WipeOut Pure is better than WipeOut Pulse

[Sausehuhn]

Pure beats Pulse’s art direction. Pure is exactly what it says in the name: Pure. I mean: look at the intro and you know what I’m talking about. That is WipEout Pure.

Also the environment design seems a lot less distracting compared to Pulse’s. Technically, Pulse is superior to Pure, but it adds so many details and neon lights, it’s sometimes complicated to focus on the track. Especially because some are too dark, too. That’s not really a problem for a home console game, but with the PSP and it’s glossy display, it is. In addition, too many details can look pixelated on the small PSP screen.
Also, the Magstrips do not work as well as you would think on some tracks. „Basilico“ for example has far to many Magstrip-parts and you have to adjust your ship on every new steep turn to avoid crashing into walls. WOHD’s selection of Magstrip-tracks is fine, but Pulse has some Magstrips where they seem like cheap gimmicks. Pure shows that good track designs do not need Magstrips – and Pure has plenty of good tracks.

The ship designs are polished WOPure models, so that’s okay with me. You have plenty of Skins to choose from and even prototype models. Some of those look pretty awesome. You have online modes, Eliminator and plenty of tracks to race, plus you can make your own leagues and some things are simply a tad better.

But: The whole menu design is a huge step backwards (in my optinion, that is). The whole hexagon theme does not fit. Those color gradients and stuff. Thankfully they did everything right with WOHD. I know it’s only the menu design, but it reflects the whole game for me somehow.

And: Pure’s handling is a lot smoother to me. In Pulse I see me bumping over the track, from left to right and up and down. Pure simply flows over the track and feels right. Leagues are predefined – that’s a huge downer for multiplayer – but the handling does make up for that.

I have just recently rediscovered my love for WipEout Pure and I’m really enjoying it. I just started a new profile and it’s a lot of fun.
And then, maybe, I have a stronger connection to Pure, as it brought WipEout back to life and – retrospective – it was my reason to have a PSP. I spend so many hours with it, also online via Xlink, and it was the game of the first WipEout Convention back in 2007. So many memories. I just do not have that connection to Pulse.

That being said, Pulse is still a damn good game.