Fatal Inertia

Fatal Inertia is a futuristic hovercar racing game from Koei. Originally an exclusive for the PlayStation 3, it was released for the Xbox 360 in 2007 and then released on the PlayStation 3 on May 29, 2008 in Japan, June 19, 2008 in North America and July 15, 2008 in Europe as a download on the PlayStation Network under the title Fatal Inertia EX. The PlayStation 3 version was initially delayed because of difficulties with the Unreal Engine 3 on the console, due to the cell processor's architecture.[1]

Fatal Inertia
Developer(s)Koei Canada
Publisher(s)Koei
EngineUnreal Engine 3
Platform(s)Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
ReleaseXbox 360
  • NA: September 11, 2007
  • EU: September 11, 2007
  • JP: September 30, 2007
  • AU: October 23, 2007
PlayStation 3
  • JP: May 29, 2008
  • NA: June 19, 2008
  • EU: July 15, 2008
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer

The game is set in the mid-22nd century Earth, and a handful of immense corporations control virtually all business, politics, and entertainment. Extreme sports have become one of the main sources of entertainment with Fatal Inertia as the most popular.[2] Competitions take place far from cities due to the high level of danger.[3]

There are six different racing environments that are divided into fifty-one courses.[4]

Gameplay

Fatal Inertia has four main craft types, each one having advantages and disadvantages over each other:

  • Phoenix Class: craft that, though they do not excel, are well balanced on most parameters.
  • Aurora class: the fastest of all the classes, though with questionable reliability. Suited for adept or advanced players.
  • Mercury class: light, fast accelerating vehicles with superior handling in contrast to other classes.
  • Titan class: massive machines that can demolish the competition with their heavy armor and greater firepower, compensating for their poor handling and acceleration.

Though there are only 4 classes there are numerous upgrades that can tune each class to its own unique look, stats, and handling.

Fatal Inertia has a set of non-lethal weapons, mostly centered around magnetic behavior. Most of the weapons have primary fire which projects forwards, and a secondary fire that is projected backwards.

Development

On August 2, 2007 a playable demo of Fatal Inertia was released on Xbox Live Marketplace.[5]

On May 29, 2008 a multi-language playable demo of Fatal Inertia EX was released on the Japanese PlayStation Store.[6]

On July 15, 2008, the same day as Europe's release, a trial version was also available on the PlayStation Store as a free download[7]

Fatal Inertia EX

The PlayStation 3 version of the game is a download-only title, and appeared on the Japanese PlayStation Store on May 29, 2008[8] in North America on June 19, 2008, and in Europe on July 15, 2008, as part of PlayStation Network's E3 2008 release plan. A number of tweaks and improvements have been made to the title, notably the difficulty level; to this end, EX includes a training venue with eight new tracks, known as the "Fatal Inertia Proving Grounds Facility", as well as a Master difficulty level for veterans.[8] The development team have also adjusted gameplay, including weapons and physics.[8] Controls support the DualShock 3 along with SIXAXIS tilt control for craft steering.[8]

Reception

The reception for the Xbox 360 version was mixed, with a Metacritic average of 61 out of 100.[13] The PlayStation Network release received a slightly improved score of 63 out of 100.[14]

See also

References
  1. Gamasutra - Koei Confirms PS3 Fatal Inertia, Anticipates 2008 Release
  2. Shoemaker, Brad (2006-10-22). "Fatal Inertia First Look". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2006-02-12.
  3. HEXUS.gaming (2006-10-22). "Review". HEXUS.
  4. Alexis Dunham (2007-08-31). "Fatla Inertia goes Gold". ign.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-05.
  5. Major Nelson (2007-08-02). "Demo: Fatal Inertia". MajorNelson.com.
  6. Fatal Inertia EX
  7. PSN Store Update 15 July 2008
  8. Patrick Klepek. "Exclusive: 'Fatal Inertia EX' Arrives Via PlayStation Network Next Month".
  9. "Fatal Inertia for Xbox 360". GameRankings. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  10. "Fatal Inertia EX for PlayStation 3 Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  11. "Fatal Inertia for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  12. "Fatal Inertia EX for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  13. Metacritic. "Fatal Inertia (xbox360: 2007): Reviews".
  14. Metacritic. "Fatal Inertia EX(ps3: 2008): Reviews".
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