Wipeout fans have been waiting a long time since the release of Wipeout 2048 on the Vita roughly eight years ago. After the sudden disbandment of Studio Liverpool, the franchise went into hibernation, but some of the members got together and began work on something new: this game, initially called Formula Fusion and now called Pacer. PC players have had it for some time, but console players have been kept waiting... until today.
The PSN search function seems to not be displaying this game properly, so here is a link to the North American store:
Announcement trailer:
Quick gameplay preview of Sonashahar, one of the first tracks:
Live stream with some day-one impressions:
For contrast, here is an older build with a slightly different UI:
Price isn't cheap at $39.99 plus tax in the US; £32.99 in the UK. Multilingual out of the box: the North American version includes English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Simplified Chinese.
After an hour or so of gameplay I'm liking what I'm seeing. These are very preliminary observations, but:
- Wipeout's weapons are back. The missile, the quake, the bomb (which in the game looks a lot like the one in Wipeout Fury's Zone Detonator mode), plus some new faces like a weapon that fires from next to your ship (think Gradius' "option").
- Music is back. WOHD Omega suffered from not having very many songs; even an hour-long session would exhaust the soundtrack. This time we get around 80 music tracks, with Cold Storage returning for eight of them and a variety of other composers.
- Nice variety of tracks to race on. In past games we've gotten both forward and reverse variations; this time we have that plus a "mirror" option that gives you a mirror image of the regular track. You can choose to race in the day or night, too, independent of which variation you're on. (I always wanted the reverse tracks to be at night so that you could more closely associate a track with a background, but...)
- Remember how WO 2048 dialed the difficulty up and frustrated some newbies (and veterans)? This time they ease you into things. There's a short four-race Training Course for neophytes (1. Mechanics Intro; 2. Guns Ready; 3. Gear Up; 4. Graduate) that will introduce you to the basics -- Wipeout veterans will pass this on the first try. You then race in a Grand Prix, and following that, three teams try to recruit you. I'm doing those now.
- Speeds are very slow in the beginning. You can come to this game with no WO experience and learn the ropes. But if you do have experience, you'll jump right in. Track mechanics are what you're used to: weapon pickups, speed pads, and shield pickups. There are now double speed pads where you'll get an extra boost if you run right between them.
More media coming as I discover it! If you see a racer named Heian_Xavier online, that's me!
So who else has this game and what does everyone think?
The PSN search function seems to not be displaying this game properly, so here is a link to the North American store:
PACER
With the depth of a simulation and the excitement and combat of arcade racers, PACER® provides a true test of player skill, reflexes, and strategy. Choose from 4 speed classes ranging from 400 kmh - 1000 kmh, then engage in the Campaign or a single-player race via 8 different game modes...
store.playstation.com
Announcement trailer:
Quick gameplay preview of Sonashahar, one of the first tracks:
Live stream with some day-one impressions:
For contrast, here is an older build with a slightly different UI:
Price isn't cheap at $39.99 plus tax in the US; £32.99 in the UK. Multilingual out of the box: the North American version includes English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Simplified Chinese.
After an hour or so of gameplay I'm liking what I'm seeing. These are very preliminary observations, but:
- Wipeout's weapons are back. The missile, the quake, the bomb (which in the game looks a lot like the one in Wipeout Fury's Zone Detonator mode), plus some new faces like a weapon that fires from next to your ship (think Gradius' "option").
- Music is back. WOHD Omega suffered from not having very many songs; even an hour-long session would exhaust the soundtrack. This time we get around 80 music tracks, with Cold Storage returning for eight of them and a variety of other composers.
- Nice variety of tracks to race on. In past games we've gotten both forward and reverse variations; this time we have that plus a "mirror" option that gives you a mirror image of the regular track. You can choose to race in the day or night, too, independent of which variation you're on. (I always wanted the reverse tracks to be at night so that you could more closely associate a track with a background, but...)
- Remember how WO 2048 dialed the difficulty up and frustrated some newbies (and veterans)? This time they ease you into things. There's a short four-race Training Course for neophytes (1. Mechanics Intro; 2. Guns Ready; 3. Gear Up; 4. Graduate) that will introduce you to the basics -- Wipeout veterans will pass this on the first try. You then race in a Grand Prix, and following that, three teams try to recruit you. I'm doing those now.
- Speeds are very slow in the beginning. You can come to this game with no WO experience and learn the ropes. But if you do have experience, you'll jump right in. Track mechanics are what you're used to: weapon pickups, speed pads, and shield pickups. There are now double speed pads where you'll get an extra boost if you run right between them.
More media coming as I discover it! If you see a racer named Heian_Xavier online, that's me!
So who else has this game and what does everyone think?
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