Ever since the PSVR was first unveiled (then known as Project Morpheus) the one Sony property at the top of my “I need this” list has been WipeOut VR. As a cornerstone of the PlayStation’s catalog over the years, WipeOut is one of the fastest, most intense, and most beautiful racing franchises around.
I’ve been playing WipeOut games ever since the days of the original PlayStation. This new VR iteration isn’t a brand new WipeOut game, but instead takes all of the WipeOut Omega Collection and adds full VR support. The Omega Collection, which was released on PS4 earlier this year, combines WipeOut HD, Fury, and 2048 into one package and now that package is sleeker than ever. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a brand new made-for-VR WipeOut game, but this is a good compromise. At least it’s still getting some new content like ships.
The closesy comparison outside of VR that I can think of would be Nintendo’s seemingly forgotten futuristic racing series, F-Zero. RedOut is a racing game with VR support on PC, but nothing on PSVR has come close to replicating the WipeOut experience just yet — not even Radial-G.
The sense of speed is absolutely incredible. I played two races against AI opponents at PSX (one from 2048 and one from HD) and it’s nothing short of exhilirating. When my ship launched off the track into the air I could feel my stomach falling as if I was on a real rollercoaster. As my ship slammed into walls along the track my body bounced involuntarily as if it were really happening. The blur of the track and streaks of neon colors were like a symphony of excitement. Only two races wasn’t enough for me to get my fill.
What makes WipeOut VR so special has always been its sense of speed. The bright, colorful visuals do a great job of really making you feel like you’re racing futuristic spacecrafts. Tracks twist and turn in ways you won’t see in other racing games and the inclusion of combat items and boost pads only up the ante even further.
And no, I never got motion sick. The cockpit view that was being used by default had walls surrounding my peripheral vision, but they tell me that can be disabled as well.
In VR, all of that is replicated with exquisite detail. Racing in the first-person cockpit feels great and being able to look from side to side at the other ships passing by really amps things up a lot. It honestly felt like I was sitting in a cockpit. I’m not 100% sure, but I think I may have held my breath for all of the last lap during each of my races.
Looking down at the information in the cockpit to check things like my speed, placement on the track, and lap number aided the immersion as well. WipeOut VR’s blistering sense of speed is unmatched in the VR scene right now, at least in regards to PSVR racers.
And from the two races I did I can honestly say that WipeOut VR is one of the best looking PSVR games to date. It doesn’t have any of the blurriness of other racing games like DriveClub VR and it even features a fantastic photo mode that lets you pause the game and pan all the way around your ship to get unique angles and amazing screenshots.
According to Sony WipeOut VR is coming in early 2018 and is a totally free update to the Omega Collection on PS4. If you own it already then it won’t cost anything extra and all new players can just buy the full game like normal.
Let us know what you think of this long-awaited announcement down in the comments below!
