Split/Second
Momentary glance
That's all it takes: a fraction of a second zipping through the destructible tracks of Split/Second is all that it takes to be convinced that this is a different kind of racer.
Spur-of-the-moment course changes transform an otherwise crash-and-bash arcade racer into a test of driving skill. Each pyrotechnic blast puts pressure on your ability to outmanoeuvre and overtake the competition. Slow and steady won't win the race here; instead, it's whether your reactions are as speedy as the hare.
Split/Second casts you as one of a group of drivers in a crazy new reality television show where each episode involves dangerous high speed races. Like any reality programme, drama is the ultimate goal of the producers and they deliver it to viewers by giving you the power to obliterate elements within each venue. By timing these destructive power plays, you can switch up the standings with an eye for seizing the lead. In short, winning takes more than maintaining a clean racing line; you have to blast past the competition by knocking out sections of the road, detonating petrol stations, and inciting just enough mayhem to wreck your opponents.
Power plays require filling up the circular gauge directly beneath your ride. Basic moves such as drafting behind a competitor or drifting through a tight turn fill up the gauge. Once the first of three sections on the gauge has been filled, you can trigger a low-level power play. Saving up until the second third is filled grants the ability to execute an even more devastating play.
You can hold back and fill it entirely for route-changing power plays that literally alter the course. Racing through the power plant level, for instance, offers the opportunity to send a nuclear reactor cooling tower crashing down. The resulting rubble of course takes out part of the adjacent road, along with any competitors passing by. Having the power to pull such an event off is intense, even more so when you consider it's not a scripted scenario and that you're directing the action.
As if the power of such events aren't destructive enough, a shockwave capable of spinning cars out reverberates across the track. Should you find yourself in the middle of a shockwave--and you will since computer-controlled drivers have the ability to trigger their own power plays--you're able to counter by drifting against it.
Unlike the direct aggression of other racers such as Burnout Paradise, Split/Second is indirectly combative. Racing here is not about side-swiping your opponents, but outsmarting them with power plays that force them into difficult situations, which in turn often result in wreckage. It gives the game a tactical edge that goes beyond trying to trade paint. It's devious and that's precisely why it's so much fun.
If there's anything that makes me pause, it's the extent to which all of the action makes driving difficult. Route-changing power plays obscure your view with clouds of dust and debris that make it hard to see what's in front of you--but that's the point. Split/Second is meant to be disorienting as a way of pushing your driving abilities to the limit, of putting you in situations where the difference between crashing and a zipping through unscathed is the tiniest swerve or boost in speed.
So in other words, you're going to hate Split/Second if you can't stand racing at the edge of your seat, being forced to instinctively veer around obstacles with little warning, and victory determined by the thinnest of margins. For everyone else, the show starts May 21.
