The latest game in the Wipeout franchise has hit the Playstation Store as represents the first foray into HD for the series. Wipeout games have always offered an excellent sense of speed and the move into HD has taken nothing away from this but added a whole lot more. The fantastically rendered backgrounds and ships combine to give perhaps the greatest thrill ride ever, on any game, on any format. Rather than using the staple blur effect to represent high speed movement the PS3 is simply able to render the crisp graphics at higher and higher speeds to give an unparalleled sense of nose-bleed quickness.

Thrown in are the usual speed boosts, power-ups and an arsenal of weapons to disrupt and take out your opponents. The thumping soundtrack and excellently designed race tracks (some old, some new) add to the overall high quality of the title. The ultimate joyride.

Ric Reeves