Wipeout Fusion

"A huge step backward for the series."

Wipeout Fusion is the fourth, and possibly final, installment of one of my favorite modern-day racing series. When I first saw screens of the original game in Game Players magazine, I was floored, and excited about the game. As it turned out, the game was fantastic, barring some small issues with difficulty. The first game began my love for this series, and I've come away pleased with most of them, with the only exception being the N64 installment, which I did not like due to that system's controller not working well for the game. With this game, I expected more of the same exciting racing action that has permeated the series. What I got was something that continues most of the traditions of the series, while taking a couple of them in directions that harm the game immensely.

First up, the decision to make this entry more of a weapons-based affair than previous ones does more harm than good, as it not only takes away from the pure racing ability needed to succeed, but frequently turns races into an explosion-filled mess, making it hard to figure out where you are in relation to both other vehicles and the track itself. This fatal flaw will cause you to lose quite a few positions until you learn to compensate for it by just winging it and hoping that you don't make things worse than they already are.

Secondly, the folks behind the game really mucked up the track designs when compared to previous entries. The first, second, and third entries in the game featured amazing tracks, with lots of unique twists and turns that added to the excitement of the individual game. Here, the tracks feature some twists and turns, but they aren't as implemented as well as before. Plus, they are now in awkward places that don't compliment the new style of gameplay, and tend to do far more harm than good. Seeing the fall from grace in this aspect of the series is quite jarring, and disappointing to me as a long-time fan of the games.

Luckily, the medal-ranking mode helps make up for some of the weaknesses of the game, as it changes parameters from race-to-race and can make the game more fair to the player. In one race, you may see weapons being disabled, and in other, you may see speed boosts disabled. Both of these things will force you to use your true skill to win, and are a much better test of your abilities than any of the other primary game modes.

Luckily, the controls, unlike the gameplay, haven't been screwed around with. The responsive controls that have been a hallmark of the series since day one are here as well. Guiding your ship around, using weapons, and other primary racing controls are easy thanks to the logical layout and well-done controls. Menu controls are great as well, although the font style used for them throughout the series remains hit-or-miss in terms of being able to actually understand what is being written.

Visually, the game is a small leap forward from Wipeout 3, and is certainly not what could have been done with the PS2's power. Part of the problem might be due to the series raising the bar in racing game visuals, but there's no excuse for how poor some stuff in this game looks. The lit tiles showing off the weapons, for example, look better in the original game than they do here. The ships themselves look much the same as they always have, only they are a little smoother in appearance, and lack the rough edges. The surrounding environments here are pretty dull, beyond one or two areas that have some life in them. You could run any of the PSX Wipeouts through the PS2's edge enhancement and get much the same effect visually as you get here, and you'd only be missing out on slightly fancier lighting effects for the backs of the ships. Just horrible.

Fusion's audio is just as under whelming as the visuals. The series once known for having some of the best techno in it is reduced to generic, lifeless techno here. Thankfully, while the music may have taken a drastic turn for the worst, the sound effects haven't. They're as boisterous as ever, and unlike the music, they add life and vigor to the game.

The medal-earning mode in the game adds tons of replay value to the game, as it's the only mode that I can consistently trust to give me a fair, balanced race. The rest of the modes are done well for what they are, but since they use the broken racing mechanics that make up this game, it's nearly impossible for me to derive enjoyment from them for any prolonged length of time.

I came into Wipeout Fusion expecting something that was a little different than the preceding games in the series, with more weapon play. What I got was a game that pretty much relies on the weapons during play, and loses quite a bit of steam due to that. When the game isn't an orgy of fancy lighting effects from the weapons, it can be quite enjoyable. However, since those occurrences are few and far between, the game again loses something. Seeing how little the PS2's hardware was used for this is really disheartening, to the point of almost being insulting to the paying customer. With that said, if you're like me, and have enjoyed the series in the past, pick this game up and maybe you'll like the changes. If you don't, hope for a sequel that does things right. Luckily, this game runs around $10 nowadays, which is a pretty fair price point for a game of this quality.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 05/09/04