There may just be two kinds of people in the world, those who count themselves among the fans of futuristic racing and those other folks. Or is it those counting themselves among the fans of battle-racing titles and those preferring their racing pure as the driven (no pun intended) snow? Whatever and wherever you may count yourself, the only reason not to read on is if you can firmly say that futuristic, battle racing is not for you. If by some miracle you are a fan of both and don't know the WipEout series, you are in for a major treat.

As we mentioned in the preview for this fantastic title, the graphics are second to none. We waited what felt like an eternity between WipEout Pure and this new title. The wait was worth it, and apparently allowed the development team to eke out of the PSP every last iota of polygonal mojo. The series has long been known for its stellar design - just visit the official site and you'll see why. The legacy of the series includes major kudos for attention to detail in the look and feel of everything from levels to ships to teams' logos. The twist this time around is that you are likely to see a lot of variation on the track when you play in online multiplayer. In a neat twist on the typically shabby in-game editor, WipEout Pulse offers on its site a very full-featured editor that is attached to your profile. Once you log in, it is possible to totally redecorate the color and markings on up to five ships. These five are then available to you on your PSP when you browse to the site using the in-game download utility. If you see a design from another player for your ship/team of choice, you can alternately pull that design down and use it in the game. It's too bad that only five slots are available, but we can assume there was some performance-related issue attached to downloading unlimited variations.

A similar level of customization and user-content is attached to the music in WipEout Pulse. Like previous games, the soundtrack contains some nice, big-name techno- and electronica-themed tunes on the playlist. Also like other games, it is possible to customize in what order the playlist flows and which songs you may not be interested in hearing at all. Unlike most games, WipEout Pulse contains a great feature that allows you to add your own songs to the playlist. The mechanism for adding songs is elaborate and technical. It isn't that it doesn't work, but it should be much easier. For the same team that made such an intelligent design choice in establishing the ship custom-design editor, adding and changing out music feels too clunky. A track editor may someday be a reality in these games, but isn't available yet. We can expect to see numerous custom tracks available if WipEout Pulse works anything like its predecessors. Also expect to find plenty of additional content in the game that can be unlocked, showing all the hard design work that went into making this look and feel so epic.

WipEout Pulse is part of a long chain of great games that forms what I consider to be one of the great videogame soap operas. Think of long-standing team rivalries, backstories for not only the ships but the tracks that tell a story about proud racing traditions going back over a decade... Technically it would be correct to say "looking forward" instead of back since all of the racing takes place in the distant future. Teams remaining from the last installment include Feisar, Triakis, Piranha, AG-Systems, Qirex-RD, and my current favorite Assegai. The new teams are EG-X and Goteki 45. Goteki isn't really new, but we last saw this team in Wip3out all the way back in 1999. A new team (Mirage) and several other teams from the past (Harimau, Icarus, Auricom) are available for download, as if the expandable content already here in the way of tracks and ship design weren't enough! A dozen tracks plus four expansion packs available already make this a game you won't blast through in just a few sittings. In fact, you'll find the standard grid at the lowest speed is pretty damn challenging. As you play through the upper grids, you'll find both accelerated challenge and accelerated speed classes. The tracks unfold in each stage based on a combination of standard races, timed runs, mirrored runs, and tournaments. Zone is back and typically awesome to behold. Since you can't apply the brakes in Zone and run with special ships at a faster and faster pace until the ship explodes, it is a good way to practice before you attempt a Time Trial. If you can't pass through at least Zone 10 on a track, it's a sure bet that you haven't got a handle on its twists and turns.

There are some good things to say about special features, but none should come before Multiplayer. The option to race online or with players in Ad-Hoc is incredible. Online has its foibles in terms of staying connected, which may be a function of the network being built out, or just my personal connection. This was evidently a problem for some of my competitors that just bailed out of races mid-stream or opted out and turned off their PSPs. The load times as you launch into online multiplayer are somewhat longer than desired, but it seems like the developers opted for these load times in place of any loading during the actual race. The racing action for up to eight players online feels no different than the action offline, a major coup. The track and racing options available are wide enough to allow for you to set up just the racing style you want, choosing the team, track, and whether weapons will be allowed. As a new player entering the lobby, you can search for games by type and speed class or just browse everything available. Back to the offline content, there's Racebox. The Racebox allows you to string together events and tracks that you really love, either for training purposes or just pure enjoyment. The other neat things evident in the game during battle-race segments are new weapons. The Cannon is a futuristic Gatling gun that does some serious damage to your opponent. The Repulsor causes anything in your vicinity to be knocked aside; this is particularly handy if used strategically in those areas where the track is thin and has no rails. You can do offensive damage with all the usual suspects that have made appearances in previous games and you can also choose to absorb weapons you pick up in order to recharge your shields.

Each ship is rated for its various strengths and weaknesses. You'll greatly change your experience in WipEout Pulse depending on which team you represent. You'll earn some bonuses along the way as you show loyalty to a particular team, but the general thrust of each team remains the same. If a team has weaker shielding, you'll have to become very skilled at managing the corners and avoiding offensive attacks from other racers. You'll also have to become very good at grabbing and absorbing weapons. Other strengths or weaknesses that change by team include top speed, acceleration, and handling. There's no denying that along with its incredible, high-quality design, WipEout is known as a seriously challenging game. The first game was so demanding that it earned its critics on this point alone. Hitting the side of the track in the original WipEout was like hitting a wall head-on. WipEout Pulse is much more nuanced, but will still penalize you for striking another ship from behind or hitting one of the walls. The weapons and their effects can be challenging, but you can adjust your style of play to gather defensive weapons in equal share with offensive weapons. Weapons like Shield will prevent you from being subject to the attacks of other players, but it doesn't help you get one up on the guy in front of you. Each person will find his own strategy, but it's great to be able to say that a racing game actually has some strategy...

The controls this time around are unchanged from the previous installment on PSP. The shoulder buttons control air-brakes, a very key piece of WipEout Pulse. Using the air-brakes is essential to cornering properly, somewhat like "drift" in a normal racing game. Braking, accelerating, and use or absorption of weapons is controlled on the front buttons. The analog controls are tight and you'll never have the game to blame for your failures. The method for moving through the game is that you progress by unlocking higher levels. A honeycomb grid of tracks presents itself in each stage and you have to earn at least a bronze to earn points to move forward. The collected medals and points will unlock successive stages. This system is especially nice for people that want to experience some of the faster racing and can earn a few gold medals in a stage and then move right along without having to unlock every single track in that stage. It's equally friendly to people that struggle to earn better than a bronze. You can move through stages with nothing better than a bronze medal, but you have to race a lot more tracks than your gold counterparts.

Everything about the core gameplay has remained the same from this series' inception in 1995! How many games or other forms of entertainment can make that claim? The more amazing thing is how everything around the core gameplay has been enhanced to the point that each time a new WipEout title hits the streets, we're all enthralled. Going back to my first point, I'm not ignorant enough to imagine that everyone loves futuristic, battle racing. What I do know is that WipEout Pulse does all the right things in the right places and sets a new bar for the series. Here's to seeing the WipEout series continue as long as there are systems on which to play it.