HSX HyperSonic.Xtreme (PlayStation 2)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 1.5 stars Poor
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 3.8 (1.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Ryan Davis
• Reviewed on: 02/14/2003
• Released on: 01/26/2003
• Originally published on GameSpot: HSX HyperSonic.Xtreme (PlayStation 2) Review

HyperSonic.Xtreme, a new futuristic racing game from Majesco, is a game that would never have existed had Wipeout not come before it. The game's overall sense of style, from the track designs, to the ship designs, to the choice of spacey electronic music that plays while you race, is highly derivative of Psygnosis' enjoyable racer. If you liked Wipeout, this could have been a good thing. It could have, but because of the inconsistent graphics and horrible, horrible physics in HSX, the game is virtually unplayable by anybody.

The gameplay options are kind of lean, but what's there is the stuff you would care about. You can choose between time trial and cup races, and within these modes you can go on either the arcade circuit or the slalom circuit. The key difference between these circuits is that the arcade circuit puts you on a not-so-circular track for three laps, while the slalom circuit tracks simply have a beginning and an end and no laps. All told, there are around 30 different tracks to race on in HSX, though you'll need to place high in the cup races in order to unlock a good majority of them.

One of the most highly touted features in HSX is its track editor, and it's actually surprisingly robust and easy to use. In fact, it's entirely possible to re-create the premade tracks in HSX using the in-game editor. The tracks themselves are pretty consistently well designed and make good use of the antigravity nature of the craft you're piloting. Tracks will loop, twist, and turn, and you'll often find yourself clinging to the underside of the track, with terra firma right over your head. One of the less-endearing track-design features in HSX is the inclusion of jumps. These jumps usually require you to clear a pretty huge gap, and if you don't launch just right or don't have enough turbo boost, it's easy to fall short and watch your ship wreck into a mountainside. What makes these jumps really punishing is that after you wreck, the game forces you to go at the same jump all over again.

But this is just one symptom of the most damaging overall problem with HSX, which is a seemingly unfinished physics engine. While you're on the straight and narrow, the ships generally handle like they should, gliding from side to side like a rocket-powered vehicle should. But when you start dealing with hard turns, and sometimes just at random, the gliding stops, and your ship starts turning on its axis, which leaves you at the whim of wherever your momentum was taking you before you lost control. Occasionally, while attempting to hug a hard outside turn, your ship will lose its grip on the track, and you'll simply fly off the track until you make contact with something hard--usually, the ground. These problems are supremely frustrating and make the game nigh unplayable.

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HSX HyperSonic.Xtreme (PlayStation 2): $19.99

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