Wipeout: Omega Collection Coming to PS4
By Rob Gordon 06 December 2016
Wipeout: Omega Collection is announced at PlayStation Experience 2016, with a collection of classic games from the futuristic racing series seeing a release for PS4.
The Wipeout series was one of the darlings of the early PlayStation era, offering up a high-speed thrill ride for players at the cusp of 3D console gaming. In recent years – in spite of the series making its way onto every PlayStation device so far – fans of the franchise have been left out in the cold, with no releases for the series since PS Vita title Wipeout 2048. Now, however, it looks as though there will be something to keep future racing fanatics happy, in the form of Wipeout: Omega Collection.
This collection was announced as part of Sony’s PlayStation Experience 2016, debuting with an initial trailer. The collection will be coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro, with a view to launch the game in the summer of 2017. Wipeout: Omega Collection will bring together the three most recent releases in the Wipeout series, namely Wipeout HD, expansion Wipeout HD Fury, and the aforementioned Wipeout 2048.
The three games are being remastered for dynamic 4K and HDR, with the official PlayStation blog stating that the collection will be running at a targeted 60 frames per second. Marking the first time that the Wipeout franchise as a whole has made its way to the PlayStation 4, the collection will also include a new soundtrack to go along with the updated visuals.
Wipeout: Omega Collection will be bringing the ship and track content from all three games, along with nine game modes, including Zone, Tournament, Speed Lap, Time Trial, and Single Race from Wipeout HD, Zone Battle, Eliminator, and Detonator from Wipeout HD: Fury, and the Career Mode from Wipeout 2048. The collection will also include multiplayer, both in the form of local splitscreen and online multiplayer for up to 8 racers.
Between the lack of new Wipeout games and Nintendo’s reluctance to return to the world of F-Zero, fans of anti-gravity racing games have been hard pressed of late. With the closure of SCE Liverpool, formerly Psygnosis, back in 2012, many wondered if another Wipeout game would ever see the light of day. At the very least, this collection will give gamers something to get their teeth into.
Whether this collection means that Wipeout is truly back on Sony’s agenda is a question for another day, but the company has previously hinted at the creation of a new Wipeout game. This may well have related to the Wipeout collection announced here, which has continued Sony’s return to previous properties as seen with the remastered releases of Ratchet & Clank and the upcoming Crash Bandicoot remaster. While Wipeout: Omega Collection perhaps offers less of an outright risk in terms of initial cost, Sony will no doubt be hoping that the collection is a rewarding one.
Wipeout: Omega Collection is due for release in summer 2017, for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro.
