WipEout Fusion PS2

When the PS one first arrived in Europe at the tail end of 1994, there was one launch game in particular that grabbed the gaming world's attention - a superfast futuristic racer called Wipeout. It was a graphical tour-de-force which pushed the fledgling PS one hardware far further than any other launch title had managed, and also pioneered the use of established dance music acts on it's massively influential soundtrack. Eight years on, WipEout Fusion marks the first appearance for the venerable series on the PlayStation 2, exploiting the next-generation hardware just as it's predecessor did all those years ago.

As you'd expect, the latest WipEout game expands on the areas that made the PS one games so successful. This means plenty of exotic tracks, more vehicles and weapons, sexy graphics running at incredible speeds, and a soundtrack crammed with big names from the dancefloors, providing the perfect accompaniment to the techno-racing action.

Veterans of the series will soon feel at home with the racing action, although the tweaked controls and vast array of new weapons will take a little time to get used to. WipEout virgins, on the other hand, will need some time to get to grips with the unique handling of the anti-grav craft, which can feel a little like piloting a blind hippo in the hands of a novice. Once mastered, however, the controls become second nature, and you'll soon be skating from one side of the track to the other with confidence.

The tracks themselves are far more detailed and varied than in previous versions, with loop-the-loops; large, open plan sections for you to find your way through; gravity switchers (which flip your craft upside down); and a variety of obstacles to avoid. There are seven different areas, each with three different available routes, making for 21 different courses to race on.

It's not just about racing though - in challenge mode, your objectives range from setting fastest lap times to 'eliminating' a set number of competitors. Complete the challenges and lovely new stuff is unlocked, including an impressive variety of new weapons and 'super-weapons', one shot wonders that are (usually) hard to aim, but absolutely lethal if they connect. By the time most of the challenges have been completed, the courses are loaded with a terrifying arsenal of unlocked one-shot kill weapons, and the end result is almost always non-stop carnage.

Although not exactly pulsing with innovative features, WipEout Fusion is a great update of the legendary racing franchise. It's frantic to play and beautiful to look at, with a huge variety of races and challenges to beat, all set to the now-obligatory soundtrack of classic techno crowdpleasers. What's more, the additional power of PlayStation2 has also enabled a number of more subtle changes to the gameplay - for example, computer controlled craft no longer follow set racing lines but race according to their own personalities and characteristics. Add a nifty two player option, complete with it's own multiplayer-only weapons, and you've got a thoroughly 21st century racer that does justice to the WipEout legacy.

* Classic WipEout racing action, coupled with PlayStation 2 visuals

* 21 courses, and a wide variety of teams, characters, and weapons

* Soundtrack featuring Orbital, FSOL, Timo Maas, and many more

Last updated on 10 December 2007