Should I get Wipeout?

[xqpx]

I have Wipeout 3 and Wipeout Fusion. Should I get the original Wipeout? I found one in a store. :-?

[G'Kyl]

That's a difficult one. WO1 is significantly slower than 3 and 4, lacks much of the eye-candy from both those games and is far (I mean FAR) more difficult to play. You will have problems getting through the Venom class league, not to mention Rapier.
Yet apart from that, the game, once mastered, still plays fantastic. This may be a little subjective, but it might even help you understand a little better what Wipeout is about. And it shows how things came to be as they are now. Pus, it features the most original soundtrack from all 4 Playstation installments.
Personally, I had a very hard time coming to terms with the game. I bought it shortly after 2097 got me hooked up to AG racing. And how disappointed I have been at first! The graphics were less evolved, there was no wall-scraping, and weapons fire is much less impressive than in 2097 (whereas it should be mentioned that W3O crafts too have much more basic looking military equipment on board than their 2097 collegues). However, after a while I came to accpet Wipeout for what it was and started to have a lot of fun with the game.
Maybe you should also read through two of the somehwhat older threads, one being about in which order everybody had discovered the Wipeout games, the other asking for everybody's favourite game in general, if I remember correctly.

Ben

[xEik]

G'Kyl explained exactly how I felt when I bought W'O" after having already played 2097/XL and 3.
I was disappointed at first with the graphics and less forgiving physics but the game has some good characteristics. And it's with no doubt the hardest of all the saga.

Just bear in mind that the game has almost a decade, which is an eternity in the game industry.
You didn't tell us the price so you'll have to decide by yourself if it is worth for a game that old. If it is damn cheap I'd say go for it but if they are charging you a "collector's price", then maybe you'll feel that you paid too much for it.

[science]

The first WO is certainly worth having, if for no other reason simply because it is "the original". However, if you were to have the choice, xl/2097 should take priority over wo1. It is argued by some to be the best of the series, and it is without a doubt the fastest of the wipeouts for PS1.

[Thed]

WO 1 was one of the first games I bought in 1995 on the playstation. I think it's still the one I prefer of all the WO :D . Very difficult to win in rapier class, but great sensations. I still continue to play it after all those years. I think (althought it seems I'm the only one) that graphics and design are better than in wipeout 2097. Wipeout3 is smoother with more colors, probably the most beautiful game on PSX, but, no, I definitely enjoy to play the first WO, wich has a unique "atmosphere" and better control with airbrakes, althought more difficult in the beginning. I remember it was on the demo disk that came with the playstation. I've waited several weeks for the game to be available !

In fact, I like very much all the WO on playstation ! But I love the first one (nostalgy?)
I don't own a PS2 so I can't tell about WO Fusion...

[Shem]

Wipeout 1- buy it and you'll get what AG racing is about.

Wipeout 2097 - buy it and have fun racing in a AG league.

[G'Kyl]

It's a common phenomenon, but still intersting to see that mostly people prefer whatever game from the series, and any other series for that matter, they played first. :) My guess is that this is because when you fall in love with a game any other similar game that follows or went before is, well, different, so there's a lot which is not quite the same as what got you hooked up in the first place, no matter how much more advanced the successors may be. I sometimes wish I weren't as biased as that, but there is little one can do about it. Don't get me wrong, though, Thed. I wasn't implying that your liking is "wrong". I, too, prefer 2097 over 3 and 3SE, even though I know the latter has so many improvements over the first. Oh, and welcome to the forums. :)

Ben

[piranha wiper]

the crafts dont blow up as well,and then the phrase 'they dont make 'em like they used to' comes to mind :wink:

[Dimension]

I had the original wipEout back when it was first released though I had it on PC, I think really the first WO was my favourite AG experience, I bashed it for weeks on end trying to beat it and loved every minute of it, definately worth getting, even after a decade IMO :wink: After all, good games are still good games even if the eye candy wasn't what it now is!