In homage to Split/Second, onomatopoeia and Michael Bay fans everywhere, I will pad out my (CRASH!) review with gratuitous explosive (ZAP!) words to show I that I too love over-the-top explosions, cars, stuff blowing up, moving things, and… BOOM! Get ready for an adrenalin RUSH!
Now, I’m really not a fan of racing games. If the cars require even an ounce of skill, I have trouble. I have no interest in selecting a car based on a myriad of attributes where tiny differences can mean the difference between first and ‘Loser’. I rolled my eyes when Erin asked me to review this game (thankfully, via a phone call), and thought I would be in for a miserable experience. I was wrong. If you’re the kind of person that likes movies by Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, or perhaps Clint Eastwood you’ll want to find a more serious game instead. On the other hand, if you like movies by Michael (BAM!) Bay, Roland Emmerich or McG, then Split/Second fill fit right in with your collection.
This game is really easy to pick up and play. The controls are simple. Right trigger accelerates, left trigger breaks and left stick steers. Got that? You’re almost ready. Split/Second introduces the concept of Power Plays. These are player (and AI) triggered events that cause explosions, falling debris, rockslides and sometimes entire track change changes to occur. You build up your Power Play meter by drifting round corners or overtaking opponents, drafting behind other cars or jumping. As the bar fills, segments are lit up. When you have at least one segment you will start to see icons indicating you can trigger Power Plays to (CRUNCH!) wreck drivers in front of you. If you wait to fill your meter you can cause major catastrophes and in some cases alter the course itself. It is quite surreal to see an entire bridge explode and crash down in front of you before you jet headlong into the chaos. You’ll learn to watch for helicopters hovering suspiciously above the track, debris, red barrels and other dangers.
Split/Second sports some wonderful visuals. It does a fantastic job of making you feel a sense of speed and the frame rate holds up nicely even with a bunch of cars on screen. There is no interface clutter. The bare minimum of required information is shown just behind your car, which gives the game a very clean look. You view the track at quite a low angle, almost just over the roof of the car, which seems to just add to the (SQUEAL!) tension; in a good way. I sometimes struggled to see the track given the high speed, low angle and busy environments and I would often wreck against a barrier or wall before realising it wasn’t part of the course. Tip: memorise track layouts, corners and Power Play placement. Track locations include city streets, a canyon with rocky environments, a dock with ships, cranes and an aircraft carrier(!), a nuclear power plant, an airfield and storm drains. As Doc Brown once said, “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”
Split/Second’s garage is full of sports and muscle cars (GROWL!) with the odd 4WD thrown in for good measure. The vehicles are kind of forgettable, but look the part for their purpose, which is careening round a crazy course and wrecking in spectacular fashion. The cars have four basic statistics including Speed, Drift, Strength and Acceleration. These are shown as bars next to the cars during selection mode. No single car does it all and some are better suited to certain events. Once again, it’s all kept straightforward.
The game provides several different race types which can be played in career or quick play modes, online, or in two player split screen. Apart from the standard race, you can participate in an Elimination event where competitors in the last spot are progressively terminated. Survival has you trying to overtake (HONK!) semi-trailers that are spewing explosive barrels into your path. Detonator has you racing the clock and avoiding computer triggered Power Plays. In Air Strike you have to dodge a helicopter’s missile fire, but in Air Revenge you get to build up power and redirect the missiles. I found the last two particularly difficult, but I think that has more to do with my skills than the game.
The career mode takes the format of a TV series. It is split up into episodes, each with a short “This time… on Split/Second!” introduction. Each episode is made up of a mix of four of the race types, a bonus race and an Elite race that you need to place third or higher in to progress. Placing in all races earns you credits which unlock additional cars, tracks and modes. In terms of multiplayer, I found it quite easy to find standard races online, but Elimination and Survival events were harder to come by. You can also purchase DLC or pay (KACHING!) to unlock all tracks and cars.
Split/Second: Velocity is a raucous arcade racer that will allow you to gorge yourself on eye-candy, quick thrills and break-neck (WHOOSH!) speed. As long as you’re not looking for another Grand Turismo, you’ll have a blast.
