Gameplay impressions
What do we like?The high quality production that has long been synonymous with the WipEout series hasn’t been compromised in the HD Fury expansion. The sumptuous and crisp visuals, displayed in 1080p, look fantastic as you glide around some of the gloriously detailed psychedelic tracks. Once again, the developer gets it spot on with the soundtrack offering a handful of pumping new tracks that complement the intense speed of the craft superbly. Indeed, it's the perception of speed in the Wipeout franchise that never ceases to amaze us. Rita Linsley, an artist from WipEout HD, sums it up better than we ever could when she says: “At these surreal speeds you become an ‘infinite loop’. A cosmic piece of fractal consciousness in a golden state of flow!” The WipEout series has long indulged us with a trance-like experience that no other racer has been able to capture; and in HD Fury, as you speed furiously around some cleverly designed tracks, the gameplay is as utterly compelling as ever.
The new tracks: The Amphiseum, Talon's Junction, Tech De Ra from Wipeout Pulse, and Modesto Heights from WipEout Pure may all have been lifted from PSP incarnations of the racer, but their HD makeover is warranted with some stunning scenery providing some gloriously psychedelic backdrops to race over both online and offline. Furthermore, the various map designs ensure that there's new challenges to master, if you haven’t already played the PSP versions.
However, it’s really the new game modes that shine and make HD Fury feel like an entirely new game, not just a run-of-the-mill expansion. Each mode is very different to the next and offers a new challenge. Eliminator (taken from Pulse) offers you an impressive arsenal of weapons and is fast, furious, explosive and addictive as you zip around the tracks trying to take out the opposition. Zone Battle is probably the most tactical of the three game modes and particularly enjoyable online. It blends the destruction gameplay of Eliminator with that of the original zone challenges, where you use boost pads to accelerate and throw down barriers to hamper your opponents. Detonator is an entirely new mode that we haven’t seen before in the WipEout franchise and therefore offers a brand new challenge and added replay value as you seek to master its tricky challenge. Armed with a gun and 15 shots you have to take down mines as you zoom around the tracks while your speed increases. It's kind of like an on-rails shooter where you're rewarded for stringing together combos. It's extremely chaotic and a lot of fun as you progress and get more and more mines to deal with.
What don’t we like?
The new ships aren’t actually new; they’re amended versions of original craft with slight variations to their stats. It would have been nice to see some entirely new designs. The same goes for the tracks on offer. Instead of creating some brand new tracks, which could have possibly meant that we would have given HD Fury a 10/10 score, the designer opted to simply (we say "simply" without having any knowledge of how much effort it takes to port such things) enhance tracks into HD from previous PSP incarnations of the series.
The only other issue that we were going to bring up was in-game advertisements, but the problem we had regarding long loading times and intrusive ads has since been solved. "The ad has been removed from WipEout HD and we are investigating the situation to ensure that any in-game advertising does not affect gameplay," said a spokesperson for Sony. Good.
Final Thoughts
WipEout HD Fury is a near perfect expansion to a brilliant franchise, boasting more than enough content to warrant its £7.99 price tag. Furthermore, it's produced and presented with typical WipEout sparkle and style.
Final Score: 9/10
