NIDZUMI+

One of the smaller things to come out of E3 was the announcement of a new downloadable content pack of the critically acclaimed Wipeout HD. While it might not be that 3D version of Wipeout that was shown off at CES earlier in the year, Wipeout Fury definitely has more than enough redeeming factors that warrant this downloadable pack more than necessary.

Hitting this summer, Wipeout Fury will come complete with a full ensemble of tracks and ships. The additional eight tracks doubles the current number creating a total of thirty-two courses if you include the natural reverse variations. Thirteen extra ships are also entering the fray for Fury but it isn’t known whether these tracks and vehicles are brand new or remakes from previous Wipeouts.

Meanwhile the crux of the pack will be the three extra game modes the game will now entail. The first is called Eliminator. Little is known about this mode but from what little details have been launched I can speculate. There isn’t a set number of laps to reach instead a score is your target. How do you score points? Well by using the weaponry of course hence the apt Eliminator name. To be honest you’ve got to be pleased that this isn’t a whoever-is-in-last-place-gets-eliminated kind of mode like you would be forgiven for initially thinking.

The second is a take on my favourite mode from the original called Zone. Zone had you constantly speeding up beyond your control around one of the various tracks. The key here is too survive for as long as possible before you max your vehicle’s damage limitations. Zone Battle is what Fury brings to the table and is exactly what it sounds like, a multiplayer version of Zone albeit with new weapons that place barriers all over the track. Like Zone wasn’t hard already…

Finally and what sounds like the only new mode not to be online is called Detonator. In what follows on from Zone’s visually appealing aesthetic, Detonator is designed to test your shooting. A brand new craft is armed with guns that are then used to destroy the various mines that have been scattered across the track. It appears that Detonator is not only visually similar to Zone but pretty much the same but with mines and guns thrown in for good measure and why not? The original Zone mode was a stand-out part of Wipeout HD and it’s good to see a developer play with a concept that worked so well rather than being scared to change or try anything new.

Wipeout Fury might not be the 3D version you crave but Fury is definitely adding it’s fair share of content to this already superb game. The multiplayer and possibly spilt-screen Zone Battle would have had me straight away but you throw in a bunch of new tracks, great looking modes and more ships into the mix and you have a surefire deal. The pack is expected to drop sometime during the Summer of this year on the Playstation Network.