Sony has released the intro cinematic for PlayStation Vita racer WipEout 2048. The version of the cinematic they’ve released has commentary from Game Director Graeme Ankers and Art Director Lee Carus that explains their vision for the game’s world.
They explain first in a scene where a classic car drives past a leaf that Studio Liverpool is taking WipEout 2048 back to where it began. The scene is a metaphor for a moment in the life of Dr. Pierre Belmundo, the creator of anti-gravity technology. The classic car is shown again, racing somewhere, and gets a bit of air, which the two explain is another nod to anti-gravity technology. The trailer is made to show how the world of automobile racing turns into the world of WipEout. A shot is shown of a “blueprint” — a vehicle that never made it out — and then transitions to a scene with Formula One racers, showing the Feisar brand from the series on one of the tires of one of the F1 racers.
The next scene shows an intermediate stage of vehicle in the year 2025, with futuristic cars being able to drive up the side of walls because of anti-gravity technology. Then, in 2048, they show the Feisar Speed AG Racer on the starting grid at the birth of the Anti-Gravity Racing Championships in Nova State City. Parts of the city shown in the 2048 still look contemporary while others look more futuristic, with a futuristic WipEout track running through to show that technology is changing. They also note that they feel that the world of WipEout has a vast and richly detailed history, that they’ve only scratched the surface by going back to where it all began with WipEout 2048, and to “watch this space” for possibilities in the future where they could explore the world further.
Wilson Cheng, Product Marketing Manager at SCEA, wrote the following about WipEout 2048‘s world as envisioned by Studio Liverpool:
What’s really interesting about WipEout 2048 and the direction the team at Studio Liverpool took with it, is that it takes place in the not too distant future and serves as a precursor to the events that take place in the original WipEout on PS one. And because of that it differs from WipEout experiences in the past.
Races are now multi-tiered – one minute you’re barreling through the busy streets of Nova State City and the next you’re scrambling for first place up the side of a building. The world in which WipEout 2048 takes place in is grittier than what’s come before it simply because we’re entering into it when the sport is still at a nascent stage.
Teams are finding their feet, sponsorship is there – yet not as rife as it is in later seasons – and there is a lot of money at stake on the part of investors desperate for the sport to succeed and capture the world’s imagination. Not to mention competition from rival sports hankering after audience numbers and, in turn, capital. It’s raw; it’s real (ish) and its WipEout like you’ve never seen it before.
