Zone Mode

Description
Zone Mode is perhaps the most unusual Game Mode present in WipEout HD, because no other racing game has a mode quite like it.

The basic rules of this mode are that the player will be in control of ''the zone ship. You will auto-accelerate in this mode, and there is no way of slowing down. ''The speed of the craft will increase through 'Zones' every 10 seconds. Every few zones a new speed class will be reached. (See main article for more about speed classes)

The objective for the user is to keep their craft intact for as long as possible; remembering that the increase in speed makes it much more difficult to control, and eventually constant crashing into walls will take its toll. Once your shield energy reaches zero, the session is over, and you are sent to the results screen.

Barrel rolling is reccomended to the score hunters, the zone hunters will want to keep 15 more shield energy than to risk certain destruction at the low speed classes. (Barrel rolling costs 15 shield energy.)

The only way to recover shield energy in this mode is by running perfect zones. You will regain 10 shield energy for every perfect zone. Perfect laps only reward score, and no shield energy.

The Zone mode in WipEout HD originally had a much more vibrant feel to it, with floor textures altering in time with the pounding music, but this was scrapped, possibly to meet epilepsy guidelines.

The actual look and sound of Zone Mode is very different to any other game mode. The music is far more intense and all realism has been done away with on the environment. Walls, sky, tracks, and backgrounds are all based solely on one or two colour palettes which varies as new speed classes are reached, some are not avalible in Racebox.

Some players of WipEout HD have been struggling on Zone Zeus because players kept crashing into walls. There is a cheap tactic in order to achieve the trophy easily. You can see the video here. 'If you want to watch a video of achieving Zone Zeus the correct way, watch thisvideo.

All ships in zone mode look identical, aside from team logos on the all white colour scheme. All ships also start with 100 in every statistic regardless of team.