Wipeout Fusion

Welcome back to "The Zone"
1. Gameplay...YES, YES, YES...the "Zone" is back...bigger and better than ever on PS2. I was worried that a new console might destroy that Wipeout magic, but it is still there!!!

2. Graphics...a few "jaggies", a bit of flicker, and SLIGHT slowdown, but aside from that, STILL the best graphics seen on PS2, with poss exception of GT3. (and yes, I've got Devil May Cry, and Wipeout whips it's butt...)

3. Longterm - Eons!!!! Great options mean you can fully customise the game, into either pure racing, or shoot em up racing / blasting action. And both types are brilliant, but VERY hard, which is a VERY good thing.As a result, truly two games in one.Take my advice, kick off with weapons switched off,and bliss out on the pure zone of racing heaven. Arcade mode is much easier and basic.

4. Sound ...OH MY GOD...wait till you see who are the artists on the soundtrack, not to mention faultless SFX. 10 out of 10.

Bottom line: If you have ever been into Wipeout, this is a no brainer. If not, if you are even slightly into racers, and you already have GT3, this game has got to be your next purchase.

I have waited two years for this game...and it was worth it.
Enjoy!!!!

To start with the track designs for this racer are insanely good, good enough to excel them above the Wipeout prequels to make this game a dominant addition to the popular series. The well designed tracks incorporate just the right amount of twists and turns and loops to make them enthralling yet still 100% playable.

I suppose that without the decent graphics, each track would not seem as appealing to the gamer as they would with them. Scenery looks amazing but at no point does it become a major distraction to your racing. Racing crafts also look good each with a unique appearence allowing you to pick out a particular team during the course of a race.

The game's techno style soundtrack goes well with it's overall futuristic look, even if you do not really like the music you will soon appreciate it's presence and understand why it has been used.

The are more options available in the game menu and aswell as the standard single player and multiplayer options there is the inclusion of a new mode called the zone mode in which you progress through different zones (hence the name) picking up speed as you go a long, all you have to do is stay in as long as you can. It's harder than it sounds and although simplistic has that sense of addictivity that many gamers out there like and enjoy.

Handling of the race crafts has also been improved making it easier to control your racing whilst also allowing you to pick up your own style of technique. Perhaps the greatest improvement however is that of the combat, there are more weapons than before at your grasp including proton cannons, grenades and gravity bombs each allowing you to destroy your opponents, each adding that little more fun to the game as a whole. The inclusion of super weapons makes it even better where cool powerful weapons are made specific to a certain team, you can get such weapons as seismic field where a black hole is released and nitro rockets where your opponents will get frozen! Turbos and shields add more complexity and more things to do when you are in the middle of a race.

The major flaw of the game however is that Wipeout Fusion is not for everyone and if not a fan as such you could get fairly bored fairly quickly. Apart from the occasional slowdown there is not a lot more negativity about this game and I think that everyone should at least give it a try.