Wipeout Pulse interview reveals ambitious upgrades

by Andrew Yoon { May 7th 2007 at 9:00AM }

Wipeout Pure is one of the best, if not the best, entries in the series. The PSP launch title featured brilliant graphics (which hold up to this day), the best handling of a Wipeout title, and a seemingly never-ending amount of content, thanks to brilliantly executed downloadable extensions released months after the game's launch. Eurogamer was able to talk to Clark Davies from Studio Liverpool about their upcoming PSP sequel, Pulse. Some highlights include:

Improved controls. "The handling is smoother, the ships are more evenly balanced. We're confident that the control is the best and most accessible the series has seen to date."
Grid creator for players to create their own challenges.
The ability to absorb weapons remains. However, the Disruptor weapon is gone. In its stead are a few new weapons, some of which will affect your ability to play: "things like smoking engines, fire damage, HUD interference, etc."
The adrenaline-pumping Zone mode is back, but this time there are no levels designed specifically for the mode. All levels will be playable in Zone, and all of them will get a visual makeover when playing in Zone.
Downloadable content returns. When questioned why content is available at launch (why not put it on disc?), Davies reminded readers that "a game is finished about two months before it hits the shelf ... So it's the case that we've scheduled our time well enough so we can carry on working on extra content once the rest of the game is ready."

We have to say this interview got us even more excited for this futuristic racing sequel. Even if the game didn't have improvements (if it were simply Pure with more tracks), we're confident it would still be fantastic. Let's hope to see more footage of the game soon.

Tags: clark davies, ClarkDavies, disruptor, downloadable, eurogamer, grid creator, GridCreator, pulse, studio liverpool, StudioLiverpool, wipeout, wipeout pulse, WipeoutPulse, zone

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Bored @ May 7th 2007 9:54AM

"a game is finished about two months before it hits the shelf ... So it's the case that we've scheduled our time well enough so we can carry on working on extra content once the rest of the game is ready."

Translation - Yeah, downloadable content is great! It means we can always just release the game unfinished and release the content that should have made it to the UMD later on...

Uts @ May 7th 2007 10:43AM

@Bored

err... I suppose you prefer devs that release products only to forget them (Oh, and charge you for version "2" *cough* addon */cough*).

Cerrrrist... There REALLY is no pleasing some people!

Joel @ May 7th 2007 11:02AM

Downloadable content is meant to make the game longer-lasting.

Alien @ May 7th 2007 12:38PM

Downloadable contenet is allways grate , when you get bored of the game , woops , and some new levels are comming :)

Stef Geiger @ May 7th 2007 12:39PM

...Games are sometimes finished DAYS before official release. This is why we only get word of a game being delayed like, 3 days before it's supposed to come out. If games were supposed to be done 2 months before release, developers would be able to say, "Ok, we just finished the game, it'll be out in precisely two months." But that never happens.

Miles Pieri @ May 7th 2007 5:00PM

WipEout Pure was a superb game even without the extra content, when you add all those extra tracks and ships into the equation it just made it even better value for money (especially if you picked it up for $10, as I did!)
The interview mentions infrastructure mode though, that has to be the biggest draw for this game and the one that will really set it apart from WipEout Pure.

pete @ May 7th 2007 5:31PM

"...Games are sometimes finished DAYS before official release."

a game cant be finished days before it releases. they need to make the copies of the game and other stuff that they do. its not BAM we finished it, lets go sell it tommorow, they need to actually make copies of it. a monthly magazine is normally done a month or two earlier than when it releases for the same principle.

as for the game, im really looking forward to it. I got wipeout pure for 13 bucks, but had to return it because my psp couldnt play it for some reason. i tried 3 different copies and they all froze. :(

Miles Pieri @ May 7th 2007 6:10PM

Does anyone know if there's a trick to play the EU Omega packs with a US WipEout Pure UMD? Unfortunately I'm using v3.40 so homebrew is not an option.

Stef Geiger @ May 7th 2007 8:32PM

I'm well aware of the fact that they need to make copies, however, there have been numerous occasions where games have been delayed "at the last second" only a few days before release because the developers need to keep working on it, and plenty of sites actually report when a game has gone "gold", which is typically within less than a week before it's actually slated to release.