Fusion was naturally the first game i bought with my ps2 (with the amazing kappa shirt, of course) and at the beginning i tought it was amazing. than i've putted in the black monolite the previous wipeout game and finally came in my mind that fusion is a good game, but not a "truly inspired wipeout game", or nota a wipeout game at all.
big breaking points are:

-no ag system
-off bounds areas with dusty podracer effect, directly from sw episode 1
-ship and track design
-too many weapon
-more focus on fighting than on driving
-absence of balance in ships stats
-8 contenders were enoug
-where is the amazing floating sensation of the previous games?
-air brake inplementation
-will to seem next-gen at any cost