WipEout 2048 - WipEout Complete Game Pack DLC

WipEout 2048 is currently the premier racer on Vita, nabbing an impressive Silver Award when it was released at launch. It was a bold new vision for the futuristic fictional motorsport, with loads of tracks, gorgeous design, and racing that was among the most thrilling to be found on any portable.

Now Studio Liverpool is offering another 24 standard tracks and four Zone Mode courses, plus additional craft, two full-length campaigns, and access to an expanded Cross-Play experience. All for less than a tenner.

Though this content is new to Vita owners, the tracks have all been seen before on the PlayStation 3 as part of WipEout HD and its expansion WipEout HD Fury. And, actually, the majority of them were re-imaginings of tracks from WipEout Pure and Pulse anyway.

However, it's also worth bearing in mind that the course designs in WipEout 2048 and the PlayStation 3 outings are markedly different in focus. These HD and Fury tracks are notably tighter than the contingent from 2048.

Consequently, the racing is busier, wilder, and (especially on the Fury tracks) a lot more violent. The difficulty appears to be tweaked more towards the hardcore WipEout crowd, with competitors aggressively jostling for position within the pack, and podium places separated by a couple of seconds at most.

To counterbalance this spike in dif all of the leagues are unlocked from the off. If you're finding the earlier, much slower races a bore then you can jump straight into the eye-bleedingly fast upper tiers, returning to mop up the rest later.

New modes further expand on the standard races, time trials and ultra fast Zone Mode of 2048. Detonator for example showcases the increased emphasis on combat, as you whip around tracks at increasing speed shooting stationary targets for high scores.

Zone Battle also places you back on the stylised stark neon Zone Mode courses, but this time you're up against competitors in a battle to increase your speed category beyond theirs, achieving a specific number of Zones before they do.

The Cross-Play mode, in which you can take on PlayStation 3 owners in online multiplayer, now has more tracks than before. It's a welcome addition, but getting into matches is still a little cumbersome.

Not everything from the games on which this DLC is based comes with the download, though. None of the music from HD or HD Fury is included, which is a missed opportunity to refresh 2048's playlist. Likewise, few of the unlockable extras from those titles (such as new HUD skins) are to be found.

Veteran players in particular will revel in the increased challenge and new ways to play, and the wildly different circuit designs will keep those still making their way through the original locked into the multiplayer. If you have any interest in WipEout 2048 then you shouldn't hesitate to pick up this extra content.