Game name:Fatal Inertia EX (demo)
Players:1-2 (splitscreen)
Age rating:10+

Review:

Fatal Inertia first saw the light of day on the 360, and now us lucky PS3 owners have our own copy, available as a download on the PSN Store. Being a fan of the WipeOut series, I figured I'd give this one a whirl. Having never read or seen anything about this game, I went in with an open mind, and, although this review is based only on the demo, I must admit I'm fairly impressed.

So, much like WipeOut, its a futuristic racing game with flying cars and weapons. The game utilises the Unreal engine, so the courses and settings you race in should be great looking, yes? Well, the intro sees you obtain the Phoenix racer, a prototype. It looks alright, but nothing special. You head off to the Training Area to test it out, and this is where you'll get a taste of things to come.

The speed of the game leaves a fair bit to be desired. The speedo may read 450kph, but it feels more like 45kph. Having played games like WipeOut and even Star Wars Racer, I know what 450kmh should look like, and it should look like a blur, but there's none of that here. The handling, however, is pretty tooting. Whereas in WipeOut you either took corners perfectly or on fire and in pieces, FI sees you taking them smoothly or, with a dab of the L2 or R2 buttons, powersliding (albeit in mid air) much more sharply.

The weapons are a nice change too. Oh sure, you've got rockets and speed boosts, but if you've ever wanted to fire a tow cable at an opponent, then attach the other end to a big rock and watch what happens, you'll be happy to know that with a bit of skill, you can do this here. Other goodies involve magnets that not only slow you down, but will attract other metallic objects such as other ships, barrels, buildings.... These can be removed by performing the good old barrel roll or by boosting.

But its not all race, race, race. Each race you take part in will have a different "theme".

Melee: Racing as normal, but using a random assortment of weapons to earn your gold.
Velocity: You only get boosting pick-ups here, so use them to the fullest.
Magnet Mayhem: You have unlimited magnets. Unfortunately, so does everyone else....
Knockout: After each lap, last place gets blowed up until there's just one left. Pray that its you.

These all can make for some interesting results, especially in multiplayer modes.

Once you're out of the training ground you hit the career mode. Beginning my first race, I'm told that there's a sandstorm and visibility is low. And by god it was. At first, I figured "they must be trying to hide something here, I hope it ain't poor graphics", and by the second race I was just as unimpressed with the scenery. Things were looking bleak. Until I hit the last race, and saw what I can only describe as the most realistic looking water since.... well, since the last time I looked at water!

The water is realistic enough for you to feel wet. Its a clear blue in the deeps, but fades to a gorgeous pale bluey-green as it reaches the shores. It even laps at the coastline too! Of course, I was going 500kph and sideways, but I could still make out each and every ripple on the surface. The only drawback was the effect my craft was having on it wasn't that impressive, but the water and surrounding scenery made my jaw drop.

If you buy the full version, you'll get an extra 8 tracks, difficulty mode, and a whole new training area exclusive to the PS3 version that wasn't in the 360 version, so you're certainly getting a fair bit for your money. However, I would implore you all to try the demo before you buy it. It plays great, but with so many of the stages having a very minimal look to them, some players may be put off and would rather wait for the next installment of the WipeOut series.

Ratings
Graphics: B
Sounds: B
Gameplay: B
Replayability: B

Overall score: B

There's no one thing that screams "YOU MUST BUY ME!", but theres definately enough to warrant a demo download, and possibly enough for a purchase.

UPDATE: FULL VERSION OBTAINED, EXTRA DETAILS AS FOLLOWS.

So having got the full version, I discovered there's an absolute tonne of unlockables and extras, such as decals, paint schemes, and even the option to build your own ship by changing the various components of your craft.

The full version also has a lot more tracks, and with the exception of the ones based around "The Proving Grounds" (the exclusive PS3 ones), they all look lush, gorgeous, and well-designed.

The ships themselves are also very different, ranging from all-rounders, speed-hungry racers, and the tank-like heavyweights. Each class has distinctive handling differences as you'd expect, and when you use a Titan to slam into a Racer, you really feel smug as they spiral out of control and into a tree.

However, there is no story to the game. Well, its the future, and you're a rookie racer wanting to enter the big time, but you don't have a name, you don't have a physical character you can relate to, you simply have a ship and several courses to race on. While this doesn't detract from the actual racing (which is pretty neat), it does make you wonder exactly WHY you're putting all those hours into playing the game.

Again, this is definately one demo to grab, and only one to buy if you like it.

Might try it, not much of a fan when it comes to racers like this.

In that case, you'll probably enjoy the demo, but not enough to part with the cash.

I love futuristic racers like this. I loved wipeout (apart from the weapon bit) and Xgra (ditto). Not too fond of the Star Wars racer though, maybe cause I was poop at it.

This sounds definately like my sort of thing. If I do get a PS3 (which I very much hope to do) then this will be my first purchase.

It's great that we dont have to leave the house to buy games any more. It's a shame that bigger HDD's are'nt accessable though, but I'm sure they will become more popular as time goes by, and more people need bigger HDD space.

The best thing is, you can upgrade the PS3 HDD like you would a PC's HDD. Smitty is going to be doing it shortly, owning himself a 250Gb PS3 (I think it is).

Also, I wouldn't get this first. Demo maybe, but not purchase. Get Super Stardust HD. Or PAIN. In fact, get both them. Then get the demo for this.

TBH I think I'll undoubtedly purchase the Solid Gear, of the Metal variety.