, pulsing cities. Of course, I’m not comparing WipeOut to open-world games or to car racing games like GT, Driveclub, Forza etc.; that’s not the idea. The proposal here is to show that, for a game whose foundations date back to 2012, the richness of detail and color jumps out at you. Add the speed of the game itself and you’ll understand what is being said. But we must stress: nothing that borders on perfection.

The soundtrack follows the proposal of the series’ games, bringing us music from various electronic sub-genres that blend perfectly with the game’s proposal. Add to this the split between sound, voice and effects in the VR headset, and quality stands out again.

The controls respond well, and best of all… you can customize them, since the default accelerator button is “X”, which for a racing game may end up sounding outdated. And since this is a game where the subject is speed, we have no brake… only the air brakes for turns, one button for each side.

“Start your Engines”

When played in its “flat screen” version, WipeOut won’t change much from what you saw in the games mentioned earlier, nor from what you’ve played in other racing titles. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great game, but nothing that changes our lives much.

In the external ship view, using the VR mode, which was released through an update in Mar/2018, the shine and adrenaline lose a bit of ground, but the beauty and colors of the scenery are still there.

The game shows its full potential when played in cockpit mode (internal view). The first time you find yourself inside the ship and actually notice the city around you, you will understand exactly what I said about the circuits, colors and beauty. All the details of the track and scenery jump out at you, and since this is a game that – in theory – shouldn’t excel at that point, this adds an extra positive weight.

You may well say: “Oh, but GT and Driveclub VR have a sense of speed!” Yes, but of the games I mentioned before, none was able to truly convey the pressure of speed, besides the urgency/adrenaline of dodging at the last second a missile you know can cost you first place. Whoever has been through this knows how frustrating it can be. Add to this the fact that inside the cockpit the view is a bit more compromised and then you’ll get what I really mean.

And as incredible as it may seem, I found it easier to control the ship from inside the cockpit in VR than on a “flat screen”. Go figure.

Game Modes

WipeOut offers three game modes: Campaign, Racebox (VS Mode) and Online.

In Campaign mode you will have access to the two games of the collection (2048 and HD) and the Fury expansion, each with its various stages. The race modes are based on: Race; Combat; Time Trial and Zone (Remember the world of TRON? Well… when you play you will understand), each of them having some modifications, such as Detonator, Eliminator etc., so there’s no shortage of challenge!

Every race has from two (WipeOut 2048) to 3 (HD and Fury) medals available, according to your performance. And I’ll warn you, it won’t be so easy to snag the top prize in every race. Even on Rookie level you’ll need good reflexes to take the shortcuts and powers on the way without “kissing the wall” every time.

As you advance in the game, you earn Rank points, which let you unlock new ships, and here it’s worth pointing out that each ship has its specs according to its class and game mode. With that in mind, I can say: each ship choice has weight according to the mode you are playing, so choose well!

In Racebox mode there is no possibility of playing versus someone without VR in the same place as you, but you can play all the available modes on more than 20 available circuits (reverse ones included). The online mode needs no introduction. Every time I played I had no trouble finding a room or experienced lag during matches…

Verdict

WipeOut is a great racing game for those who love speed and wanted a game of this style in VR. The sense of speed is gigantic, even more so as you advance in the game, and may even give some players motion sickness (the famous Motion Sickness). Since it recalls Mario Kart it becomes an extremely fun and challenging game, worth every effort to pass the next race.

Fun – 7

Immersion – 8

Mechanics – 7

Final Score – 7.3