Formula Fusion

Pacer (formerly known as Formula Fusion, and originally - Slam Jet) is a racing game drawing on the cult series WipEout. The production was developed by an independent studio, R8 Games, consisting, among others, of people who previously worked on that series.

Story

The action of Pacer takes place in the future. People managed to develop a technology called Quantum Levitation; thanks to it, anti-gravity vehicles moving on magnetic highways were created. As you can guess, this invention revolutionized not only road transport, but also motor sports, where pilots of armed cars fight for victory on the track.

Mechanics

In Pacer we take part in races played on fourteen different tracks. Competitions are divided into six categories; among them we can find time trials, classic races, competitions in which the best lap time for a given competitor counts, or long endurance championships. We sit behind the wheel of one of five vehicles. They are differentiated in terms of appearance, performance and handling, and although each of them has an afterburner that is recharged in the course of the competition, they all have their strengths and weaknesses; for example, the light Voxel has incredible acceleration but weak armor, while its opposite is the slower Python equipped with durable shields.

In addition, they are susceptible to modification - we can not only change their appearance and improve their performance, but also adapt to our needs their weapons. The authors put in our hands ten types of weapons (such as the energy rifle, Gauss cannon or even a mine launcher), whose capabilities can be further changed by using special cards. The latter, for example, make the bullets able to penetrate the opponent's armor and the cannons shoot not one, but two beams of energy; we buy them by spending credits (Tech Credits) gained in the course of the game.

Success is ensured not only by learning every track (for example, in order to use the acceleration panels efficiently) and mastering your car; often a good solution is to use dirty tricks.

Modes of play

For the players who prefer playing alone there is an extensive campaign in Pacer, in which we climb the career ladder representing one of ten teams. Apart from that, in the described production we'll find a multiplayer mode, where up to ten players can compete against each other.

Technical aspects

Three-dimensional graphics of Pacer presents a high quality. The pace of the struggle is enhanced by the soundtrack, which consists of both specially composed and licensed tracks.