Review — Wipeout: Omega Collection

Experience high speed futuristic racing as the adrenaline rushes through your blood in Wipeout: Omega Collection.

Sony finally graced the PlayStation 4 with its first Wipeout game. Alas, it’s not a new game but rather a remastered compilation of Wipout HD and Fury, as well as Wipeout 2048, previously released on PlayStation Vita. While I would have preferred a brand new Wipeout experience, the Omega Collection is still beast storming onto your console.

Back to the Future

As a collection of three games, the Omega Collection certainly offers bang for your bucks. All three campaigns are present and for those eager to get gold on all Elite events there’s plenty of challenge to be found here. For those of us less skilled, there’s luckily the Novice mode that was introduced after the release of the original Wipeout HD. In essence, the campaigns are identical to the original releases so if you’ve already played the games you know what to expect.

Revisiting these games certainly created a nostalgic feeling. Racing over the futuristic circuits with the anti-grave vehicles while listening to the pulsating electro tracks still feels as amazing as it did when you first play any entry in the Wipeout series. And Wipeout and I go way back, to Wipeout 2097 on the original PlayStation. It was the very first game I bought when I got this console (I even still have the copy!) Since then, I’ve played every entry in the series.

High Adrenaline Racing

Next to the campaign, the game also offers the Racebox mode and an exhaustive multiplayer mode. The Racebox is where you want to be if you’re in the mood for a quickie. Just select a track, a ship and a type of event and you’re good to go. Here you can chose from all the tracks available in the three games! From the stunning HD and Fury tracks to the branching, crazy circuits of 2048. Obviously you also have a wide range of ships to chose from allowing for great diversity. The events types range from the classic single race and time trail to the trance inducing Zone mode and the aggressive Battle mode.

The delicious multiplayer is also present, allowing you to race against a friend in split-screen mode or race against the whole world online. This is still as addictive as ever. The day I got the game, I spent my whole night racing in online tournaments. The online host can also change between the maps and modes of HD/Fury and 2048 on the spot, which is a great feature and makes it easy to stay in the same room. However, there is quite a gap in skill noticeable between true Wipeout veterans and newcomers, with me floating somewhere in between.

A beauty to behold

Through the years, Wipeout games are known for pushing the consoles to their limits. HD and Fury already looked great on the PlayStation 3 and the Omega Collection is absolutely stunning. On a normal PlayStation 4, the game runs in 1080p and a steady 60FPS, while on the Pro it’s pushed to 4K. Result is that the game runs incredibly fluid, I didn’t have a single frame drop or stutter. No matter the action or the speed at which you’re racing. Great visuals are accompanied by an amazing soundtrack. However, I did miss the option to play your own music while racing. This option was present in Wipeout HD/Fury and I made great use of it. So the absence here was kind of a bummer.

As far as remasters go, Wipeout: Omega Collection is an example of excellence. It offers a total package with a visual upgrade, especially for Wipeout 2048. I would have preferred a completely new entry in the series instead of a another remaster. But if the interest in this title paves the way for a completely new Wipeout somewhere in the near future, I’d say we embrace it with open arms as it is still an amazing compilation.

4/5

Reviewed for PlayStation 4.