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Split/Second Impressions

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Split/Second was one of two high-profile arcade racing games to hit the market in May 2010. The other was Blur. Both Disney and Activision had high hopes for their respective racing games, with visions of turning them into the next big racing franchises. However, despite positive reviews for both, neither game sold very well, which led to the demise of both studios that made Split/Second and Blur. Despite my issues with Blur, I thought it was a shame that game and its’ creators suffered the fate that they did, as Blur was a pretty good game. I’d say the similar things about Black Rock Studio and Split/Second. This is a pretty good racing game that, unfortunately, a lot of people overlooked.

The premise behind the racing is that you’re driving in a racing television show that sets up the most insane races you can think of. When I say “insane”, think Michael Bay-inspired insanity. During the course of a race, helicopters will drop exploding barrels, buildings will collapse and mountains will explode, all of which will impact your ability to get through a course. In some cases, these artificial disasters will alter the track itself. One of my favourite game-changing disasters I’ve encountered so far was when I triggered the collapse of a Space Needle-like building onto four cars that were ahead of me, then drove on top of the surface of the now-collapsed tower.

What makes these disasters unique is that they’re all player controlled through what Split/Second refers to as “Power Plays”. As you progress through a race, you’ll fill up a three-part meter. If you have one meter stocked up, you can trigger a level 1 Power Play or a shortcut if you and your competitor(s) are in the right spots. Or, you can stock up your meter for a level 3 Power Play (which is much bigger in scope) or use all three meters to change the course. With the exception of the shortcuts, all of these require some timing, as your opponents will have an easier time evading the Power Play if you give them enough time to dodge it. This can be achieved through memorization, as the hot spots are always the same in each track. While the fantastical calamities end up becoming predictable after a few trips around each track, they’re still cool to look at and trigger in order to wreck your opponents.

Looking past the Power Plays, Split/Second provides a pretty good racing experience. Graphically, the game looks gorgeous. All of the cars and the environment are styled in a certain way that look realistic, yet distinct from reality. All of the racing moves at a smooth framerate and the action feels incredibly quick. When it comes to racing games, I’m generally terrible at them, as I can never get a feel for steering and drifting in most games. While I’m not perfect in Split/Second, the drifting was a lot easier for me to get a feel of. Simply the act of driving in Split/Second was very fun, which means a lot to me, as I’m not much of a racing game fan.

As a single-player experience, you’ll spend most of your time in the Season mode. This mode is broken out into 12 different episodes, each of which contains a number of different challenges. Many of these events are traditional races, though there are other (more gimmicky) challenges you’ll have to get through as well. Traditional races were my favourite events, as they provided the most excitement to me, the rubber band AI and the lack of a rewind feature (as found in Forza 3) can really ruin your day. There were occasions where I had a 5-second lead on the pack going into the final lap, only to see the computer whiz by me at the final corner just because it could. A more common occurrence were the times when I’d be just shy of first place, and I’d screw up one turn and have five cars pass me at once, which would put me too far back to catch up. Having a rewind feature and easing up on the rubber band AI would make things feel less cheap. To be fair though, I was able to finish reasonably well in most races, and it never felt as heinous as it did in Blur.

Unfortunately, the events that sound the coolest on paper turned out to be the lamest ones to play. One of those events involves you having to pass dump trucks that are dumping explosive barrels behind you, while the other involves you dodging missiles being shot at you from a helicopter. In both cases, they’re more frustrating than fun most of the time. Both the exploding barrels and the missile targets can be hard to see and even harder to dodge, which means you’ll likely eat way more explosive material than you feel is fair. In some cases, the computer will pin you in a situation where you can’t do anything but eat explosives, as the barrels or missiles will either be shot right at you, or a barrage of either will completely block your path.

The reason why this is an impressions post and not a review was because I was unable to get far enough in Split/Second to pass a final judgment. I got stuck halfway through the career mode and couldn’t proceed any further. I just may not have the chops when it comes to driving games, but at a certain point, you’ll need to perform to a certain level to advance, and I just couldn’t cut it. Hopefully, this won’t be a problem for you as it was for me.

In any case, it has some rough edges, but Split/Second is a game worth checking out. It’s disappointing to know that the sequel got canned, because I feel like Black Rock Studio would have hit a home run with it. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if Black Rock (or anyone else) is willing to give Split/Second another shot.


Filed under: Game Review, playstation 3, racing, video games, xbox 360 Tagged: impressions, playstation 3, racing, split second, xbox 360

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