Split/Second

First of this is based on the full game and not the demo (for some reason my pre-order was delivered yesterday).

First thing to say is that if you enjoy Burnout then this is going to be right up your street. The cars in the game all handle exactly the same as from Burnout, you have the usual selection of sporty cars which are fast but can easily be bullied off the track, the muscle cars which are the middle of the road and have great drift abilities, and then you have the heavy class which are slow but have a lot of strength and can be used to shove other cars out of the way.

The main story or campaign if you will is split into 12 fictional TV series, and each series has multiple episodes which must be completed to qualify for the next series.

The episodes are split into various types of events, so far the ones I have encountered are; straightforward race for the line between 8 competitors; an elimination event where the person placed last gets eliminated until there is one standing; Detonator event, where you must race against the clock to complete one lap of the track, whilst the computer initiates powerplays all around you destroying the track and generally doing all it can to stop you achieving the required time; and the final event I have unlocked (so far) involves trying to overtake a series of trucks which throw explosive red barrels at you which you need to avoid in order to overtake the required number of trucks.

There are further modes hidden away that I have not yet unlocked, so as you can see there is a fair bit of variety thrown in to the game.
Of course all this variety would be for nothing if the core game mechanics were rubbish, but I am happy to say that the game plays fantastically well, the use of powerplays to bring down parts of the scenery upon your opponents is amazing and provides real excitement, for example during the final lap of one race, I began the lap in 1st place roughly 3 seconds ahead of the pack, a powerplay was triggered causing part of a building to fall on my car pushing me back to 4th place, as the lap continued I filled up my bar and triggered a powerplay of my own which managed to take out 3rd and 2nd place simultaneously, I then ended up neck and neck with first place, with the line fast approaching I slammed him into the wall and stole 1st place, suffice to say I was feeling rather pleased with myself.

One other cool thing I have come across, all the decals that you unlock for the cars are tied in with the achievements and only unlock as you unlock achievements which is a nice added touch of detail.

Overall then this is an amazing arcade racer that plays very much like Burnout (which in my opinion is a good thing) but introduces something new with the inclusion of powerplays which as well as taking out opponents can also be used to alter the track and open shortcuts, there should also be good longevity to the game, as the first series took me nearly an hour and there are 12 series in total, plus on top of that there is a split screen multiplayer and online multiplayer to boot.

All in all an amazing game which I would recommend to any racing fan.

damn, those black rock guys know what they are doing.
presentation is just stunning and the whole package feels refined.
The racing is like an injection of amphetamines into the eyeball and the game play concept novel with some real "holy xxxx" moments.
would like to pay homage to the sound effects. In particular I love the realistic "whoosh" as you go past pillars and such near, I have always missed this air compression / noise reverberation??? effect in the racing games especially as it is such a normal part of real driving (with the window open). it is the first time I have heard it in a racing game.
as per other racers but perhaps more so, off line, there is a lot of jiggery pokery going on with the positions and speed of other cars to maintain the illusion of excitement and give more power play opportunities. On line it is more of a proper racer but you need the best cars to compete. One thing missing, especially in a TV themes racer is actual instant replay of the race, you can sometimes replay power plays but a total replay of a race , and taking photos and all that is not available here. Personally I don't care about this especially when the race experience is so exhilarating

Split/Second is an arcade racer that incorporates track destruction during races to to either destroy your opponants or change the route of each circuit...

I bought Split/Second the same time my friend bought Blur... Can I just say that we really like Blur, its a good game, but we both prefare Split/Second... Where as Blur is in the fashion of Wipeout or MarioKart (each car picks up items by driving over the symbols on track and you then go on to shoot, drop or shield from your vehicle), Split/Second uses the players drifting, drafting and jumps to build up their power bar to trigger explosions within the circuits environments to destroy people around you...

The cars handle really well and drifting around corners or hair-pins is a dream... Its a game that anyone can just pick-up and play but it also rewards the skilled/seasoned driver...

Graphically, its a tour de force... The detail in the circuits and cars is amazing but its in the destruction where the graphics really shine... Huge buildings explode with debris flying everywhere and smoke and flames cloud your vision of the track... Giant chimneys crumble and throw your opponants across the track like toy dinky cars... Its all in great detail and its all here...

Split/Second has been critisized for two main things:

Rubber banding
Only having 12 tracks

Can I just say on the rubber banding issue, it does happen, but this is an arcade racer and not a sim... Also I would sooner be stimulated throughout the whole race rather than getting into first place within seconds then spending the remaining 2 laps snoozin your way around the circuit on your own in 1st place... Boring...

Also, on 'only' having 12 tracks... Each circuit has the potential to change the route of the track... Some circuits can have 3 route changers per race... Each route turns the race on its head as it opens up a completely new area to the track... Try remembering all the route changes and short cuts...

All in all highly recommended and for me its my game of 2010... A solid single player campaign and a thoroghly enjoyable, get ya mates round, av a laugh split-screen two player mode...