Wipeout Fusion

I have been a huge fan of the Wipeout series ever since the days of playing the 2097 demo on my brothers PSOne. When i heard about the release of a PS2 version called Fusion i was straight down the shops and buying. The game did not disappoint. The graphics are fantastic, the control system is top notch, the music is just as funky as always and the weapons are positively evil. The tracks are fairly easy to get to grips with although there are a few which will require some very quick reactions and some luck to win, especially in the AG Leagues. There are many more craft to choose from and whilst the old school are still there, the new ones will take some beating. Each team has two racers to choose from and as you progress you are awarded credits which you can upgrade your ship with. Eventually your ship will change colour and become black, this is where you are amongst the big boys with excessive speed, manoeuvrability, powerful weapons, extra shields and much more.

People put this game down because apparently it is not as appealing as the likes of car racing games such as Gran Turismo, thing is though if you try the Zone challenge on Fusion and put the infinite shields cheat on (this will mean you'll have to exit because the whole point to Zone is too see how far you get before you get destroyed) trust me you'll need the cheat on to get passed level 50. I managed level 48 without cheating but then tried it with the shield cheat and got to level 99 before getting bored. The graphics at such high speeds are superb and the game can actually handle them! I'd be impressed with a PC being able to handle the graphics.

Overall i'd give the game the following:
Game play 9/10
Graphics 10/10
Weapons 9/10
Entertainment 9/10
Value for Money 8/10
Story 7/10

I've given it a low Value for Money rating because basically because it's not a high end game it shouldn't retail for more than 20, but that's me ;)


One for the speed Freaks!   February 3, 2004
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I can remember way back in the 90's when the original Wipeout was released for the Ps1. It was totally ecstatic. It was one of the fastest racing games to reach any home console making that one a classic. Sometime after that They released the awaited 'wipeout 2097' which I think it was called with updated graphics, better game play and more speedy ships and tracks to try out. This was also one of the speed classics, which did manage to live up to the hype. Other games try to copy this but they never even came close to these instalments so many companies just gave up trying to. Then came 'Wipeout Fusion' which was released on the Ps2, which undoubtedly came with more action and more speed as anyone can take. When I started to play this game the start-up scene made the game look eerie and cool if you know what I mean, so I was eager to get a race happening. When selecting the modes I thought the layout was very basic but soon enough that didn't stand in my way. At the start of the game there is a very small limit to what you can pick so moving through to the career mode was essential for anyone with the need for speed. As soon as the commentator said go my mouth shot down. The graphics were top quality work and the amount of polish put into this game was immense. The background wasn't all chunky and controlling the ship was as smooth as silk. I was soon learning how to properly use both the right and left brakes to pull of perfect turns round corners. This game I have to say is definitely another classic and if you stick to the career mode you will see a lot coming out of this game. This might not appeal to all gamers though so all you racing fanatics if you don't have this grab this one as soon as you can.