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"So fast your eyes will bleed!"

This is surely one of the fastest games you can find on any platform today, the speeds reached are downright scary. Zipping around kaleidoscopic tracks on hovering futuristic vehicles might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Wipeout 2097 plays like an absolute dream.
The original Wipeout was deemed by many to be just too hard, and received only a small amount of support. This game has solved that problem completely without also making it too easy. Three cheers for Pysgnosis!

The graphics have an amazing look to them. The look the developers strived for was a futuristic world, a dark world, a dangerous world, one full of flashing neon-lights so you can see where you’re going and don’t have an accident and hurt yourself badly, they did well. Even though the whole game is done completely in low-res they look fantastic. This “futuristic” theme has just been done superbly and could fool you into thinking you’re living in the wrong millennium.
There is a great amount of detail in these graphics, not only the track but the backgrounds also look magnificent. All of the vehicles look nice and the blue trails that they emit are a very pretty effect. There are no technical flaws to be found whatsoever, even though the game travels at a ridiculous speed there is no clipping and no pop-up, there can be a large amount of traffic on the screen at once without the slightest hint of slowdown and the disappearing point is a dream.
Even though the release of the game was a number of years ago Wipeout 2097 pushes the Playstation to it’s max, there are very few games that boast the pretty graphics of this little title.

The sound is probably THE feature of the game that sets it apart from the rest. To suit the time frame the majority of the songs are techno based and sound fantastic. There are very few games that can boast a soundtrack of this calibre, big names like The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy set it apart from the rest.
Whilst most racing games have big grunting car engines as their main sound effect, Wipeout 2097 had to be completely different and make their vehicles sound like they’re gliding smoothly along on air. The smooth Whoooosh is far more pleasant on the ears than a Grrrrrrr let me assure you of that. All of the explosions are reasonable, albeit a tad clunky but they’re acceptable.
Overall, the sound could not be done any better. Every single aspect of the sound suits the time frame of the game down to a T. A superb effort all the way.

The gameplay is the type of stuff that is capable of giving you insomnia, you’ll find yourself unable to reach over and turn the Playstation off. To be successful in this game it takes a good memorisation of the track and cat-like reflexes. The races consist of twelve racers and a whole lot of weapons and it’s up to you to use all your skill to make it up to first place.
The controls are tough to get used to, but play the game for a while and navigating your way around the track will seem like second nature to you. It’s designed so you can take the sharpest of corners without slowing down as long as you have good anticipation of the track. The tracks themselves are very well designed, twisting turns, long straights and huge jumps, everything you’ll ever need. The tracks start off simple and get progressively harder until you’re jumping around all over the place trying to take the turns quickly and come in first.
One of the only problems with the game is the reaction of the vehicle if you hit a wall. It just stops…dead…and you have to accelerate back to your old speed and try to make up the time. If there were just some slowdown instead of a complete stop maybe the game wouldn’t be so darn hard to finish.
Overall, there is some damn fine gameplay to be found in this game. If you like it fast and furious you’re sure to fall in love with this game. If you’re one of those people that don’t like going over the speed limit and drives like an old granny, go shopping for a Mahjohng simulator.

The lifespan is rather large. It’s a fair effort to win all the races and unlock the secret super ship hidden in the game. No single race is ever the same, each one will present you with a different racing situation and you’re never a certainty to win it. It’s just one of those games that you won’t tire of.

The fun factor isn’t as good as the rest of the aspects of this game. It’s just not one of those that you’ll enjoy and cherish and say “god this is fantastic” it’s more the type of game that you’ll bung on now and again just more for the challenge. There are people that go nuts over this genre however, the fun factor for them would have to be through the roof (these are rare cases though).

The challenge of Wipeout 2097 would be between medium and very hard. It’s a game that takes a while to get used to due to the blinding speed, and once you’re fully used to the style you’ll be up to the HARD levels, it’s a difficult but a satisfying game. Watching a master in action can be very debilitating if you’re learning the ropes as it seems that no matter how good you get there’s always a level of greatness that is unattainable. Better suited to the more experienced player.

Overall, Wipeout 2097 is the ultimate game you can find of this genre. Copies are no longer being made so if you can find it, by all means buy it. In no way will you be disappointed; it makes a good solid addition to your ever-growing collection.
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GOOD POINTS
- Play at a breakneck speed
- Fantastic audio/video components, a class act all the way
- A good challenge for the more experienced player

NOT SO GOOD POINTS
- It’s hard, darn hard
- Some people cannot handle the pace
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GRAPHICS – 9/10
SOUND – 10/10
GAMEPLAY – 8/10
LIFESPAN – 10/10
FUN FACTOR – 6/10
CHALLENGE – 9/10
OVERALL – 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/18/00, Updated 05/18/00