WipEout is one of the original PlayStation’s most important games released during the launch period – its style, speed and challenge made a strong statement against the competition. The game received many sequels over the years including three installments on PlayStation and ports to other platforms – but now, WipEout is available to buy on all Xbox consoles, except something doesn’t quite right. The Xbox “version” of WipEout is actually called Anti-Gravity Racing WipEout. User reports prompted me to investigate and then promptly refund, but not before I put some hours into testing the game, finding oddity upon oddity.
When you first boot the game, you’re “treated” to a super-basic main menu with a wealth of options. You can enable a CRT shader, opt for wireframe, flat shaded or fully textured display modes and you can adjust change resolution. I was then treated to a stunning CG introduction, exactly in line with the original game but built with modern rendering. Then I realised I’d seen it before. It’s a remake of the WipEout introduction, lovingly created by a certain Benjamin Brosdau back in 2021. We’ve sent email to Benjamin to see if he was aware of his work’s inclusion in the game but if that doesn’t raise an eyebrow, the music might as it includes licensed tracks, just like PlayStation.
We’ve only really scratched the surface here. The initial menu is nothing more than an entry point – a configuration screen, if you like. Once you start the game proper, the actual main menu appears. It has a different background, but it is effectively the same as the WipEout menu from PlayStation. However, it’s stretched out and buttons are replaced with Xbox icons which don’t match the menu resolution.
WipEout 3 is also included in the purchase and this one’s even wilder – renamed as Anti-Gravity Racing Special Edition, it is just Wipeout 3 Special Edition but stripped back further. The same menu is here but with a blank background. In both cases, once you enter the game, you’re presented with a widescreen image rendered at one of the available resolutions selected from that initial options screen. It’s also just 30 frames per second, has noticeable texture warping and various other issues.