There’s nothing like a good gaming reveal party, and the Wipeout Omega Collection soundtrack stream was nothing like a good gaming reveal party. Okay, that might be a bit harsh, but whilst the people awkwardly dancing to electronic tunes were having a good time on stream, the online viewers had somewhat mixed experiences. To start with, there were the people tuning in to the stream expecting to see a ton of gameplay rather than a bunch of people bobbing around to music and an over-enthusiastic DJ spinning tunes – this wasn’t really billed as a gameplay reveal and the tweet announcing the stream mentioned that it was a broadcast designed to showcase the music, rather than the gameplay. This would all be okay, but the more the stream went on, the more viewers began to suspect that something was amiss –that surely the Wipeout Omega Collection soundtrack couldn’t have this many tunes in it for the game’s release. Sure enough, on the same day there was a post on the US PlayStation Blog showing what would actually be in the soundtrack for the final game – 28 tracks from Airwolf, Boys Noize, Swedish House Mafia and more… but crucially there were a few glaring omissions. The 28 tracks on the blog post show no sign of Firestarter, no Loops of Fury, no We Have Explosive, no Papua New Guinea mix… I could go on. This was a bit confusing when some of the classic tracks were played in the stream mix but aren’t on this track list. If the streamed event had no intention of showcasing the Wipeout Omega Collection soundtrack, this would be a fair misunderstanding, but the tweet from PlayStation Europe that provided a link to the stream opened with “Want to hear the #WipeoutPS4 soundtrack first?…”
Worse still, there were one or two technical hiccups during the stream itself – in particular a moment where the audio feed cut out for the people watching online, turning the event into the weirdest silent disco seen in some time (spare a thought for the unfortunates who fiddled with their audio levels and suffered for it when the audio came back louder than expected.) During the silence me and a few other viewers wondered if John Cage’s 4’33” would make it into the Wipeout Omega Collection soundtrack, but the official listing on the PlayStation Blog disproved that theory.
All is not lost, however – if you’re looking for a killer Wipeout Omega Collection soundtrack to suit your anti-gravity racing needs, there’s no harm in doing your own thing if you’re not satisfied with the selection on offer in the final game. I already know of at least one colleague who has taken to Spotify in order to create their own personalised list of Wipeout-friendly tunes, and I might end up doing the same if I find myself pining for certain tracks that aren’t in the final song selection. Whilst I was a fan of dance music before being introduced to fifth-gen gaming, Wipeout was a catalyst that helped me discover ever more impressive beats and bleeps. I was already looking forward to the game after the PSX reveal, and I’ll still try the intended Wipeout Omega Collection soundtrack to begin with (despite those omissions, the included tunes may still fit well with the gameplay) but once I tire of those 28 tracks I know I’ll have plenty of other material to help the flow of adrenaline as I slam into corners and scrape along edges with all the grace of an AG shopping trolley. If you have any favourites that you listened to when playing classic games in the Wipeout series, why not leave a comment below?
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