WipEout HD Fury Review

---WARNING, PLEASE READ---
For those of you that don't know, WipEout HD Fury is an expansions pack to WipEout HD, this means that you cannot use this pack without first buying WipEout HD on the store, anyways, on with the review...
Also, this review is pretty long, if you don't have the time, read the Summary section at the bottom of this post.

---WARNING, PLEASE READ---

Gameplay
As an expansion pack, the amount of gameplay added onto the original game is truly massive. The pack includes a brand new campaign with 80 new cells (the original campaign had 87) which also features all 3 of the new modes (Eliminator, Detonator and Zone Battle - all discussed below - ) as well as all of the old events like Single Races and Speed Laps. This new campaign will probably take you about 15 or so hours to complete, and will provide a much more challenging, strategic and varied game than the original, however once you've finished this great new campaign you can take yourself online to pit your wits against other players in Eliminator or Zone Battle, which will add yet more hours of fun. Not only that, the pack includes revamped versions of all 10 team ships, each with stat improvements over the original versions; all of which can be played on the 12 new tracks (4 Forward, 4 Reverse, and 4 Zone Exclusive). There is only one downfall in this pack which I can see at the moment, and that is the glitches. The new pack can cause the game to crash every so often, as well as cause framerate drops whilst in events (which can be extremely frustrating) but overlooking that the pack is perfect.

Right, on to the new modes. Eliminator is a brand new game mode centred around weapons, you must pick up weapons and fire them at your opponents, when you hit opponents you get points, and the first player to ascertain the target number of points wins. Simple, right? Add the new option to flip your ship to bring the fight to your opponents, as well as eliminations which substansially increase your points, and you get a fun, challenging new game mode which will keep you entertained for hours.

Detonator is another great new game type. Think of Zone mode, then add mines to the track and guns to your ship. your job is to survive as long as you can (up to 14 stages) by shooting the mines that obstruct your paths with you cannons. You have an EMP which can clear a portion of the track (for when you get into really tight spots) however you have to charge the EMP up by driving over pads. Like I said, another interesting mode with the potential to last for hours. Remember though, Detonator mode is Single-Player ONLY... no online for you here.

And last but not least, Zone Battle. Like before, think of Zone, then add up to 7 other players which you have to fight to reach the goal. At the beginning a target zone is set, the first person to reach the target zone wins. Additionally, you have the Zone Bar, this bar is charged up whenever you drive over a Zone pad. Once you charge it up, you can choose whether to absorb this zone energy to increase your ships energy and shield yourself from obstacles for a small period of time; or you can use it to boost your zone to a higher level (thus making you reach your goal quicker). If you choose to boost your zone, you leave behind a zone barrier, which if you crash into, will deplete your zone bar as well as your overall zone.

Sound
The new expansion includes 6 new music tracks which were described as much more moody by Studio Liverpool, and right they were. These new tracks really fit the entirely new game atmosphere you are playing in, and really make you more immersed in the experience.
As always, the sound effects are top notch, new voiceovers have been added to compliment the game modes, and the weapon effects sound just as good as before, no faults here!!!

Graphics
Yes, you are still running in 1080p Fulll HD at 60fps. The framerate does not falter with the massive amounts of action in Eliminator or in the high speeds of Detonator. However at times, the framerate appears to drop for no apparent reason and can make you lose an event which you were otherwise going to win. Yes, it is frustrating, but it happens rarely and will hopefully be patched in the future.

The menu themes have been revamped from the minimalistic white and blue, to the evil black and red. This new theme really fits in with Fury and makes the game look so much cooler, the ships look much more graphically detailed and emit a red trails rather than blue. The HUD has also been revamped in the new modes to accomodate the new features, it does a really good job and is just as easy to read as the original HUD.

Longevity
Like I said before, this pack will add at the very least 15 hours of gameplay to the already massive game, many players will spend even more time mastering the new tracks and beating their friends online.

The trophies are reasonably easy (considering this is WipEout HD we're talking about) all of which are bronze, therefore they should only give a few problems to less experienced players. The Fury expansion makes some of the original trophies easier, namely AG Assassin (eliminate 50 online opponents) which is easily achieved with the help of Eliminator online; and Livery Liberation (unlock all liveries in the game) and wipEout Disciple (obtain 100,000 loyalty points for any team) both of which are made easier by Detonator, which gives you a large amount of points (1000-2500) for only a short playtime.

Conclusion
Like the subject suggests, this is how all game DLC should be. A truly massive expansion which will keep you entertained for hours, it makes the game more varied as well as more challenging and action packed. The game falters slightly with framerate issues, screen tearing and crashes, but these don't ruin the whole experience for you and will probably be fixed in the near future by Studio Liverpool. A must buy if you haven't already gotten WipEout HD (which is also a must buy)

97/100

Summary
This is basically a section for readers who can't be bothered to read that long review I just wrote, so here is the review summarised...

The Good
- A massive expansion which will add at least 15 hours of gameplay to the original game
- Brand new game modes make for a more action packed and strategic game, as well as a more varied one.
- New trophies increase the playtime of this game still, whilst the pack also helps with some of the older trophies
- Fury still maintains highly detailed environments, smooth racing and above all, the great fun that the original game brought to you.
- All this for a meager £7.99, a bargain!

The Bad
- Some minor in-game issues such as framerate drops and screen tearing can interrupt the experience slightly, but it won't ruin the game for you and will probably be patched.

Written by: rymanb