This game is beautiful. Of course, anyone familiar with the Wipeout series knows to expect that. The interesting thing, however, is that the menu screens and the title screen are extremely minimalist. The intro movie is great, the graphics in the game itself are fantastic, but the tile screen is simply a gray background with the words 'Wipeout 3 Title Screen.' (Really) One of my associates claimed that the light trails streaming behind the ships were not as pretty as in Wipeout XL. Well, I too had remembered them to be awesome, so I rented Wipeout XL to compare the two. The graphics appear to be better on Wipeout 3 all around. The trails aren't as obvious on lighter tracks, but Wipeout 3 has a track that is really dark and filled with glowing blue signage, and it is astounding! The sound is very fast and techno, extremely appropriate for this fast tempo racer.

As its predecessors, Wipeout 3 is a blast to play. Now you have the ability to draw power from your shields to make your ship fly down the track. While this adds an extra bit of strategy to the game, be warned - using this energy to boost your speed depletes your shields... fast! Also, the controls seem to be very well balanced. Whereas the control was slightly difficult to control in Wipeout XL, the controls seem easier to manage in Wipeout 3. While there are very few tracks, Wipeout 3 takes the 'quality' approach. Each of the tracks is well designed, challenging, and unique. I played for hours before I even tried the 'Tournament' race. Wipeout 3 is an excellent addition to the Wipeout series.

If you've never played any of the Wipeout series, welcome to planet Earth! (or to video games, anyways) For those of us who are familiar with Wipeout XL, it's quickly noticeable that the control is much easier. The setup is the same, but the controls must have been tweaked a bit, because it handles much better. In fact, when you use a Dual Shock controller, you can really start concentrating on your technique instead of just struggling to control the racer. There are (once again) three difficulties by racing ‘class:' Vector, Venom, and Rapier. The tracks are nicely designed, and are fairly challenging, especially in the Rapier Class races. There are different types of races you can run, from single races such as Time Challenges, to Weapons Challenges, and Knockouts, to the Tournament, which is what you're training for. The Tournament race is the actual, sequential races that you have to try to progress through to 'beat' the game. Luckily, the early stages of the Tournament take it easy on you. However, the difficulty does ramp up from there. One good thing about the Tournament is that you don't have to come in first to continue. In fact, I once wrecked completely out of the second track and didn't even finish it and still progressed on to the next track. Instead, you are awarded points based on your position. These points eventually are used to determine the winner. This allows a little bit of room for a bad run or a single track not completely mastered.

Wipeout 3 offers some improvements on the physics engine and the control setup, making it a more balanced game than its predecessors. It also has more opportunities to incorporate strategy into your racing technique. Not the least of these is the ability to trade some shield power for a significant boost in speed. This is limited, and weakens you ship’s strength, while helping you catch up to (or pass up) your opponents. However, if you use it all at once in the beginning, then you have to maintain the lead for the entire race, and you’ll have very little shields to deal with any firepower your opponents might sling at you. Use it sparingly, and you’ll have more shields (longer), although the boost won’t be as substantial. Decisions, decisions... Also, 'pop-in' has been virtually removed from Wipeout 3. It seems that this was accomplished by a combination of careful track design, graphics engine tweaking, and - in the case of the replays - optimally chosen camera angles.