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Take a rectangular box. Modify it to specific parameters - make it hover, and then fly through the air using an anti-gravity device. Then race as fast as you can. Sounds like a simple thing to come up with, right? Well with WipEout Fusion, that's basically all there is to it. It's simple, elegant, and above all, fun, which is very important in a racing game, or any game for that matter.
Let me elaborate further for you. Set a couple of centuries into the future, you'll find that things have changed somewhat. When you load up a game, and start on the long road to victory, you are given a ship, which floats by crazy, futuristic, unknown methods, and designed in different ways from ship to ship. Some are sleek, some are strong, but all have their merits. Also, all ships have set shield strength - once you pass that, the ship explodes, and you're out of the race. This is good when it happens to your competitors, but terrible when it happens to you. To help with this, there are pads on the track, which give you certain offensive weapons or helpful defensive upgrades to help you either stay in the race or eject someone from it.
At this point, I would guess you are thinking "Is this it?" Well, I have to say that, yes, it is. And, this isn't as much of a disappointment as you might think.
First off, the gameplay is ridiculously well executed. Controls are responsive, and although they take a little getting used to (finding out that the brakes were assigned to the L2 and R2 buttons instead of the traditional Square button was rather annoying at first), once you're used to them, you'll be using them like a pro. Weapons are easy to use, with either an auto-aim or the slightly more difficult to use "point-your-ship-at-the-other-guy" aiming process.
Of course, the game doesn't start easily. You begin with a basic choice of three relatively poor ships, and the second team drivers. There are eight ships in the game, with a total of 16 drivers to unlock, meaning you'll have a long way to go to unlock everything. Winning and finishing well in races nets you credits, which can be used to power up your ship. This then gives you a chance to gain more credits from races, which means more upgrades, and so on and so forth.
Despite itself, the game can't help but be repetitive (like all racing games) when it comes to upgrading. However, it's so quick and easy to upgrade that you won't find yourself in that process for too long, which will let you return to the gameplay that�s the meat of the game. With seven tracks, six different ways of racing through each track, eight different ships, 16 different drivers, that's more math than I can work out without a calculator. Needless to say, the different combinations available for playing are huge.
Of course, there are many different modes of racing as well, ranging from your basic arcade mode to different leagues (where you race a set number of races and are allocated points on post-race placing, number of eliminations, etc.). A "zone" mode is also available, where you have to get around a certain track as many times as possible without destroying the craft (which gets harder- you have no control over the speed of the ship, and it gets faster all the time). A challenge mode where you complete certain challenges and unlock "super" weapons for that ship, in turn giving you more powerful weapons, rounds out the single-player modes. Finally, there's the obligatory multiplayer mode, which is basically the same as an arcade race with two players. You can even race a full league in two player mode, although this feature is locked to begin with, and must be unlocked.
So with all this gameplay, how does the rest of the game measure up? Should you be a gamer who enjoys graphics, you'll find nothing special here - but nothing that will detract from the game either. The graphics have dated well though - I got this as a release title with my PS2, and the visuals look pretty decent by today's standards. The effects of a craft zooming across a desert and throwing up clouds of dust are particularly satisfying, and the effects of the weaponry on targets are also very impressive. The vehicles themselves look surprisingly different to each other, with different shapes and colors, and each track has a distinctive feel, from an ice/snow track to the aforementioned desert track.
Sound isn't half-bad either. The weapons sound nice when they hit, and make the sounds you'd expect them too (at least the more conventional weapons do), and ships sound fairly nice when racing, even though you, in your un-futuristic mind, wouldn't have any idea how they would usually sound.
You won't find a story anywhere in this game- this is a game for the true racers. And for a game that has to cater to racers, it must look good enough, sound nice, be easy to operate, and above all, play well. And that's where this game delivers in spades. The gameplay is not only done well, but varied enough that you will never get bored. It's simple enough so anyone can use it, at any age, with little to no thought required.
It's one of those games that you can pick up when you want and play it for an hour and feel like you haven't wasted any time, yet still is deep enough for the most hardcore of the hardcore to unlock every single accolade, game mode and ship without it feeling like a chore. And therein lies it's brilliance - it appeals to everyone. Zoom to your local game store and pick this gem of a game up. You will not be disappointed.
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