Split/Second, 2010 © Disney Interactive Studios Sadly, the customisation options are limited to changing the colour, though it’s fun that your achievements appear as decals on your car. As such, the game actively encourages you to experiment with different cars to find the right one for that event, though for the most part, you will latch onto one or two cars as you go with ride of choice. The other key stat here though is damage as some vehicles are better at taking explosions and near misses which spin out other vehicles, which can be especially handy for events such as Air Strike. The vehicle selection falls largely into two categories of super cars and trucks with some cars being faster while others able to drift easier.
By winning these events you earn points, which unlock new cars and episodes while wrecking your opponents allowing you to unlock bonus rounds.
Even the time trial mode is amped up with you trying to beat the clock while every trigger point is exploded to try and slow you down.
These events vary from traditional lap and elimination races through to the more fantastical survival mode were you have to pass a series of trucks that toss out exploding barrels. Not content to be a gimmick racing game, Split/Second‘s campaign mode is broken into episodes with each one opening and closing with a preview of the events of each episode all in a fittingly cinematic style.
This of course makes it a great game for spectators-parties who will no doubt be able to appreciate the chaos than you as the driver who is basically trying to not get crushed like a beer can. Its this same driving-by-instinct feeling that you will get when chaos and fire is seemingly erupting in every direction and threatening to take you out. Even the smaller trigger points such, as a wrecking ball flying across the screen or a bridge strut falling onto the track bring a real thrill to the race experience as you see your opponents being wiped off the track in front of you as you essentially get to live out your Fast and Furious style fantasies, something its own bland tie-in games failed to achieve. Just based on the spectacle, this game certainly delivers as bridges crumble, cooling towers collapse and on one level a plane crashes onto the same runway you and your fellow racers are tearing up. At the same time, you also have to avoid the effects of these same trigger points as your rival racers can just as easily take you out as well.
The more the meter is filled the more things which can be triggered by the player with a full meter opening up the option to create the biggest power plays, which see mass destruction being released on the track that can really swing the race rankings as well as the route of the race itself.
Racers amass power points by performing stunts such as jumps or precision driving such as drifting or drafting with more points being given the longer an action is held. Taking place across a variety of locations from city highways and airports through to aircraft boneyards and storm drains, speed is certainly one of the main focuses of the game design with sheer spectacle coming a close second as each location has its own set of trigger points that can be triggered throughout the race. This is also a show whose seemingly unlimited budget enables them to rig various locations with explosives, traps and shortcuts so racers can trigger them throughout the racer to give themselves a winning advantage or just to take out their fellow competitors.
On the surface, Split/Second, which might seem like it’s helmed by Michael Bay, is surprisingly more than a fun gimmick as not only does it feature the usual selection of flash sports cars and trucks but some genuinely solid racing action as you partake as a new driver on the fictional TV Show called Split/Second, were participants race for fame and glory over the course of the twelve episode season. 5 Forgotten (Great) Performances by Sharon Stone