~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
| This document Copyright 2000 Anna Ghislaine Williams |
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o
First posted on 17/09/2000
1st Update on 23/10/2000 (Prototype walkthroughs added)
2nd Update on 26/11/2000 (WipEout Fusion news added)
3rd Update on 29/11/2000 (some weapon and track info modified)
4th Update on 17/03/2001 (power-up start info added, ASCII art modified)
5th Update on 29/03/2001 (minor touch-ups made)
6th Update on 04/07/2001 (minor touch-ups made)
7th Update on 07/09/2001 (more Fusion news)
8th Update on 14/09/2001 (erroneous url fixed)
9th Update on 12/11/2001 (urls fixed, Fusion news removed; if you want to read
it drop me an e-mail)
All dates given are dd/mm/yyyy
PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THE COPYRIGHT INFORMATION BELOW.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1) Introduction
2) Tips and hints on flying your machine
3) About the craft
4) Events and race types
5) Weapons and powerups (including tips on when and where to use)
6) Racetrack walkthrough
7) Audio tracks and artist info
8) Cheats
9) Credits and additional info
-- COPYRIGHT INFORMATION --
This Walkthrough was written and intended for private and personal use
on the following sites:
and not otherwise (although I may put it on other sites in the future, in which
case I will also amend the list above). If you wish to post it on your site
seek my permission first. If you see it on a site not on the list above, please
tell me! This walkthrough is not to be used for financial purposes. Do not use
it to gain money or attempt to pass it off as your own. Do not publish or
distribute it without my permission, and if I give you permission you must put
my name on it, state that I own all copyright and allow me to claim all praise
and reward for it. Failure to comply will mean that I can and will sue you and
I can and will easily win.
If you have any suggestions for improvements, comments or the like, or
want permission to put this walkthrough on your site, send it to
'twistedfirestarter@twistedfirestarter.co.uk'.
O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O
1) INTRODUCTION:
#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#O#
_________
/\ ____\
\ \ \_ \
\ \________\
\/________/reetings, fellow gamers!
Even though this is the first walkthrough of a game I've ever written, my lack
of experience in the field hasn't stopped all of the comments I've so far
received being very positive ones. Even so, it is still a first attempt, so if
I've done something wrong or missed out something vital please let me know. I
wrote this walkthrough to assist my fellow gamers, not for my idle enjoyment
(although I did have fun writing it), so if there is anything I can do to
improve it, please tell me.
I know nothing about hardware or software, so don't email me with technical
problems with discs or PlayStations. Ask your Sony dealer. If the game doesn't
work the disc probably just needs a clean.
If something isn't on the walkthrough, I don't know it, so please don't mail me
asking for more cheats, or the like. And please read the site thoroughly to see
if your question has already been answered before you send me one. Please feel
free to ask about something if you feel I haven't explained it properly. I will
reply to all the questions I can provide answers to, and I won't be rude even
if I think you're being very stupid. I love Wip3out, but that doesn't make me a
gaming guru who never makes mistakes. Chances are that I'll have previously
encountered the problems that you're having, so I'll be able to advise and help
you through them.
Even if you think the FAQ is perfect and there's nothing you don't understand
and there's nothing wrong with what I've written, please tell me anyway. I like
to hear that I'm doing things right. Drop me a line using my e-mail address
below.
WipEout City (http://pub55.ezboard.com/bwipeoutforums) is a discussion board
I've created for nattering about all things WipEout. So go and have a look.
There is also a separate forum there for discussing non-WipEout related things,
if you feel like it. You have to register with Ezboard to post a message, but
it is FREE and the account will work with any other discussion board in the
Ezboard range, including the board at WipEoutZone.
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2) FLYING YOUR MACHINE:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I've taken the list of default controls off the walkthrough as they were taking
up unneccessary space. I assumed that nobody would actually need to know them,
as they're spelled out in the instruction manual, and most people are
intelligent enough to work them out for themselves. If, however, you want to
know what the default controls are, e-mail me.
TIPS AND HINTS:
Accelerate:
Your craft will only keep moving for as long as you hold this button down. You
might want to decelerate (by releasing the accelerate button) when going round
sharp corners, however.
Fire weapon/Discard weapon:
Read more about weapons in section #5.
Toggle view:
If you're using a NeGcon, you cannot choose a different view when racing.
You'll have to select a view from the Game Settings menu.
Personally, I find the Exterior view the best, but that's a matter of choice.
Rear view:
Glance back over your shoulder to see who's sneaking up behind you.
This is useful when choosing when and where to drop mines, which are a
backwards-firing weapon. Sorry, NeGcon users, but you need a Dual Shock for
this.
Hyperthrust:
Holding down this button gives your craft a massive speed boost,
but at a price. Hyperthrusting rapidly depletes your craft's shield
energy, making it more vulnerable to enemy attack. If your craft's
shield energy falls below 25%, you cannot use the hyperthrust.
Airbraking:
When approaching a sharp left corner, press the left airbrake button
to help you navigate through it. The same applies to sharp right turns
and the right airbrake button. Pressing both airbrake buttons
simultaneously will slow the craft down.
Pointing nose up/down:
Pointing the nose down slows the craft down, but making the nose
go up helps it go faster.
Steering:
The WipEout craft are not like cars; if you point your craft in one
particular direction it will keep going in that direction until you
steer it somewhere else. Real cars have an "auto-correct" which makes
the steering wheel move back to the central position when it is released, as
opposed to most video game cars which stay moving in one direction until you
tell them otherwise.
Proximity Indicator:
Pay attention to it. It tells you if any craft are sneaking up behind
you, and is especially useful for NeGcon users who cannot use the Rear View
button.
Power-up start:
At the start of a race, hold down the accelerate button until the controller
starts to rumble. Keep the speed bar held in this position, controller
vibrating, and when "GO!" is yelled, you will get a free speed boost.
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3) ABOUT THE CRAFT:
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Different craft have different good and bad attributes. It's up to
you to choose which one you think is best.
FEISAR (Federal European Industrial Science and Research)
Speed: *
Steering: ****
Shield: ****
Country of origin: United Europe
Established: 2017
Colour scheme: blue and yellow
Logo: a circle with a blue, white and yellow swish inside it
How to unlock: available at start of game
This craft is excellent for beginners. It was the craft that I first learned to
fly with, in WipEout 2097, so I still hold some sort of affection towards it.
Use it to brush up your flying skills, but it won't get you very far if you
want speed, not safety.
GOTEKI 45
Speed: **
Steering: ***
Shield: ****
Country of origin: Pacific Islands 45
Established: 2095
Colour scheme: yellow, black and pink
Logo: The letter G in yellow and pink, with the tail of the G
terminating in an arrow, followed by the number 45, in white
How to unlock: available at start of game
Goteki isn't that fast, but it's faster than Feisar. You have to be pretty good
with the steering buttons, too, if you want to master this craft. Goteki,
however, has the best shield, so use it to bludgeon, barge, and basically push
and shove your way to the finish. Fairly crude, rude and unkulcha'd, dude.
AURICOM INDUSTRIES
Speed: ***
Steering: ***
Shield: ***
Country of origin: North America
Established: 2025
Colour scheme: white, red and blue
Logo: a flower with white petals and a red centre
How to unlock: available at start of game
Auricom doesn't really shine in any department, but it's a good all-rounder,
making it great for people who can't make their mind up about what kind of
craft they want.
PIRANHA ADVANCEMENTS (my favourite!)
Speed: ***
Steering: ****
Shield: **
Country of origin: Brazil
Established: 2060
Colour scheme: red and yellow
Logo: a yellow parallelogram and trapezium side by side
How to unlock: available at start of game
Piranha is second only to Assegai as the easiest to steer. Together with its
good speed, it can really cruise through tight corners and hairpin bends. Avoid
crashes, bashes and dogfights, though.
QIREX RD
Speed: ****
Steering: **
Shield: ***
Country of origin: Russian Union
Established: 2017
Colour scheme: purple, brown and blue/grey
Logo: the letter Q made up of bands of brown, purple and blue/grey
How to unlock: win on the Terminal track using the four default teams
Being a Russian craft, Qirex is fast and power-guzzling. It has a frustratingly
large turning circle. For advanced racers, i.e. people
with strong, RSI-resistant thumbs.
AG SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL
Speed: ****
Steering: ***
Shield: **
Country of origin: Japan
Established: 2017
Colour scheme: red, white and black
Logo: a figure with a white head and a red body
How to unlock: win on any two tracks with the Qirex craft
AG-S has the same high speed as Qirex. However, it has a weaker shield, but its
easier steerage should compensate for this. It's still one for the more
advanced players, though.
ASSEGAI DEVELOPMENTS ('Assegai' means a metal-tipped spear. Not a lot of people
know that.)
Speed: ***
Steering: *****
Shield: *
Country of origin: United African Nations
Established: 2113
Colour scheme: bronze and blue/grey
Logo: the letters AD made up of blue lines
How to unlock: win on any three tracks with the AG-S craft
Assegai's steering is simply wonderful. It's more fluid than liquid silk.
Unfortunately it has a rubbish shield (wet paper would put up more of a
resistance), so better leave that hyperthrust button well alone.
ICARAS
Speed: *****
Steering: **
Shield: **
Country of origin: various
Established: 2109
Colour scheme: pink, purple and orange
Logo: a butterfly with an orange body and purple wings
How to unlock: win on any four tracks with Assegai
Icaras' poor shield will rapidly deplete when it gets knocked and buffeted, so
use the hyperthrust sparingly. If you're good with Qirex (which has the same
poor steering) then go ahead and try this.
Its phenomenal speed will leave the other craft idly admiring its
tailpipes.
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4) EVENTS AND RACE TYPES:
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Now that you've picked a craft, you're going to want to race. Choose from one
of the following to show off your skills in:
SINGLE RACE
Pretty self-explanatory. You can adjust the number of opponents (0, 4, 8 or
12), the weapons (on or off) and the checkpoints (on or off) from the Game
Settings menu. All you have to do is come in first place to win. 1st, 2nd and
3rd places are awarded gold, silver and bronze medals respectively. Gold medals
unlock tracks and craft.
TIME TRIAL:
There are no weapons, checkpoints or enemy craft in this race. Just try and
bomb through as fast as you can. A ghost craft will fly the path of your
previous best race. Don't worry; you can't collide with it. You can save one
ghost craft in each memory card block.
CHALLENGE:
RACE CHALLENGE: Just try and come in first. Easy.
TIME CHALLENGE: Complete the circuit within a certain time.
WEAPON CHALLENGE: Eliminate a certain number of opponents.
COMBO CHALLENGE: You need to complete the first three challenges
before you can race in the Combo Challenge. You need to come in first,
beat the clock AND eliminate a large number of your opponents, all in the same
race. Nasty stuff.
ELIMINATOR:
Set yourself a target from 1 to 99 points, then try and kill as many craft as
possible. Niiiiice. You will get one point every time you eliminate someone or
complete a lap. There's no time limit; you just have to try and reach your
target amount of points before your opponents do. Any craft that get eliminated
(including you) will re-appear at the starting line. The pit-lane is
deactivated in the Eliminator, so the only way you can top up your shield
energy is by using an Energy Drain (more about the pit-lane and the Energy
Drain in section #5).
TOURNAMENT:
In this event, you race for points. The higher your final position in each
race, the more points you'll receive. Whoever has the most points
at the end of the tournament's four tracks wins.
If it's a draw, the player with the most medals wins. If that's a draw also,
then the player with the greater value of medals wins (gold worth 3, silver 2,
and bronze 1). If that's a draw too, the player with the lowest average racing
time for the four tracks wins. The instruction manual doesn't say what happens
if this is a draw, but maybe you get a
Scissors-paper-stone subgame to determine the winner.
Anyhoo, here are the points you can score:
1st place = 10 points
2nd place = 6 points
3rd place = 4 points
4th place = 3 points
5th place = 2 points
6th place = 1 point
7th place = zilch points
8th place = zilch points
RACING CLASSES:
The Single Race mode is divided into four classes arranged in order of
difficulty.
VECTOR: two-lap races. Ideal for novices, newcomers or those who like to take
things steady.
VENOM: three-lap races. Ideal for intermediate pilots or those that fancy their
chances.
RAPIER: four-lap races. Ideal for advanced pilots or those who want to
break new ground.
PHANTOM: five-lap races. Only experts need apply. You must complete
the first three racing classes before you can access the Phantom.
Note that the higher classes also have stricter time limits.
PROTOTYPES:
These are tracks that were designed for the game but never actually used.
Unlock these by winning all 64 gold medals in one racing class:
All Vector medals = S101/np62
All Venom medals = S102/mg71
All Rapier medals = S103/aw72
All Phantom medals = S104/aw73
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5) WEAPONS AND POWERUPS:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
You've picked a craft and a race, now you need to know about the
various doohickies with which you can whack your opponents. But beware! They
have weapons too, and would love to use them against you!
WEAPONS:
These are within coloured pads scattered around the track, shaped like
four-pointed stars. The pads also change colour. If you fly over one of these
weapon pads when it is pink, you will get an offensive weapon. If you fly over
one when it is yellow, you will get a defensive weapon. If you fly over one
when it is green, or immediately after an opponent has flown over it, you'll
get nothing.
When you pick a weapon up, a female voice will tell you which one you've got,
and the weapon's symbol and abbreviation will appear in the top centre of the
screen. If an opponent is about to use a weapon against you, the female voice
will say "warning".
AUTO-PILOT
ABBREVIATION: ap
SYMBOL: an arrow pointing towards an isosceles triangle balanced on one
of its points.
DESCRIPTION: Not really a weapon as such, auto-pilot lets the PlayStation's CPU
take control of your craft for about five seconds. It's useful most of the
time, but it doesn't control the craft as intelligently as a human would: it
picks the shortest route from A to B rather than taking into account possible
obstacles. Quite often it drives right into some mines that an opponent has
dropped. You can press the Discard Weapon button to terminate autopilot and
return to manual control at any time, and it is advisable to do so if you hear
the Japanese lady say "warning" so you can dodge any attacks about to be
launched at you. You also cannot fire any weapons when the autopilot is
engaged, but you can pick one up.
DODGING: In 1-player mode, you are the only craft who can pick this item up. As
it's not really a weapon, you don't need to worry if your opponent in 2-player
mode picks one up.
CLOAK
ABBREVIATION: ck
SYMBOL: a square with a dot in its centre.
DESCRIPTION: Your craft instantly becomes invisible to all opponents.
They can't see you to fire weapons at you, and their missiles can't target you.
Lasts about four seconds. It also has the bonus of making your craft
invulnerable to the Quake Disruptor and to energy depletion caused by running
into walls and other craft. However, your craft can still be hit by passive
attacks such as Mines and Force Walls. You also cannot fire weapons when you
are invisible, but you can still pick one up.
DODGING: In 1-player mode, you are the only craft who can pick this item up. In
a 2-player race an enemy craft using a Cloak will not be visible on your
screen. Sneak a sideways glance at their screen and see if you can work out
where they are by looking at the scenery. Then try and attack them.
ENERGY DRAIN
ABBREVIATION: ed
SYMBOL: a plus and a minus sign side by side.
DESCRIPTION: Pretty darn groovy is what springs to mind. When fired, it locks
on to the nearest craft within its radius of destruction. Shield energy is
sucked out of the opponent craft's reservoir and added to yours. The energy
drain will stop when one of the following happens: the enemy craft runs out of
energy, your craft's energy tanks reach their capacity limit, you overtake the
enemy craft, the enemy craft moves too far away, a time limit is reached or the
enemy craft
activates a Gravity Shield or a Reflector. The Energy Drain is especially
useful in the Eliminator mode, when the pit-lane is deactivated (more about the
pit-lane further down).
DODGING: In 1-player mode, you are the only craft who can pick this item up.
But beware! There's a catch. If the craft whose energy you are half-inching is
wearing a reflector, energy will be sucked out of your craft and added to
theirs! Presumably if this happens you can press the Discard Weapon button to
stop this, because strictly speaking it is your weapon to dump since you fired
it in the first place. Since I've never been in this unfortunate situation I
cannot be certain. If your opponent in 2-player mode picks one up and fires it
at you, activate a Shield. A Reflector will not work if you activate it
mid-attack; you have to already be wearing it when the attack begins for it to
have any effect. If you don't have a Shield, try and get away as fast as you
can. If you are not very far away from your opponent, you might want to try and
slow down so that you fall behind them.
FORCE WALL
ABBREVIATION: fw
SYMBOL: a bent arrow pointing towards a wall.
DESCRIPTION: When fired, a bright orange wall made of lasers materializes,
which you can fly straight through. Your opponents, however, will find that for
them the force wall is like a real wall; they'll crash right into it, depleting
their shield energy and slowing themselves down in the process. A Force Wall
self-destructs soon after someone crashes into it.
DODGING: In 1-player mode, you are the only craft who can pick this item up. In
2-player mode, you can destroy a Force Wall with a Quake Disruptor or a Plasma
Bolt.
GRAVITY SHIELD
ABBREVIATION: gs
SYMBOL: a square with an arrow erupting out from either side of it.
DESCRIPTION: Complete and total invincibility for about four seconds.
Using hyperthrust will still deplete shield energy though. You cannot fire a
weapon when your craft is wearing a shield, but you can still pick one up. A
good time to activate Shield is when you hear the lady say "warning".
DODGING: It's pointless to fire a weapon at a craft wearing a shield,
because it won't hurt them. They can plough straight through mines you've
dropped, and not even the mighty Plasma Bolt can injure them.
MINES
ABBREVIATION: mi
SYMBOL: a row of five dots.
DESCRIPTION: These are Wip3out's only backwards-firing weapon. Press
the Activate Weapon button and about half-a-dozen boxes of boom will spew from
your craft's tailpipes. Any craft that hit one (or more) will be subject to
energy-depleting explosions. Use the L1 (rear view) button to help you see when
and where would be a good place to put them. When dropping mines, try and fly
all the way to the side of the track, then all the way to the other side. In
this way you can try and cover the width of the whole track with your mines (it
takes some practice). If your Proximity Indicator shows that there is a craft
directly behind you, then is a good time to launch mines.
DODGING: Rockets and Quake Disruptors can destroy mines, but note that
in 1-player mode you are the only craft who can pick up a Quake Disruptor, so
your opponents' only means of destroying mines are Rockets. Mines are quite
hard to see, and you don't often notice them
until you've hit one, so be on your guard.
MULTI MISSILES
ABBREVIATION: mm
SYMBOL: two bent arrows.
DESCRIPTION: These weapons come in groups of two, and consequently can
target up to two craft. If only one craft is within the firing zone, then both
Missiles will target it. If there are more, then the Missiles will target the
nearest two. Targeted craft have a white square round them, which indicates
that these are the craft that the Missiles will hit when fired. You must only
fire if you can actually see the targeted craft, not just the white square. If
the craft is behind a wall or
around a sharp corner, then the Missile will just hit the wall. This may sound
obvious, but it was a source of frustration for me until I realised the basic
stupidity of the Missiles' tracking system, in that they aren't clever enough
to fly around corners.
DODGING: Difficult. In WipEout 2097, the warning voice told you which
weapon an opponent was about to use against you. Wip3out's warning
system informs you if an opponent is about to fire at you, but doesn't say
which one it is. As a result it's hard to know what to do when you hear the
warning. By the time the warning sounds, the opponent will have targeted you,
so hyperthrusting away or darting round a sharp corner is the only way you can
avoid having this giant firework hitting your tailpipes. If you have any better
advice, please tell me.
PLASMA BOLT (my absolute favourite powerup!):
ABBREVIATION: pb
SYMBOL: an arrow with four small vapour trails branching off it.
DESCRIPTION: The most lethal weapon Wip3out has to offer. It eliminates
craft upon impact (cue evil laugh). It only fires in a dead straight line, and
takes 1.5ish seconds to power up, making it very tricky to aim. It's best to
fire it if an opponent is very close to you, so you've more chance of getting
it right. Once hit with it, a craft turns black and spins round before
vanishing into thin air, then the commentator lady says "Contender Eliminated".
Very dramatic. It also makes a lovely "tsseeeehrr" noise when powering up.
DODGING: In 1-player mode, you are the only craft who can pick this item up. In
2-player mode, if you hear that "tsseeeehrr" hiss, dodge round a sharp corner
or sway from side to side like a maniac so that your opponent finds it hard to
aim at you. Alternatively you could drop some mines so that the Plasma Bolt
hits those instead of you.
QUAKE DISRUPTOR
ABBREVIATION: qd
SYMBOL: a large arrow with a hump in the middle.
DESCRIPTION: A huge ripple surges ahead of you, lifting the track up and
slamming it back down savagely, like someone wafting a sheet. It causes severe
energy depletion, and affects all craft that you can see on the screen (except
you). Try to use it when you can see several craft on the screen (at least
three is good). If they have low shield energy you might even eliminate them.
DODGING: In 1-player mode you are the only craft who can pick this item up. In
2-player mode, if your opponent has a Quake Disruptor, by the time you know
about it it's usually too late. If you happen to glance sideways at their
screen and notice that they have one, hyperthrust away out of their sight, if
you're not too far away from the end of a race. If you still have a way to go
before the race ends your opponent is bound to catch up with you sooner or
later. If you're quite close to your opponent, try and fall behind them where
the Quake can't get you, and you can then fire at your opponent from behind. If
you have a Shield, Cloak or Reflector handy, you can stay in front of your
opponent and activate it when they launch their Quake.
REFLECTOR
ABBREVIATION: rf
SYMBOL: an arrow pointing away from a wall.
DESCRIPTION: The Reflector sends an attack back toward its original source,
with the exception of passive attacks such as Mines or Force Walls. Active
attacks however, such as Quakes, Plasmas, Missiles and the like, will be
reflected. The Reflector is not a Shield; crashing into things still depletes
your energy, as does hyperthrust. The Reflector is best activated just after
the lady says "warning". The instruction manual says it is best activated just
after an attack, but this is false. You have to already be wearing the
Reflector when the attack happens for it to work.
DODGING: Don't fire at anyone wearing a Reflector! Once I made the fatal
mistake of trying to use a Quake against someone wearing a Reflector; my craft
was hurled into the air, and my energy was depleted to such an extent that a
Missile launched at me a few seconds later finished me off.
ROCKET:
ABBREVIATION: rt
SYMBOL: two straight arrows.
DESCRIPTION: These come in groups of two and fire straight ahead, so it's best
to use them when an enemy craft is fairly close to you. They make a good
deterrent if someone is sneakily trying to overtake you. Drain shield energy
upon impact.
DODGING: Pretty much the same as Plasma Bolts, only you don't have as
much time to get away, because Rockets do not need to power up. They
aren't really that destructive; they slow you down more than they really hurt
you.
OTHER POWER-UPS:
PIT-LANE:
The pit indicator is just to the left of your current weapon indicator. An
arrow will appear in white showing you whether to turn left or right to access
the pit-lane. When in the pit-lane, your craft's energy supplies will be topped
up according to how much time you spend in the pit-lane; i.e. the longer you
spend in there, the more energy you will get. If you're not too pressured for
time, it's a good idea to decelerate in the pit-lane so that the craft slows
down and thus spends more time in there.
Note that the pit-lane is switched off in the Eliminator.
Note that the pit-lane indicator is switched off in the Prototype tracks.
SPEED CHEVRONS:
Blue chevrons (known as speed pads) scattered around the track will give you a
brief speed boost if you fly over them. Speed pads on straight areas of track
will help you to overtake the other guys, but speed pads on corners may make
you more likely to hit the wall and crash. As you become more experienced,
you'll know which pads to hit and which to avoid.
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6) TRACK WALKTHROUGH
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
If a track seems really hard, you can always enter the "game settings" menu and
deactivate the opponents and checkpoints, and then practice on the track by
yourself. You can learn about the circuit, or just play around for fun, without
having to worry about other crates or a ticking timer. You won't win any medals
though.
STARTING TIMES:
i.e. the amount of time with which you start the race
PORTO KORA: A nice easy circuit, but the curves and corners trick you into
thinking you have to slow down when you don't really. They are more gentle than
they look from far away and you should be able to fly through with relative
ease. Most speed pads are on the left, so keep there. Before too long you'll
find a jump with an X symbol above it (not sure what it's for) and two weapon
grids side-by-side on it. Get ready to turn right, as it's a blind jump, then
afterwards there's a tunnel (look on your left as you prepare to enter it and
you'll see a train. Nice touch.). The tunnel slopes downwards, so pull your
crate's nose up to give yourself a smoother ride, then push it back into a
horizontal position when the track does so. Towards the end of the tunnel
there's a fairly sharp right turn which brings you out into the open, then
after the next left turn the pitlane is on your right. The pitlane re-enters
the main track at a rather sharp angle, so be on your guard. That's one circuit
done. I like the birds near the start of the track which fly away when you come
near.
MEGA MALL: In all the other tracks, the finish line is immediately after the
pitlane, but this is an exception. You still have about another 1/8 of the
track left to do when you come out of the pitlane, and it's also the shortest
PL in the game. As if in compensation, it's very easy to get in and out of. As
you begin the race, there's a gentle left turn which then snakes out to the
right. You'll then enter a green metallic tunnel with pits that you must jump
over in it. Keeping your nose down as you fly over them will make it a bit
easier. After the first pit, keep to the right to make the most of the speed
pads. After the checkpoint comes a downward corkscrew section, which is a
pretty amazing feature. The other craft keep towards the middle and the left
here, so as to take it easy, but you can overtake them easily by keeping to the
right. Swerve to the right just after the checkpoint. You can perform this
manoeuvere earlier or later depending on how fast or slow you are going.
Decelerate briefly as you pick up speed or it'll be hard to steer. The pitlane
is soon after the corkscrew, then a few easy turns bring you within sight of
the finish.
SAMPA RUN: This one has a nasty first corner, so don't build up too big a head
of speed as you approach it. Give yourself a _little_ boost of hyperthrust by
all means if you're feeling brave, but it's a long way to the pitlane, so be
careful. Right after the horrid corner is a steep ramp, which slopes blindly to
the left into a tunnel. Note the ultraviolet lights in the tunnel which make
the blue bits of your ship glow. Feisar looks especially good. After the tunnel
come two or three little jumps, then two more tunnels, the second of which also
slopes upward. Hug the right wall to get the speed pad and the weapon grid,
then move to the left and hug that wall to get the other two. Then the track
slopes down and sharply to the right. After the next left turn the track splits
in two. Pick a route. The left route is a shortcut, which slopes up and then
sharply down and gently to the right. Don't go too fast or too high at the
crest of the hill or you'll hit the scenery. The right route slows you down
because of a left turn, but it's easier to pick up a weapon because you can see
the grids clearly, unlike the short left route which hides the grids with its
slope. Shortly afterwards there's yet _another_ tunnel, which curves fairly
sharply to the right and then there's the pitlane on your left.
STANZA INTER: I'm not sure what the name of this track is supposed to mean; a
stanza is a recurring group of lines in a poem, and inter as a transitive verb
means to bury. So it could mean 'poetic burial' or 'the burying of poetry'
meaning to sacrifice art for science. I really don't know; maybe it's Latin.
This one has a beastly first corner like Sampa Run, except this one is way
sharper and goes to the left. If you're good you can hit the weapon grid. An
almost-as-nasty corner, this time to the right, awaits you, then another (more
of a hard curve than a corner) to the left. Now the track splits in two. Left
is usually easier. It lets you pick up a good head of speed, and the pads and
grids are easier to hit. Its big drawback, however, is that it's so straight
dodging attacks is almost impossible. On the other hand, this could be to your
advantage, as your opponents will find it hard to dodge any attacks you make.
The other route snakes from side to side, rendering you unable to pick up speed
and the pads and grids are hard to hit, but it has corners to hide behind if
someone tries to attack you, and it joins the main track much more gently. A
tunnel curving to the left awaits, then a short stretch out in the open brings
you to another tunnel, this one also curving left. A slight slope going to the
left slows you down as you exit (nice train overhead here), then a curve to the
right soon brings you to the pitlane on your left.
HI-FUMII: Unlock by getting a gold medal in each of the first four tracks. This
industrial track is fairly short (about as short as Mega Mall) but it seems
long because it's so tricky. Turn right at the first curve, then hug the left
wall to pick up the weapon grid at the mouth of the tunnel. The tunnel also
curves right, then you should be prepared to turn left (interesting roofy bit
above your head here). Two gentle curves lie ahead; first left, then right,
which you can whizz through easily. Ahead is a wussy poster (not a patch on the
Red Bull advertisements in 2097) with a silly mascot saying "safety first". As
soon as you see it, _hug the left wall._ There's a 90 degree corner here, so
keep hugging the wall and hit the right airbrake. It takes some practice; press
it for too long and you'll slew round 180 degrees, too little and you'll crash
into the wall below the poster. If you've got an autopilot, use it here. If
you're not feeling daring, press both airbrakes and move slowly round the bend.
You'll slow down, but not as much as you would if you crashed. The track curves
gently left, then there's a horrid tunnel ahead. It's too narrow for
overtaking, and if you have a Force Wall or Mines, drop it here as there's no
way the other craft can avoid it. Keep to the left as this is the direction the
tunnel goes at first, but as it evens out stay in the middle. When you're out
in the open, there's a gentle left curve, then ahead is a jump. If you want to
visit the pitlane, steer left in mid-jump or it'll be difficult to enter, but
not too far left or you'll hit the scenery. If your energy's fine, you can just
go straight ahead with no problems.
P-MAR PROJECT: Unlock by getting two gold medals in Hi-Fumii. This is a
gorgeous circuit; even more beautiful than Mega Mall. It's an outdoor track
with greenery contrasting with pastel-coloured concrete. There's even blossom
falling from the cherry trees. Now that I've finished gushing about how nice it
looks I'll tell you how to drive through it. There are three or four gentle
bends alternating left and right, then a tunnel. Before the tunnel, the outer
edge of the track slopes upwards, producing a thrilling increase in speed as
you turn right. The tunnel in question curves left, then be ready for another
left turn as you come out into the open. A series of cute little jumps follow,
then a few fairly gentle curves bring you to a glassy tunnel which curves
right, and again the outer edge slopes upwards. Then there's a massive, and I
mean _massive_, jump. Nice hot air balloons here. Be careful as you touch down,
as there's a hard left which Goteki, Qirex and Icaras won't like. A hard right
brings you into a tunnel, which curves left, presenting the pitlane, also on
your left.
MANORTOP: Unlock by getting three gold medals in P-Mar Project. This track
doesn't need much explaining, as it's pretty repetitive, but that doesn't mean
it's boring or unexciting. What I mean is that the techniques used to beat the
track are virtually the same all the way through. The circuit is full of 90
degree turns, which require the airbrake. Don't think that you should use the
same technique you used in Hi-Fumii, though. Short, quick taps of the airbrake
are what you need; believe it or not, one tap is enough to get you round one of
these bends. That's basically all you need to know, as you can see the bends
clearly from a distance because they sport prominent chevrons. Towards the end
is a biggish jump, which leads you to a tunnel, which curves hard to the right,
then another almost-90-degree turn brings you towards the finish. Pitlane's on
the right. Sorted.
TERMINAL: Unlock by getting four gold medals in Manortop. This track is really
short, but has a dark and fierce beauty. An upward-sloping bend curving to the
left awaits you as you begin this race. Keep left to get all the pads and
grids. This is then compensated by straightness for a bit. Then a right brings
a downwards-sloping tunnel with sharpish turns, presenting problems for
novices, then once out in the open it turns a hard right. A series of easyish
curves and straight bits takes you to and then through a tunnel, and in the
distance, the pitlane appears on the right, very easy to see as a bright blue
highlight.
S101/NP62: Unlock by getting all 64 gold medals in Vector. This track is so
easy it's barely worth writing a walkthrough for. If you unlocked this track
the proper way and not with a cheat, you must have enough experience not to
find this track a problem. The curves are all gentle, and even the big jump
won't faze the average player. Bear in mind that the pitlane indicator is
deactivated in the prototype tracks, so you might have trouble spotting the
pitlane. Just look out for the "Let's be friends!" posters on your left, and
that's where the pitlane is.
S102/MG71: Unlock by getting all 64 gold medals in Venom. A gentle right and
then a left start this track off, then a tunnel follows. The tunnel goes
upwards and slightly to the left, then straightens out and narrows slightly,
but still moving upward. Next is a gentle right, which helps to hide the next
bit of track, as does the crest of the hill you just climbed. Gradually the
track moves downhill, and when it does look out for a series of tiny bends.
From a distance they look like bends, that is, but they are so gentle you can
stay in the centre of the track and not have to worry at all. A slightly less
gentle left turn uphill awaits. Here the outer edge slopes upwards like it did
in P-Mar Project. Some gentle bends, which go slightly uphill, bring you to a
big jump, almost as big as the one in P-Mar Project. A gentle left then hides a
harder right which catches you unawares. The last few turns are easy, but
there's a rather hard left just before the pitlane. The pitlane itself is on
the right and very easy to see, but there's a slightly hard right needed to
rejoin the main track.
S103/AW72: Unlock by getting all 64 gold medals in Rapier. There are a limited
number of analogies in the universe, but this one describes this track very
well: if the Wip3out prototype tracks were animals, this one would be a rabbit
with steel teeth; i.e. very pretty to look at, with a deadly hidden bite. It is
an attractive track, and I think it's a shame that it wasn't one of the 8 final
tracks made for the game, as it's very challenging.
Anyway, it starts off with a straight run, but an easy-to-navigate left turn
changes that, then it very quickly becomes straight again. A right turn
follows, which seems fairly tame from a distance, but needs you to be on your
guard. A medium jump is next, but be careful when landing as there's a hard
U-turn to the right. Difficult. A cute little jump leads you into a hexagonal
tunnel (a nice feature not anywhere else in the game). Slow down in here as
it's quite easy to build up a head of speed. A hardish left and right follow,
then a straight run appears, with arches overhead that make you think you're
going faster than you really are. Some bends follow, which require little more
than nudges of the steering buttons to get you through them. A gentle right
turn is next, hiding a hard left one. Another hexagonal tunnel follows. The
next few bits are easy, but watch out in the next hexagonal tunnel. The tunnel
itself is easy to navigate, but a jump follows, and if you don't move
immediately to the right you'll never make the pitlane.
S104/AW73: Unlock by getting all 64 gold medals in Phantom. After the hardness
of S103/AW72, I expected this one to be seriously tough. How very disappointing
it is. After all that effort unlocking it, it's very easy. Your skills will
only be remotely taxed, and all the little techniques you've learned throughout
the course of the game in navigating sharp corners will not be needed here. The
corners and curves are all marked by chevrons and are easy to see, and the ones
that aren't are very tame. The only thing barely worth mentioning is that the
right turn before the pitlane is slightly harder than all the other bends in
this track. What an anticlimax.
Here are the audio tracks in the order that they appear when you scroll between
them in the "audio settings" menu. You can also put the Wip3out CD in a
conventional audio CD player and hear the tracks that way too. Track 1,
however, contains the game data so you won't hear anything if you try and play
track 1 in a CD player. Skip it and Track 2 will be "Feisar" by Sasha, and so
on.
SASHA: Feisar
UNDERWORLD: Kittens
SASHA: Icaras
ORBITAL: Know Where To Run
SASHA: Auricom
MKL: Surrender
PROPELLORHEADS: Lethal Cut
SASHA: Goteki 45
THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS: Under The Influence
SASHA: Piranha
MKL: Control
PAUL VAN DYK: Avenue
SASHA: Xpander
http://www.musicfanclubs.org/chemical/chem.htm is the official Chem Bros site.
The Ultimate Band List (http://www.ubl.com) has more info if you want it. It
has information on just about every artist on Earth!
Enter these names in the "default names" option in the "game settings" menu.
Alternatively type them in when you beat a race or lap record and the game asks
for your name.
-AVINIT: Unlock all ships
-BEBEDEE: Change the colour of the speed pads from blue to white
-BUNTY: Unlock all tournaments
-CANER(space)W: Unlock all prototypes
-DEPUTY: Unlimited random weapons
-GEORDIE: Invincibility
-JAZZNAZZ: Unlock Phantom (I've come across many versions of this cheat,
including JAZNAZ, JAZNAZZ and JAZZNAZ, each one claiming to be the correct one.
If one of them doesn't work, try another version until you find one that does.
Or maybe they all work. If you know please write as I can't be bothered to find
out myself)
-LINK: Enable 4-player mode (link cable or multi-tap req'd)
-MOONFACE: Unlimited Hyperthrust
-NOWHEELS: WipEout 1-style collisions
-THEHAIR: Unlock all challenges
-WIZZPIG: Unlock all tracks (excluding prototypes)
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9) CREDITS AND ADDITIONAL INFO
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Credit goes to:
ME: for the time and patience.
PSYGNOSIS, STUDIO LIVERPOOL, CURLY MONSTERS, THE DESIGNERS REPUBLIC, GOOD
TECHNOLOGY and any other companies involved in the WipEout series, for
producing such a great game series.
MY BROTHER: Tom, who first introduced me to WipEout 2097.
MY PARENTS: who bought me Wip3out. Thanks go to my dad for letting me use his
PlayStation and to my mum who bought the PlayStation in the first place.
XTRA SUPA DOPE THANX: To all those who have contributed to the writing of this
FAQ. This list will expand in the future, and anyone who sends in contributions
or ideas for improvements to my FAQ can expect to see their name here.
Graham Fredrick: for the extra tips, which I put on the third update.
Christian Wirth: for the power-up info, and the ASCII art modifications, which
I placed on the fourth update.
GOOD WEBSITES:
http://www.kleber.net/wipeout3 is the new location of the Wip3out official
site.
http://www.wipeoutfusion.com is the official site for WipEout Fusion.
http://pub55.ezboard.com/bwipeoutforums is a discussion board I've created for
nattering about all things WipEout. So go and have a look. There is also a
separate forum there for discussing non-WipEout related things, if you feel
like it. You have to register with Ezboard to post a message, but it is FREE
and the account will work with any other discussion board in the Ezboard range.
http://www.wipeoutzone.com is a tribute site created by dedicated webmaster
Infoxicated. The site has been commended by Sony themselves!
Rock on, gamers everywhere, because that's basically it.
