WipEout Pulse Reviewed

[RJ O'Connell]

Interesting Analogy. What does that make Quantum Redshift? F-Zero GX? Kinetica? (But that's another issue.)

Nice to see the reviews are quite favourable...

[Dogg Thang]

Pulse got a 7 in Edge magazine. Respectable score. I haven't read it yet so I'd be curious to see what they said about it.

[Mobius]

Comparing that to Pure, which scored 8, I wonder why they gave it that? Is it due the fact its more of a refined game than a totally new concept?

Wont stop me anyway.

[infoxicated]

Pulse got a 7 in Edge magazine. Respectable score. I haven't read it yet so I'd be curious to see what they said about it.

Nick B was saying that they marked it down because they think Wipeout is a tired franchise. It's the same reason they didn't like our F1 games and don't review the likes of FIFA - after you reach a certain number of sequels, EDGE consider the title beneath them and mark it down if they review it at all.

[Dr. Angryman]

Tired franchise? WTF is wrong with you, EDGE?!

[mclarensmps]

Nick B was saying that they marked it down because they think Wipeout is a tired franchise. It's the same reason they didn't like our F1 games and don't review the likes of FIFA - after you reach a certain number of sequels, EDGE consider the title beneath them and mark it down if they review it at all.

I wonder what they think of Madden and Final Fantasy eh?

[Chill]

Yeah, a great game goes a long way... if a large numeral-sequal comes along, the only thing that raters should do is pay more attention to it, not rate it down!!!

[Dr. Angryman]

I can't believe they would rate Pulse down for such a small reason like that. I bet they wet themselves for Mario....

[Frances_Penfold]

I wonder what they think of Madden and Final Fantasy eh?

Or some of Capcom's franchises on the Nintendo DS and GBA-- sheesh, those Megaman games are released on 6 month intervals.

I really can't understand the downgrading of a score for a franchise that releases new versions on a 2-3 year cycle, with each addition having a SIGNIFICANT increase in features. I mean, EA's whoring of Madden is one thing-- the release of Wipeout Pulse is something else entirely.

Put another way: Nintendo is frequently criticized for being too slow to update it's franchises-- most of the games only get one release per console-- but now we are criticizing a more aggressive release schedule? That's a no-win situation for a developer.

Anyway-- IMO the "real" reviews will be those done by folks at IGN and Gamespot, and even more importantly, by the folks here

[Dr. Angryman]

Anyway-- IMO the "real" reviews will be those done by folks at IGN and Gamespot, and even more importantly, by the folks here

Amen to that! I'm just a bit worried about the Gamespot reveiw. They never seemed interested in WipEout. On the other hand, IGN loves WipEout, and I'm sure they'll give it a fair score.

[RJ O'Connell]

Both sites gave justifiably good reviews for Wipeout Pure. It's just that IGN actually recognises that Pulse is a game.

[Chill]

Perhaps some sight tend to tie their ratings for the production outcome of the game rather than the game itself. They look to see changes in improvement of a game rather than just the outcome of the single game itself. They compare sequals with other sequals. My opinion, is that if they want a sequal to be an entirely different game, they shouldn't criticise what they don't seem to do themselves... rating a game by itself rather than having a connection...

[Dogg Thang]

Nick B was saying that they marked it down because they think Wipeout is a tired franchise.

That's more than a little bizarre given that Pure gave the franchise a real kick up the backside and brought the game to a whole rake of new gamers. In fact, every WO game has been more different than any other racing sequels. New style, new tracks, new handling.

Not to get into a 'this game is better than that game' thing but you don't see that in most racing game sequels, especially the big hitters so it's very difficult to think of WO as a 'tired franchise'.

[Medusa]

One could argue on the basis of improved graphics alone that Wipeout has never been a "tired" franchise. Each game as it is released has absolutely brilliant graphics compared to the last one. (Although now technology is at this point it will be hard for the studio to improve on HD resolution I suppose.) Even for a person I know who isn't in love with Pure(understatement), they'll still snail around the tracks on Vector to admire the graphics.
I own Fusion because of the graphics. Period. What does that tell you?? Or do I even want to know?...hmmm...

(It tells me that even though the game philosophy is near-absolute crap that pretty pictures still impress people...)

[Dr. Angryman]

I'm just dissapointed that they'd rather just mark it off as something that is "tired" because it is similar to the previous game. Well, Mario games are similar to the game that came before them, as is Metroid and Halo. They are praised highly. EDGE is simply biased, looking toward what is the same instead of what is different (Mag-strips, new circuits, new team, customizable ship skins, more downloadable content, three new weapons, online gameplay, new music soundtrack, more detailed graphics, etc. I mean, seriously, how did EDGE miss all that?).

In short: Don't believe EDGE. That's my two cents.

P.S. In a reason list EDGE made, they rated F-Zero higher than WipEout. This means that they enjoy men in spandex suits racing than WipEout. No offense to the fans of the game, though. I just enjoy the fun and the actually cool WipEout series more....

[Frances_Penfold]

Hah. IMO the problem with F-zero isn't the spandex, it's the piss-poor track design and the general reality that Nintendo has abandoned the franchise

This probably has been a positive thing for Wipeout because it has consolidated the user base for futuristic racers into a single game-- Wipeout is the only franchise that is being aggressively developed.

We may be jumping to conclusions for the "average" showing in EDGE, but if it's really because the franchise is "tired," well, poo-ey on them. That's absurd. It's hardly the first time that magazine reviews of important game releases seem haphazardly assigned based on a reviewer's personal tastes rather than thinking about what the game's intrinsic value is. It's amusing to me how online sources have largely eclipsed paper publications in terms of actually having detailed and thoughtful reviews of software-- who woulda thunk that?

[Lance]

Perhaps EDGE is a tired franchise?

[Lion]

I tend to ignore most individual scores, instead looking at something like metacritic to get an overview.
sometimes the real abberations on those sites are worth reading though...

one game I was considering buying was getting high 7s, with a lot of reviews in the 8s. but one was a 2.
he listed a lot of the same positives as other reviews, but said that it didn't make up for the abysmal handling model (was a racing game) and linked to a demo
I didn't know till that point that a demo was available, but reading that review pointed me at a demo that saved me some money on a truly AWFUL game

[lunar]

I`ve had many arguments with people who claim all Wipeout games are the same. In the first place this is ridiculous if you`ve played the games, and secondly there`s a limit to how different it can be and still be an AG racing simulator, and still be Wipeout. It has to have tracks, it has to have ships, it has to have weapons. You can`t vary it too much, just like Halo has to have futuristic looking soldiers creeping round shooting each other with guns or it won`t be Halo. Sonic has to have a blue hedgehog who runs fast. You can`t criticize it for having that in it. Their argument is irrational.

the Metacritic quote from Edge reads: "Sure, it’s another great instalment of Wipeout, but under the gloss it’s little more."

What do they expect? Do they want the pilots to start racing on hovering jetskis and pick up bananas to replenish shield energy?

Their attitude baffles me. Yet another FPS can be released and get great scores, even though, if you take that attitude, they`re all just different ways of shooting stuff, with varying setting and weapons. PGR4 will probably score marvellously, even though, when you think about it, it`s just more racing around cities trying not to crash. A game should be reviewed on its own terms, and on the basis of whether it does what it sets out to do. Anyway I know I`m preaching to the converted, but Poor Show, Edge.

[Sausehuhn]

Hm.
For me, every WipEout plays totally different. That's it what makes the game that good; no game plays exactly like it's precursor. That is basically because every game has another handling and this is the thing the whole game is based on, thus giving another, new experience as long as it changes with every new game.
And maybe that's the point where EDGE decided to give a 7. Because - and I think nobody will deny that - Pulse has a handling very similar to Pure. It may be better and give the whole game a new level of fun, but it definetely is nothing completely new (that's a bit pity).
I'm sure I will enjoy Pulse as much as I do with Pure, most likely even more. But when we talk about the handling, the difference never will be as big as it is between 2097 and WO3 (for example).

I'm not sure if a seven is justifiable, though...