Favorite team...

[willsgb13]

i like the spread of ships in wip3out; there's no poor ships - even feisar and goteki are fun due to their slower speeds making a good racing line on the boost pads, wall grind boosting and aggressive weapon wielding important in order to compete in and win races, and unlike wipeout, 2097 or pure, the other games i've played extensively so far (i also own fusion and pulse but have not given them due time and attention - yet) in 3 you must master all the ships in order to unlock everything and achieve a full set of golds in the single races, thus garnering an appreciation for the spread of qualities and the quirks of each ship. this is something i love about 3. anyway, here's my rundown; i skimmed this thread an saw a good spread of opinions. i have more then one favourite of my own, but no exclusions. anyway >

feisar - great handling and a good shield make racing this one all about the track and taking out your opponents. there's something very 'wipeout' about feisar; their ships always look like the model for wipeout craft, and despite the slow speed the favourable statistics in the other fields, and their everprescence in the other games, make them a team wipeout cannot really do without. bringing up the rear with style. they're kind of like what the grunts are to halo. i never mind a spin in a feisar. 8/10

goteki45 - they look great, very industrial and yet sleek for a horseshoe craft, and the speed often seems better then it is because of the decent handling and acceleration. not a front runner in 3 and yet not out of place in wipeout. the shield's a solid 4 and it is a cynical ram to be fair, but it's fun to bash around in 7/10

auricom - dependable, familiar and competitive. this ship is an all rounder, from what i remember. it's great for getting to know the tracks, although it's not what it was in the predecessor games, it should be noted. still, a worthy competitor. 7/10

qirex - these guys up the ante considerably. the beast of 3, it can take a lot of punishment and blast through the opposition. it's weighty, leading to the challenge of controlling tight turns and 180s and spirals and uneven ground and handling the weight at the high speeds it can get to so quickly with its acceleration. the russians build them tough and aggressive and it's one of the best again in 3. changing my score now after playing a little for kicks, not sure why i only gave it 8 before, it's outstanding, speed and thrust 4 each? the handling is poor but that just makes it so satisfying to pilot successfully. 9/10

piranha - it's not a supership anymore, but it's still shithot, decent, not so high speed but brilliant manouverability and it looks fantastic, like a shark. one of my favourites in this iteration of the tournament, because it's a nippy, vicious challenge to zoom through to victory in. 9/10

ag systems - the best all rounder in the game. for comfortable handling and speed, i can't get enough of these guys. honestly my favourite team just to cruise around the tracks in this year's event. in wipeout and 2097, they brought up the rear with feisar as auricom and qirex forged ahead with their now legendary rivalry but ag systems just about supplants them both this year for overall win IMO. just about. but the medium handling, thrust and the speed of 4 make for a great combination of agility and swiftness, and it also looks fantastic 10/10

assegai - a brilliant newcomer, made of win for one reason - the phenomenal handling, that's almost too responsive occasionally. the low shield and the good but not outstanding speed make it a fun craft to ruckus with in the packed tracks too, with weapons and collisions with other craft jostling for position. this is one of the two best craft in 3 for one reason - there are four attributes these craft all have a proficiency in, but shield strength rarely causes too many problems for the skilled driver, especially with an assegai whose great manouvering means usage of the pitlanes without too much time lost in the race - edit not to mention dodging rockets and mines -, and a good acceleration can help a poorer craft but on the top end of business on the track the faster speeds the crafts can reach however quickly or slowly invariably win out. speed and handling are the more important qualities over shield and acceleration, hence assegai 9/10

icaras - and this beast, which is the best craft in the game. ag may be my favourite to cruise but this is a joint favourite for sheer outstanding competition and awesome speed. tearing breakneck through tracks on phantom with these guys is an exhiliration no other ship in this game can achieve. it's simply the best. the poor handling simply means more practice and more skill required. the poor shield is meaningless once you become skillful enough to shoot out in front of the rest. it's simply thrilling annihilating a track, blitzing through it so quickly you can barely see what's going on around the ship and the track itself, it's superb.
edit - i forgot to add this, some reasoning for why speed wins in 3; in wipeout, 2097 and pure, collision physics stop you and slow you down significantly, thus requiring you to perfect a collision-free racing line to do well. in wipeout 3, you can grind the walls which actually increases you speed, which you all know anyway. and of course this can be detrimental if you're not great at it, like me, and you manage to do it mainly before a turn thus flinging you into a wall and stopping you dead anyway, but it increases the speed in this game. and of course, 3 had the option to boost in exchange for shield energy, in addition to the boost powerup and the boost pads the other games also have. therefore, speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed. 3 is geared to speed. and icaras is simply the fastest. win 10/10

a great tournament all round. wip3out ftw