I recently attended a conference call with Nick Baynes--the Game Director of Split/Second from Black Rock Studio--and one of the questions posed to him was in regards to Michael Bay and the inspiration for the look and feel of the game. Nick laughed and coyly implied that, perhaps, there might be some correlation. I heard this before receiving my review copy and, frankly, it had me a bit worried. What if the game was all flash and the much flaunted Power Plays were too much of a gimmick with no substance?
I’m happy to report that Split/Second is, indeed, full of huge explosions and bigger-than-life moments, but it all seems to fit wonderfully in its own little world of ridiculous entertainment. As you dig deeper into the game you’ll find that the once perceived gimmicks actually serve a purpose and happen for a reason. For instance the, often times, annoy Matrix-style slowdown that occurs when a competing car crashes—it’s not really for effect, although it’s nice enough, is there because the game wants to give you some time to gather yourself since everything moves at such fast speeds. It’s wantonly fast, uniquely fun and totally senseless. That’s the way I like my racers. Split/Second clearly stands out from the crowd. Yes there are some flaws here, but I think they’re minor enough that it’s worth a peak, at the very least, from the gamers who like arcade racers.
Lets get this started.
Graphics
Split/Second is a dangerously gorgeous game. What I mean by that is with its sun lacquered, ultra-glossy and charming aesthetic it just tempts you into have a look as you furiously race about its marvelous environments. In playing the Xbox 360 version I found there to be little to no tearing or aliasing and virtually no slowdown. The one time I experienced some hitching was when I lowered a massive nuclear reactor onto 5 five approaching cars that, in turn, creating a humongous explosion. The insane sense of speed that you feel once you start unlocking the higher tier cars is absolutely incredible and second to none. I have no idea how, technically, Black Rock Studios was able to create such a great looking game that runs at such a solid frame rate while looking as great as it does.
You will never race on, what would be considered, a typical track or raceway. Instead they mostly consist of the steel jungles of a New York type city, or an airplane junk yard or, better yet, an actual airport. That’s right, you’ll find yourself driving down a landing strip trying to dodge the blazing pieces of a gigantic 747 as it crashes before you. I’m not kidding.
Another interesting bit of news is that each time you unlock an achievement (or trophy in the case of the PS3) it's graphically represented by a sticker on your car. Its presence effects nothing in terms of gameplay, but it's a nice small little touch that shows Block Rock pays attention to the details.
Gameplay
At its heart, Split/Second is an arcade racer. It aggressively encourages you to ruthlessly speed about in everything it does. Beginning with it ultra-minimalistic HUD design with no speedometer, because it doesn’t matter how fast you’re going and just go, to the simple car selection screen. There are no hardware upgrades, no rims to change or cars to lower—just choose a car, change its color if you like and off you go! Loads times are mostly short but I did find it slightly annoying that restarting a race took 3 button presses and 4-5 seconds of loading.
Power Plays tend to be surprisingly practical and fun. They can be used to cause destruction or open up either temporary or permanent paths. The way it works is there is a three-stage power meter that you build up by drifting, drafting, jumping, or creating close calls. Once you've built the meter up by at least one stage you can initiate a normal Power Play. A Super-Power Play (my wording) requires the use of all three power bars. A blue (normal) or red (super) visual prompt will pop up on screen and then it's go time brother! The interesting thing about the Power Plays is that they can, absolutely, cause havoc for you as well. If you’re not careful you’ll end up, like me, smashing right into your own damned ingenuity. It sucks but every time it was my fault by not paying close enough attention.
The Super-Power Plays, in particular, are always a delight to watch unfold usually causing the track to dramatically change from the massive destruction it causes. For instance one time I was trailing behind 5 cars and had my Power Meter fully filled. As we rounded a huge corner on an overpass a red prompt lit up on screen and I quickly hit the B button to initiate it. Suddenly a nearby elevated train traveling by ran off its tracks and crashed into our overpass completely toppled it while destroying the 5 other cars. The overpass began to waver and quickly collapsed to freeway below forcing a new route for us to take. Needless to say I drove through the wreckage taking first place--but it was only temporarily.
See my biggest gripe with Split/Second is the presence of a rubber-banding AI. Though its implementation appears to be fairly tame, it can sometimes rob you of a real sense of accomplishment, making it feel cheap, by passing you up very quickly—and seemingly out of nowhere. I understand why this behavior is present in racers but it ultimately can denigrate the experience--especially if you're robbed of your hard earned first place trophy by mere seconds.
Curiously absent from Split/Second is an instant replay feature (besides the very few moments the game prompts you for one during the Super moments.) I've had some really insane moments in the game that I would have loved to have shared with someone and this seems like a fairly useful feature to not implement in a game that’s fundamentally building off of those spectacular moments.
Game Modes:
Split/Second also has several game modes built into the "season", all of which I've really loved playing in addition to the standard racing mode:
Survival: Driving down an LA storm drain (think Terminator 2) along with dozens of other cars, the goal isn’t to see who places first but to survive. Traveling ahead of you are dozens of semi-trucks all dropping a mixture of blue and red barrels--the red being explosive. Starting the race with 45 seconds on the clock you must pass each rig so that you are, cleverly, rewarded with additional time for each passing. It’s one of my favorite modes and shows some unique gameplay to the genre.
Air Strike: It's you against a Blackhawk helicopter and your goal is to reach a certain amount of points to place first. The Blackhawk travels ahead of you locking its missiles on the road before you and, even though you know where they're going to land, must avoid both the explosions and their shockwaves. There are three separate missile attacks in each wave and completing each wave rewards you by increasing your multiplier. It's much more difficult than it sounds. Again, A HELICOPTER IS FREAK’N SHOOTING GODDAMN MISSLES AT YOU! *ahem* In case, you know, some of you missed that part.
Detonator: You're all alone and must race against the clock completing one lap while every single Power Play on the stage--including the Super-Power Plays--are set off right before you.
Elimination: You race against 8 other cars as, every 20 seconds, the last one is eliminated. This is similar to the one in the Burnout series.
Conclusion:
In terms of plot I think the reality TV thing is mostly throw away and, honestly, kind of lame, but who cares? The truly amazing moments all happen within the gameplay and are unique enough that they’re matched by none other. The multiplayer component is a lot of fun too (be sure you unlock some of the higher level cars before going out there or you’re going to get killed!)
Another notable point is that I never once felt frustrated, like I often do with most racers, in playing Split/Second. I don’t know if this has something to do with how much fun the game truly is, and it is that, or if it has something to do with the perceivably mild temperament of the rubber-banding AI.
In any case, if you like arcade racers then I would pick this one up so we can race!
