"A masterpiece of racing games"

Wow. I'm glad I chose this game for my PSP bundle. I had played Wipe Out: Fusion on the PS2 and I was confident this would be a great game too. Turns out it was.

Graphics - 10/10

When I watched the opening cut scene for this game, I was amazed. It looked so good, I watched it over and over again. The in game graphics did not disappoint either. The whole thing was a fun filled ride. Smooth, smooth, smooth is all I can say. The frame rate isn't choppy at all. The colors are brilliant, and there is lots going on in the background. The texturing, was actually better than what I remember in Wipe Out: Fusion. Everything looked so good, that this was a real treat.

Sound- 10/10

The effects are great, and I really liked the music too. I liked it so much, I actually listened to it for an entire week on a school trip. It's all techno, which may be a bad thing if you hate it, but the music was of great quality, and everything was well thought out.

Controls- 10/10

Solid controls, and they didn't get annoying at all. You can use both the pseudo-stick and the control pad. The controls are in all the right places and they don't make your hands tired, which is important in a racing game.

Game play- 10/10

Although this game is hard for some people, don't let it scare you. You get a real sense of speed at the higher levels. There are new ships to unlock, new tracks and tournaments to complete, and down-loadable content to keep the game new and fresh. I loved this game, and I still do. The AI is pretty good, and although it can feel really cheap at times, the game is not impossible, like some people say. There are a lot of weapons in this game, all of which serve a purpose, and in multi-player it's a lot of fun. Even though the tracks are basically recycled after a while, the game didn't get boring for me at all. I had to play this for a week straight, and I found it interesting the whole way through. There are a lot of different ways you can play through this game, that appeal to a lot of different gamers.

Final Score- 9.5/10

Why not a 10? If a game was truly perfect I would never put it down, and although I play this game a lot I do play others as well. In my opinion, no game deserves a perfect score, but this game comes pretty close. It was a blast to play and I recommend it to everyone. Rent or buy? I'm one of those guys who never says buy! buy! buy! because I know someone out there will hate everything about it. Rent it and see if you like it, but if you are a fan of the old series or racing games I would buy this one right away. Yes. It's that good.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/25/05