Well, I went on about this game so much in my time here, I thought I\'d come back to tell you all what I think of it
I wrote a big opinion post at another forums, I\'ll copy and paste what I wrote here, but firstly to address what racer said. You\'ll see in the thing I wrote that the main thing I noticed about this game was it\'s feel. My favourite of all the 3 games (4 if you wanna include WO3:SE) was 2097 without a doubt, just because of it\'s general design, the look and feel. The tracks were showered with cool logos and designs, awesome flashing lights etc. which gave it\'s futuristic feel, even the crafts had incredibly well detailed designs and all that was done by the Designers Republic
This is the first game in the series that the designers republic HAVEN\'T done, and you can tell. The games feel isn\'t what it used to be, but one thing I knew going into the game is to expect that. I knew it wasn\'t going to be 2097, so my opinions come from a diehard wipeout fan who WASN"T expecting another 2097
anyways here\'s what i wrote cos I can\'t be bothered writing a big spiel again
"Well I now own a copy of wipeout fusion, and have played it for a fair few hours now, and already have drawn some conclusions etc.
The first thing I really noticed about the game was it\'s look. Not the graphics, but the artistic design the game has. If you\'ve played the first three wipeouts, ESPECIALLY the second (WO 2097/WO XL, same game different name), you\'ll know that one thing the wipeout series is famous for is it\'s style. The track design was part of the development process by psygnosis, but the artistic direction was done by a separate team, The Designers Republic. The old tracks were just SHOWERED with cool designs, neon signs, awesome logos, and just an all round awesome sense of futuristic ambience, without which the games just wouldn\'t have been the same
Well unfortunately, the designers republic don\'t do wipeout games anymore, and this is the first in the series without them.... and it shows. The tracks are INCREDIBLY well designed, with fantastic detail, but the logos, the lights, the designs, are no longer, which takes away the traditional wipeout feel, something I expected but had a hard time adjusting to
but actually onto the gameplay. A few wipeout conventions of old are gone now, the most notable being different speed classes. In the days of old, you could select from three classes, with a 4th final hidden class, each one being faster than the previous
now, it\'s all one class, it\'s just a matter of craft speed, and the pilots of the craft who can get different max speeds for their craft. Each team now has two pilots, a leader and a secondry. The secondry pilots are available from the start, and do not have the skill of the lead pilots in all stat fields. But the lead pilots aren\'t the only things you need to unlock
just about everything in this game is locked from the start, you\'ll have to unlock courses, crafts, and even some weapons. Each course now has three different versions, all VERY different from each other in design, and each one can be done in reverse
A new addition to gameplay now is super weapons. Each team has a super weapon that needs to be unlocked, which can be gotten by flying over regular weapon pads like normal, once they\'re unlocked, and they\'re pretty devastating, though not as practical as they sound
as far as computer racing is concerned, the challenge has gone up considerably. Now, computer opponents can use ALL weapons you can (except perhaps super weapons, not sure about that yet), and they are NOT shy about using them. In fact, they probably use them too much, every time you race it\'s really a challenge from start to finish, because you\'re under a never ending barrage of fire. The computer now also fights as viciously among themselves, so tactics and getting through dog fights is now a big part of the game. On the minus side of this too however, players can EASILY get frustrated when they\'re about to win and get slawed inches from the finishing line
By far the best part of this game is the graphics, running at a constant, smooth 60 fps, it rarely stutters, and provides a feel never felt in the previous games. The terrain is now far more diverse, racing over water, dust (with effects almost identical to GT3 rally), ice, etc. and each terrain has an effect on the handling. The tracks now are also a lot wider, which leaves room for easier overtaking, more speed, but most prominently, HUGE multi craft pileups when there\'s a fight going on.
Overall, it\'s a challenging game, but challenging in different ways. Whereas in the old games the challenge was navigating the courses at immense speed, the new challenge lies in avoiding the enemy at a somewhat diminished speed, the courses don\'t present near the challenge they used to.
Though it doesn\'t have that wipeout feel anymore, it IS a good title, and recommended to anyone who enjoys the wipeout series. To anyone who isn\'t die hard on the series, consideration should be given. And if you didn\'t like them then, you most certainly won\'t like them now"