Wipeout Fusion (stylised as WipEout Fusion) is the fifth installment in the Wipeout series, and the only one to be exclusively released on the PlayStation 2 (Wipeout Pulse for the PlayStation Portable was ported to the system in 2009). It was the first game made after Psygnosis' name change to SCE Studio Liverpool, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe in Europe and BAM! Entertainment in North America.
Gameplay[]
Offical logo of the F9000 Anti-Gravity Racing League
The game introduces the player to the F9000 Anti-Gravity Racing League in the year 2160, four years after its opening in 2156. From that time, Anti-Gravity Racing was given mostly mixed reactions despite getting more violent and extravagant. Tracks are changed somewhat from previous Wipeout games. Each track in Fusion is now a group of three different courses – short, medium and long – that overlap in part but which each use different portions of the track inaccessible in the others. Each of these can be run in forward or reverse mode. Many courses also contain a "trackless" section, generally a wide obstacle-strewn field which offers several paths for pilots, making navigation tricky. Several tracks feature split sections, in which there are multiple paths for players to follow. A few tracks also contain shortcuts, which are hidden behind false walls, or require a turbo boost power-up to successfully enter.
The basic single-race and league modes remain the core of the game, and the splitscreen two-player mode is carried over from Wipeout 3. The single race mode, called Arcade mode, is used to unlock new tracks. When a player wins a gold on a given track, either another course in that same track group, or another group of tracks, is unlocked. AG League mode has had some changes to it from previous Wipeout titles: instead of having league challenges which encompass the entire set of tracks in sequence, there is a progression of leagues, each with a selection of three to seven tracks. The outcome of each race is scored by points, which are awarded for both finish order and eliminations. Total points determine the winner of the league. A win on a given league challenge unlocks the next (more difficult) league, or in some cases, a personal challenge against one of the pilots of a new team. Beating a pilot's challenge unlocks the team for which that pilot flies.
Challenge mode, first introduced in Wipeout 64, has been enhanced in Fusion. Each team has its own set of 6 challenges, selected from race (with or without weapons), time, survival, chase or elimination. Each challenge must be completed with a medal to unlock the next challenge in the sequence, and the final challenge for a team must be unlocked with a gold medal in each of the other challenges. Zone mode makes its first appearance in Fusion, although it is locked until 30% of the game is completed.
Fusion features an increase in the use of weapons; weapon pads are more plentiful, and the AI pilots seem considerably more aggressive with weaponry than any other Wipeout game. As such, eliminations are far more common. New weapons have been added to the game, including the proton cannon, grenades, grav-stinger, flamethrower, and gravity bomb, as well as super weapons. Each team possesses their own super weapon, which becomes available for that team's pilots when the player obtains the team's special super weapon license, awarded by completing their respective specific challenges in the Challenge mode. Some of the weapons have also been modified (the five mines can be dropped individually, instead of in a single-fire sequence), and many weapons which normally fire forward may now be fired backward; in particular, the quake disruptor, a weapon that previously could only be fired forward, may be fired backward.
Another fairly large change from previous Wipeout titles is the addition of ship upgrades. AG League races, in addition to points, also net the player prize credits based on their performance during a race (finishing order), damage to other ships, skill, and time. Better results, as well as number of eliminations performed and even perfect laps will increase the player's prize pool. These credits are used to upgrade the top speed, thrust (acceleration), lateral stability (handling), brake force (airbrakes), weapon power, and shield strength of a single ship, with each upgrade milestone drastically changing the ship model entirely by increments of 25%. The upgraded ship is available in Arcade mode as well, but is only available to the pilot whose ship has been upgraded; the other pilots, even on the same team, must have their ships upgraded separately. Upgraded ships are not used in Challenge mode; each challenge is played with pre-set ship models provided to them.
The in-game branding and menus were designed by Good Technology rather than The Designers Republic, who had worked on all previous titles.
Leagues[]
- Main article: AG League
As outlined, the core AG League mode features a set of ten increasingly difficult leagues, each consisting of three to seven rounds. Completion of leagues also allows the players to try and unlock new teams via special challenges. Once all ten leagues are completed, the custom league feature becomes available.
Tracks[]
Unlike in all previous games, each track takes on a Ridge Racer-esque alternate route, with 3 different courses for each track. Each of these courses can be run forwards or backwards.
Teams[]
Out of the eight teams that appeared in Wipeout 3, only three make a return in Fusion. As per the original Wipeout game, each team is represented by two pilots. Ship upgrading is also introduced, allowing players to modify their ships. The 8 teams included in Fusion, as well as their pilots are as follows:
Weapons[]
Unlike in other games, only a handful of weapons in Wipeout Fusion are available at the beginning. As the player progresses through the game, more weapons become available for use in races. Each team also has a unique Super Weapon, which has to be unlocked by completing the Super Weapon Licence Challenge for the respective team.
Music[]
- Nightmares on Wax - "Bleu My Mind" (Game Menu)
- Amethyst - "Blue Funk"
- Blades & Naughty G - "Beats Defective"
- Bob Brazil - "Big Ten"
- Braniac - "Neuro"
- BT - "SmartBomb (Plump DJs Remix)"
- Cut La Roc - "Bassheads"
- Elite Force - "Krushyn"
- Elite Force & Nick Ryan - "Switchback"
- The Future Sound of London - "Papua New Guinea (Hybrid Mix)"
- Hong Kong Trash - "Down The River (Torrential Rapids Mix)"
- Humanoid - "Stakker Humanoid 2001 (Plump DJs 2001 Retouch)"
- Intuative - "Wav Seeker"
- JDS - "Punk Funk"
- Luke Slater - "Bolt Up"
- MKL - "Synthaesia"
- Orbital - "Funny Break (Plump DJs Remix)"
- Plump DJs - "Big Groovy Funker"*
- Timo Maas - "Old School Vibes"
- Utah Saints - "Sick"**
The intro FMV music was composed by Rik Ede.
*This soundtrack's actual name is "Big Groovy F**ker", but was changed specifically to "Funker" for the game.
**The instrumental version of this soundtrack is used for the game, as the original version contains drug references in its lyrics.
Reviews[]
- Official PlayStation 2 Magazine UK: 9 out of 10 (90%)
- IGN: 9.0 out of 10 (90%)
- GameSpot: 7.3 out of 10 (73%)
- Edge (magazine): 5 out of 10 (50%)
Trivia[]
- During the early stage of development of Fusion, the game was referred to by the working title of WipEout X.
- A pitch bible for a Wipeout animated series, under the working title of Wipeout Chronicles, was also proposed alongside the development of the game, but was never picked up and thus did not materialize.
- A demo of Wipeout Fusion found on OPS2M Demo 14 (SCED-50149) included two songs hidden in its files which were cut from the final soundtrack: Carnival XIII by Breeder, and Gizmo (The Wooden Spoon Mix) by Silken. These were only discovered in 2020.
- This is the first game in the series to:
- Have AI opponents gain access to all weapons appearing in the game. However, weapons not yet unlocked do not appear in races until they're unlocked.
- Feature unique engine sounds for every ship.
- This is the only game in the series to:
- Not feature AG Systems or Qirex as among the playable teams.
- Not have all regular weapons available at the start of the game.
- Feature point-to-point racetracks of any kind.
- Feature tracks with:
- Multiple layouts beyond the reverse variations
- Rollercoaster-like loops and twists without apparent Mag-Strip technology
- Dynamics like bulkhead doors and hazardous surfaces
- Shortcuts that have to be accessed by unconventional means, such as hitting a specific pad, performing a "turbo jump", or weapon fire
- Significant off-road sections
- Pad types other than weapon and speed, such as the gravity flip pads or pads which open alternate routes
- Include in-game economy of any kind, as well as ship upgrading.
- Not feature speed classes of any kind, instead featuring the aforementioned ability to upgrade ships, with ships capable of exceeding 1000km/h, even the speed of sound (approximately 1235km/h).
- Despite such capabilities, no sonic boom effect of any kind is produced, even when the ship is going downhill or being boosted by a turbo.
- Have every event end in a fixed lap count (three laps).
- Include unique designs and features for every ship model, such as armor plating.
- Depict pilots being rescued from their destroyed ship upon elimination, picked up by a rescue shuttle upon ejection (as noted by the auditory cue of "Ejection Process Imminent").
- Have ships self-destruct when lapped, as noted by the auditory cue of "Warning: Lapping Imminent" when one is too far behind and about to be lapped.
- Allow players to score tournament points for destroying opponents, as well as allow every finisher in a tournament race to score tournament points.
- Feature visual damage on the ships; to enable this, the 'Damage Simulator' setting must be turned on in the game's options.
- Visual ship damage can especially be observed on the Zone and Piranha ships.
- Allow players to view opponents' shield energy meters; to enable this, the 'Enemy Energy Bar' setting must be turned on in the game's options.
- Feature graphic design by Good Technology; prior games were designed by The Designers Republic and later games were designed in-house.
- This is the last game in the series to:
- Implement the use of special cheats.
- Feature challenges of any kind.
- Feature pitlanes on each track; every subsequent game, including the prequel game 2048, would feature the absorption mechanic instead.
- Feature weapons exclusive to multiplayer, as well as team-specific super weapons; lore-wise, the latter may be attributed to the Temtesh Bay disaster, which occurs during the 2164 season.
- The game features Kappa, an Italian sportswear brand, as one of the brands on the billboards.
- This game features the largest number of ships on the track at once, consisting of a 16-place grid.
- This and Wipeout (1995) are the only titles in the series to feature racetracks located outside of Earth (not including fantasy or simulated tracks).
- In the games after Fusion, however, there hasn't been a single racetrack located anywhere in the outer space, likely attributed to the controversy that put the F9000 to an end, as well as the budget and logistic problems that make interstellar exploration unlikely.
- This and 2048 are the only games in the series to feature a weapons power statistic for every ship.
- This and Pure are the only titles in the series to feature unlockable concept art.
- There are a total of 100 concept art images in the game, each unlocked by the percentage of completion. Some of these also have hints to certain cheats.
- This and Pure also use a different race-start up sequence from the announcer, with "Ready... GO!!!" instead of "3... 2... 1... GO!!!"
- Some of the special cheats from 2097, such as the "animal ships", return in this game, with FEISAR as a dog, Van-Über as a sheep, G-Tech as a pig, Auricom as an elephant, EG-R as a snail, Tigron as a bull, Xios as a turtle and Piranha resembling what is either a killer whale or a shark. There is also another special cheat which turns the teams' ships into retro warplanes and miniature versions of themselves.
| All Wipeout Games |
|---|
| 1990s: WipEout • 2097/XL • 64 • Wip3out |
| PS2/PSP: Fusion • Pure • Pulse |
| PS3/Vita: HD (Fury) • 2048 |
| PS4: Omega Collection |
| Mobile: Merge |