Fatal Inertia EX – PS3 – Review

The racing
genre has certainly seen its share of ‘takes’ on the theme, from flat-out racing
to titles that combine racing with demolition capabilities.

KOEI Canada has
thrown its hat into the latter ring with Fatal Inertia FX, a futuristic racing
title that mixes all-out speed with arcade pick-ups to attack other racers with.
If you played an old Xbox title called Arctic Thunder, then you know what you
are in store for with this game. Substitute futuristic racecraft for Arctic
Thunder’s snowmobiles and take the game in a different direction with a deeper
career mode, but include the track-based arcade pick-ups and you have the same
type of game.

The PS3 version
is, more or less, the same base game as was released in September 2007 on the
360. Yes, there are some new elements, such as the tutorial area known as the
Proving Grounds and the incorporation of the SIXAXIS control to fly your craft
with the motion detection of the PS3 controller. A press release accompanying
the PS3 test unit code stated that the flight model had also been retuned.

The game allows
players to go into single player for a quick race or embark on a career mode
that works through the Proving Grounds and then challenges with four career
levels – the Invitational Series, Exhibition League, Professional League and
Elite League. Also new are weather effects. There are 59 courses in seven
locations, more than 1.3 million customization options for your vehicle, four
vehicle manufacturers (Phoenix Motors, Aurora Syndicate, Mercury Engineering and
Titan Industries – each creates craft that have different specs; the Mercury
craft is about speed and maneuvering while the Titan is about armor and
payload), and nine basic weapon types.

As for the game
itself … You jump onto a track with a futuristic ‘racecraft,’ zoom through
environments with arches designating the course, fly over pods that have a
variety of weapons or boosts, then deploy those weapons either forward or
backward to create havoc with your opponents in the race.

The idea is, of
course, to finish first in each race. The races may be a flat-out,
no-holds-barred battle to get to first place or there may be other parameters
attached to the race. For example, when you embark on the career, you start in
the Invitational Series. There are four race types there – melee, velocity,
Magnet Mayhem and Knockout. Win and you advance but also unlock upgrades and
customization materials.

Yep, it’s that
simple.

The controls
are fine and intuitive. The audio, though, is best turned low. Crank up some
heavy rock jams and you should have the pulse-pounding musical score to drive
you through the game.

Graphically the
game is solid. It might not be a cutting-edge delivery for the genre, but it has
great weather effects. The AI is predictable, though – tough at times, but
predictable.

If Fatal
Inertia FX could be considered a new take on the Xbox title Arctic Thunder, this
is a nice update. It is not a must-have title, by any means, but it does have
some entertainment value.

Review Scoring Details for Fatal Inertia EX

Gameplay: 7.0
Easy to jump in and
play, the game is mapped decently to the PS3 controller.

Graphics: 7.4
The graphical
elements are solid. There is a softness to the environments though, and the
speed at which you travel masks textures, so it is tough to really see what is
out there. The cut scenes, though, are a big step above the in-game graphics.
That’s not to say the game graphics are bad, they get the job done, but don’t
measure up to other PS3 race games where demolishing each other is key – like
Motorstorm.

Sound: 6.3
What one would
expect from a game like this; the musical score is a little underplayed and does
not stand out.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 6.0
It looks decent, but
this is Arctic Thunder, with similar power-ups/weapons and boosts.

Multiplayer: 6.5
The disk KOEI/Canada
sent out with this game was for the debug unit and did not have the ability to
go online for games. There is online play, as well as split screen games for a
couple of players.

Overall: 6.8
This is a title that
is based on a popular Xbox game, updated with futuristic racecraft, as opposed
to snowmobiles, and then launched on a nex-gen platform. It does not have all
the bells and whistles of a truly next-gen game, but it is entertaining in its
own right.