"Explosive Movie Chase Scene: The Racing Game."

When my cohorts and I attended PAX last year, an unexpected game caught Jonah’s attention. It was an explosive new racer by the name of Split/Second. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to try it while I was there due to the long lines and numerous other games to check out. While it looked interesting enough, I quickly forgot about the game’s existence and it never entered my radar.

All that changed when the Xbox Live demo was released. Curious to give it a shot, I downloaded it. Not only was my racing itch scratched, it was done so in ways that felt fresh, exciting, and extremely polished. But the demo was just the beginning.

The premise of Split/Second is an odd one. You are a stunt driver who must compete for first place in an action-packed, reality television series. The tracks are rigged with explosives which can be activated by drivers that have earned the ability to use them. These “power plays” come in two forms; small and large.

Small power plays are just about everywhere. Whether it is blowing up a bus or dropping a bomb onto the track from a helicopter, these power plays help you get the edge on your opponents. Essentially, the environment around you is your weapon.

What makes this so much more satisfying than other weapons-based racers is how these power plays work. For example, if somebody blows up a bus and it rolls in front of you, it’s often possible to sharply turn and avoid it. However, if you were to drive right by that same bus right as the power play was initiated, you could get caught in the blast. Whether you crash or not, your opponent’s power play will cause you to temporarily loose your grip, making steering difficult and crashing all the more likely.

Watching your environment becomes a huge factor in winning races. Defensively, you must look at what to avoid. Driving under a helicopter, a parked car, the path of a wrecking ball, or any number of other things could spell certain doom. On the other side of the coin, the offensive player must watch who is driving too close to the danger zone and time their power plays just right to maximize their chances for a take down.

But since there are so many opportunities for the smaller power plays throughout the tracks, it’s nearly impossible to avoid driving near them all. In fact, a truly great driving-line can often include these potentially dangerous areas. People will crash, but more often than not it will be the result of the offensive player’s meticulous timing that took advantage of a completely avoidable situation the defensive player put themselves in. In other words, Split/Second takes all the excitement of “chance” with none of the frustrating unfairness.

To make things even crazier, the larger power plays can cause spectacular explosions that alter the track layout itself. Imagine Excite Truck‘s terrain modifying items taken up about ten notches. Collapsing a building to form a jump that lands you on top of an aircraft carrier is just one example of the ridiculous nature you can expect from these events.

But you won’t be able to just initiate power plays willy nilly. You must earn the right to use them. Drafting behind other cars, drifting around corners, getting sweet air off jumps, and narrowly escaping power plays from other drivers will fill your gauge.

What makes the core driving in Split/Second so fun is how exaggerated these actions are. Drafting gives you a substantial speed boost and you can perform insane drifts around winding corners. You also never loose your sense of speed. Races begin with a rolling start and even crashing will re-spawn you at a decent driving speed without waiting around too long. From the moment the race starts until you cross the finish line, your adrenaline will be pumping.

"Every race is an exciting, adrenaline-fueled experience."

The single-player “season” is divided into twelve episodes, each with six events. Completing each event awards you points based on your position, even if it’s below third place. You’ll need to meet specific quotas to unlock the episode’s final race and move on.

These events span a variety of modes. Besides the normal races, there is elimination mode, which eliminates the player in last place every so often until only one is left standing. Detonator is essentially a time trial race with a pre-selected car, but power plays are happening all the time. Every detonator race is like a scene ripped out of a summer blockbuster action flick.

Believe it or not, those are the more conventional modes. Survival, on the other hand, has you trying to pass as many semi-trucks as you can while they drop explosive barrels that roll all over the track. I’ve seen it best described as racing meets a bullet-hell SHMUP.

In addition to that, there is a mode where a helicopter follows you, locking missiles onto the track periodically that you must avoid; seeing how far you can get with three lives. There’s also a mode where you must use power plays to send the missiles back at the helicopter and try to destroy it as fast as possible.

While the game only supports two players locally, online you can race against up to eight. And I highly recommend you do hop online, because when there are seven other humans meticulously planning their power plays instead of AI, the game gets even more exciting.

Split/Second isn’t perfect, of course. There is a bit of rubber-banding AI, though it’s not nearly as bad as I’ve heard people make it out to be. There’s also a few unusual difficulty spikes, particularly in the very last race, that can get frustrating. But these are minor gripes in an incredibly fun title.

The game also looks amazing. Not only are the graphics great, there’s also some excellent design choices. The HUD is all wrapped around your bumper, leaving the rest of the screen clear of clutter, and your achievements/trophies are all displayed as decals on your car. The music is also top notch, perfectly fitting with the exciting mood. The songs during races all dynamically change based on what’s happening. The swells and other musical cues really add to the intensity of each race.

Split/Second is the most fun I’ve had with a racing game in quite some time. It takes all the excitement of a weapons based racer without any of the frustration caused by random chance or unavoidable situations. There’s also a ton of variety between the different modes, many of which feel fresh and original. If you enjoy fun, you probably won’t be disappointed with the over-the-top racing action of Split/Second.

Tags: Black Rock Studio, Disney Interactive, explosions, PC, ps3, racing, Split Second, Split/Second, Xbox 360

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 10th, 2010 at 5:00 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.