If you’re a racing game fan, you’re either the technical type who likes to tweak everything right down to the colour of the gear knob stitching or the arcade-y type who thinks it perfectly acceptable to crash-land 747s onto the track and fire rockets at pesky Longbow helicopters. If you’re the former, you should probably get out more; if you’re the latter, Split\/Second is most definitely the game for you.<\/p>\n
Built on the questionable (yet awesome) premise of being a racer on a pyrotechnic-filled, destruction-driven, opponent-obliterating TV show, you race through 12 episodes of 6 events each in the quest to… well… drive fast and blow stuff up. Drifting, drafting and jumping your way through the various tracks builds a special meter which allows the triggering of Power Plays to harass opponents: these include exploding conveniently placed gas tanks on the roadside, swinging oversized wrecking balls to sideswipe unwary foes, or causing rockslides down narrow mountain passes.<\/p>\n
This special meter can also be charged up for the almighty Level 2 Power Plays, which can be anything from toppling an entire building into the road, diverting the race onto an exploding aircraft carrier, of derailing a freight train as you race beside it. These actions aren’t purely cosmetic either, as a well timed car-bombing or track diversion can change the entire course of a race, and moves like this are absolutely crucial for victory.<\/p>\n
Race modes include traditional races and elimination events (last guy gets booted every X seconds), with a few fresh ideas chucked into the mix in the form of Air Attack where rockets from a chopper need to be deftly dodged, or Survival where racers have to overtake improperly-loaded trucks dropping their cargo of flammable barrels. These events do well to break up the normal racing action, and a good selection of no-name cars ranging from unwieldy trucks to sleek sports coupes need to be experimented with to get the best place on the podium for each race type.<\/p>\n
Driving mechanics are suitably loose and forgiving for this style of game, with precise physics and perfect lines taking a back seat to full-throttle speeding and plenty of carefree barrier bashing. Some events like the remarkably challenging Detonator races do require numerous repeats and rather specific lines to beat the tough top scores, but for the most part it’s all about pushing that R2 trigger to the floor and hanging on tight.<\/p>\n
Split\/Second also looks a treat with very detailed environments and some excellent explosion effects. The minimalistic HUD is reminiscent of Isaac’s suit in Dead Space with all crucial info residing in situ just below the rear bumper; a welcome addition considering the manic amount of action going on at any given time. Sound effects are suitably beefy too with pyrotechnics blasting away resonantly and car engines growling around every turn, though I was disappointed at the lack of a commercial soundtrack which forced me to listen to generic library tunes while I cruised.<\/p>\n
Despite having a blast with the gameplay in general, a couple of issues often creep up which annoyingly hamper an otherwise brilliant game. The AI can be overly aggressive at times, and rival drivers have no qualms bashing you around the track. This is made more frustrating by the fact that you can’t bash them back for anything worth a damn, and it’s a common event to have an enemy smash you into a wall during a crucial turn and send you from first place all the way to the back.<\/p>\n
I also noticed that opponents don’t trigger Power Plays against each other when they’re far ahead or behind you: while this makes sense that you don’t want the finite number of these Plays exhausted without you getting to use or see any of them, it does become irritating when the race leaders speed off into the sunset with no hope of being removed from pole position unless you get within striking distance again.<\/p>\n
Despite very minor niggles though, Split\/Second is one of the most enjoyable racers I’ve rolled with in ages: the driving never fails to be fast and exciting, the different game modes (including an online as well as split-screen multiplayer) provide oodles of options for every type of racing palate, and the longevity found in constantly wanting to unlock the next car or episode make Split\/Second a terrific arcade racer that’s currently second to none.<\/p>\n
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