Mini-Review: Wipeout HD

I've played enough of Wipeout over the last week to finally feel like I know the game well enough to write a pros/cons mini-review about it. [Side note: In fact, I think I'll stick to smaller, more concise reviews of games - I tend to ramble on and on and on if I write full, detailed reviews, and I'd really like to stay away from that. Although, if anyone wants to know what I feel about something more in-depth, just comment and ask. I may include some closing remarks after the pro/con lists, though.] So, here it is, the pros and cons of Wipeout HD, in my opinion.

Pros:
- Incredibly crisp, clean visuals, full 1080p (most of the time) and constant high frame rate.
- Two-player split-screen!
- The soundtrack is kickin'! Ability to play custom soundtracks (read: any music you have on your PS3).
- Performs well in online multi-player races.
- Wide variety of unlockables and trophies.

Cons:
- Track variation is lacking.
- Steep difficulty curve, especially if this is your first Wipeout experience.
- Some events early on are a bit too unforgiving (this goes along with the steep difficulty curve).

Let's talk about about my main gripe for a minute - the difficulty. When I have to run a track absolutely 100% perfect to make the gold medal time (in the time trial events mostly), things are too difficult. The game loses its fun when you have to memorize exactly where each speed boost is, when to use your free speed boost item and how to turn each corner perfectly to shave off every last hundredth of a second you can. Things really should not be this unforgiving, especially in the earliest events (I ran one speed lap race at least half a dozen times just to get gold - speed lap races give you several laps to reach gold medal time - and that was in the first racing event).

All-in-all a great game and definitely worth the $20, if you don't mind some rather insane difficulty at times.