Favorite anything from wip3oUt XL

[contra4life]

Wip3out XL could quite possibly be the finest racing game ever made and is currently my all time most obsessed about game.... Everything about the title is spot on with some minor graphic glitches here and there...

Although a no-brainer, one of the most amazing things to me is when you are flying through a tunnel and launch a bomb the explosion sound gets magnified to almost deafening levels with the right sound system setup... even with bookshelf size speakers you can somehow easily "rock the house" with this game!

So what is YOUR favorite slice of the XL pie?

[cityside75]

Being a huge Underworld fan from way, way back I have to mention their contribution to the XL soundtrack, I believe it's called Tin There. It is by far the best of a good bunch of songs on that soundtrack and I believe it's the perfect song for driving fast in a game or in real life. I often used to cue the song up in my car when merging on to the highway or other high speed situations.

[SpaceHarrier]

I love that one turn that goes down a hill right where the monorail car goes back and forth. I haven't played this game since it was released.. thanks, now I must go hunt down a copy :P

[Kevincal]

I'm a huge Wipeout fan. I was hooked instantly when I read about it in gaming mags in 1995. I bought the original Wipeout shortly after its release in 1996. I never did get XL until about 2000. Awesome game. The speed and the soundtrack are 2nd to none as far as racing games, or any games for that matter are concerned. The game just has a super cool atmosphere. There is a really cool Wipeout fan site where you can battle people's track records and talk about Wipeout etc. Check it out. http://www.wipeoutzone.com/

[Kitsune Sniper]

I only know Wipeout from the prototype version shown in Hackers. Is the game series that good?

[Kevincal]

Yes they are very solid, albeit challening racing games. They have some of the coolest atmospheres of any video games I've ever played.

[contra4life]

I only know Wipeout from the prototype version shown in Hackers. Is the game series that good?

Ahhh.. now this is the 2nd time i've heard this reference to hackers. Well it took a revisit to the 90's via http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ygV4MkUh-M for me to realize...

yeah it's definitely wipeout, no doubt... A VERY slow wipeout that looks more like a psychedelic deathstar trench... but those anti-gravity racing sleds are the dead givaway...

now that i think about, that was the look that psygnosis was sporting in its graphics at the time... wow have times changed...

[contra4life]

Being a huge Underworld fan from way, way back I have to mention their contribution to the XL soundtrack, I believe it's called Tin There. It is by far the best of a good bunch of songs on that soundtrack and I believe it's the perfect song for driving fast in a game or in real life. I often used to cue the song up in my car when merging on to the highway or other high speed situations.

Yeah, i totally am there with you on the driving on highways thing... almost makes you feel invincible...

For me it was the in-house Cold Starage tracks that really just kicked your ass into believing that you were some 97 years in the future, although quite honestly i don't think i've ever played a game whose soundtrack fused with the gameplay as well as XL does...

And sadly, i don't think there ever will be one again, seeing as how every wo game to come out since has had a mediocre at best collection of tracks... I bought a PSP for wipeout pure, and although the game is pretty good and fun, it just doesn't have the magic at all... god i sound like a whiny bitch! Glad homebrew gives me other options!

[Kitsune Sniper]

Ahhh.. now this is the 2nd time i've heard this reference to hackers. Well it took a revisit to the 90's via http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ygV4MkUh-M for me to realize...

yeah it's definitely wipeout, no doubt... A VERY slow wipeout that looks more like a psychedelic deathstar trench... but those anti-gravity racing sleds are the dead givaway...

now that i think about, that was the look that psygnosis was sporting in its graphics at the time... wow have times changed...

Now that I think about it, I doubt it was even a prototype - maybe it was a concept video that they made for the movie, then they realized "Wait, this could work as a game after all!"

We need to find someone from Psygnosis and see if my theory is correct.

Edit:
Looks like Wikipedia agrees with me:

"An early concept video of the game was featured prominently in the 1995 film Hackers, in which the character Dade beats character Kate's high score in a Wipeout match."

No source given, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. (Wiki article)

[Kid Ice]

kun-tender ee-leem-ee-nate-ed

[Sabz5150]

The final levels of the Pirhana challenge, ESPECIALLY the broken track with the SOLID midair 90 degree turns and half the opponents' weapons aimed at you. What fun it was

Wipeout 3 is an excellent step up IMHO when you're finished with that.

[RJ]

I loveloveLOVE the music track "Canada" by Cold Storage on the sdtk. They also do "Body In Motion".

I got rid of my WipeOut XL game (& WipeOut3) last week but have WO XL sdtk on my mp3 player. EVERY TIME "Canada" plays I crank up the volume to max & listen to it all the way through- 6+ min of pure awesomeness.

"Lose yourself in a jungle of ambient sounds." Aw jeez, now I hafta listen to it.

The WipeOut soundtracks are almost the best part of the game(s) for me. The PS2 WO Fusion sdtk is no slouch either. There's a Utah Saints song on there for God sake!!!

[Kevincal]

Indeed, the Cold Storage music fit Wipeout absolutely perfectly. The game feels so realistically futuristic. :P

[Vectorman0]

I love the soundtrack (click me),click me especially the songs by Underworld and The Chemical Brothers.

[Rogue]

Wipeout XL or Wipeout 3?

Never played the 3... and the XL is not the fastest... o.O

[contra4life]

Wipeout 3 is an excellent step up IMHO when you're finished with that.

You're right 3 is pretty good, i actually had my ass handed to me at the E3 when wo3 was presented for the first time, and it was by a girl...

not sure whether i was more embarrassed or totally infatuated

i got 3 not long after it was released, and than some douche fucking stole it from my place along with my saturn.... But i found it on some torrent site and enjoy it from time to time on my psp...

[contra4life]

Wipeout XL or Wipeout 3?

Never played the 3... and the XL is not the fastest... o.O

XL is maybe not technically the fastest, but i think anyone will tell you without hesitation that it IS the total package, best track design, best difficulty curve, best soundtrack, just best overall experience and fun...

but as mentioned before, 3 is very good

The wipeout series began to lose "it" when they started fucking with the sled mechanics and physics, of course these alterations were not made by psygnosis... And to be fair i'm sure recreating what psygnosis did is no small feat if not almost an impossibility by an inferior group of coders.

but i digress

[roushimsx]

The wipeout series began to lose "it" when they started fucking with the sled mechanics and physics, of course these alterations were not made by psygnosis... And to be fair i'm sure recreating what psygnosis did is no small feat if not almost an impossibility by an inferior group of coders.

The series was always developed by the studio now known as SCE Studio Liverpool, a subsidiary of SCEE. At the time that the first Wipeout was released, Psygnosis had already been bought out by SCE and was just left in place as a publishing label. They were still publishing for competing consoles but slowly slid towards Playstation exclusivity until the entire Psygnosis brand was just retired.

Alterations made to the series have just been a result of it gradually evolving and changing over time. I still think that Wipeout 3 was the high mark of the series, though Wipeout HD may change my mind. I've had trouble getting into both Pulse and Pure because of the PSP's analog stick, but being able to race those tracks with a real controller...mmmm....

What's depressing is just how many of the guys from the Wipeout teams wound up working on those god awful Getaway games.

[Nebagram]

Oh god, I loved XL (or 2097 as 'twas known here in Britland). The soundtrack was fan-frigging-tastic, the gameplay was sublime, frankly it's still my favourite of the series- I really wish they'd just remake this for Wipeout HD rather than pick out tracks from the PSP version.

Okay, as well as pick out tracks from the (still damn fine) PSP versions.

If you're still up for some futuristic racing action from the makers of Wipeout, check out Rollcage for the PS1- very tasty and with a solid soundtrack to boot (Fatboy Slim, anyone?).

[Kevincal]

It's funny, I'm one of the only people who likes the original the best. I think it's because it made such an impression on me. I really wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was. I never got XL or 3 until the late 90's, some 3 years after I got the original. Of course I love all Wipeout games, it's just the original has something special to it. It just totally nails the futuristic atmosphere.