Black Rock Studio
Split/Second for Xbox 360
Rating:
5 Stars
Have you ever gone down to the airport with all of your luggage packed, ticket in hand, only to find out that your flight actually left two hours ago? That’s a classic case of being in the right place, but at the wrong time. The good news is you’re not alone. It happens to tons of people all the time. Sometimes, it even happens to video games, and that’s the case with Split/Second. This racing game, surprisingly published by Disney Interactive Studios, was released roughly two years ago to what most would consider mediocre sales. Despite great reviews, the game's poor performance ultimately led to the closure of the developers, Black Rock Studio, the same studio that brought you Pure back in 2008. Split/Second was brave enough to take an incredibly unique spin on the already popular battle racing genre.
Seeing as you’re surrounded by established hits such as Mario Kart, Burnout, Twisted Metal, and Flatout, it’s a tough enough field to make a name for yourself in. What’s even worse for Split/Second was the fact that many other blockbuster games were being released around the same time. Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption, and Mod Nation Racers were all making their debut, while many other hits such as Modern Warfare 2, GTA IV, and Borderlands were all rebounding with DLC packs. Sadly, Black Rock just couldn’t gain any ground despite their unique take on the concept.
The thing that makes Split/Second so special is the way the game is set up. It takes place on a remote man-made island built explicitly for the purpose of a hit reality TV show, Split/Second. Throughout weekly episodes, racers make their way around tracks on the island rigged with block-buster-action-movie-like explosions. As you drift, draft, jump, and skillfully navigate the island, you fill up your power play meter, which grants you access to the set pieces.
Remember that plane you missed? It’s a good thing, because it’s about to come crashing down right in front of you. Next thing you know, the radar dish comes rolling across the track, and then the highway explodes beneath you, and suddenly you’re in an underground tunnel with an all new path for the race track. There are barges to blow, towers to topple, and bridges to break all in the name of pure adrenaline fueled racing.
The Fun Stuff:
Let’s face it, blowing stuff up is an absolute blast, no pun intended. That’s why Hollywood spends so much on creating larger-than-life explosions for movies. Admit it, when you were a kid, half the time you spent ‘playing baseball in the backyard’ was actually spent trying to light something on fire or setting off the rest of the Fourth of July fireworks that ‘mysteriously’ went missing. It’s something everyone loves doing, and that’s what makes Split/Second so much fun! It gives you the opportunity to blow lots of stuff up. It’s the most important part of the game, thus consequently - and fortunately - it’s the part it does best.
The set pieces in the game range from small cars parked on the side of the road exploding to entire buildings toppling over. The power plays, as they’re called, are broken into two categories. The smaller ones, such as the cars or shortcuts, are indicated by a blue notification icon and only require one-third of the aforementioned power play meter to be full. The other category, which requires a full power play bar, is denoted by a red icon. These are where the game really shines.
Some of them are attacks on a grand scale, such as a giant dump truck being dragged across a bridge causing support beams to crush the other races. Others are course-altering explosions. Entire sections of a highway are blown out, giant towers fall across the racetrack, or half of a dam crumbles forcing you to drive up on top of it. These changes are sometimes even layered multiple times on the same track. Should you time everything perfectly, it’s possible that you’ll end up driving three very different laps around the same course. There’s nothing more exhilarating than narrowly avoiding a Boeing 747 as it crashes down right over you.
If you grow tired of blowing up other racers, there are a few other game modes to soothe your palate. One pits you against all of these explosions as you race for the fastest time with everything blowing up around you. There’s also a mode that has you avoiding missiles launched from a helicopter above you to rack up the highest score possible. A similar mode has you attempting to avoid explosive barrels being launched out of the back of semi-trucks while simultaneously attempting to overtake them. There are others which are slight variations on these modes, such as the classic elimination style race where the person in last gets eliminated when a timer hits zero and one that allows you to fire missiles back at the helicopter attacking you.
The Frustrating Stuff:
Unfortunately, despite all of these awesome, multi-leveled explosions and the numerous race types, there’s one thing that is severely lacking in Split/Second. You can choose what you play, where you play, and what you drive with… but you can’t choose how you play. Not even the number of laps can be adjusted. With that in mind, it’s also no surprise you can’t personalize your car beyond the paint color.
Another thing you’ll likely notice while racing is that some of the tracks overlap in sections, or at least sit near each other. It’s a shame there’s no way to define a custom path around the tracks that do interweave for even more fun. Better yet, there could have been a track editor allowing you to customize your own path and your own explosions!
Bottom Line:
It’s clear that Black Rock put a lot of work into the game. From the gorgeous car models and stunning explosions that flawlessly resemble their Hollywood counterparts to the games upbeat original soundtrack and the pre-show or post-show cut scenes that really make it feel like a TV episode, no detail of the presentation was left untouched. All of the fun continues while the challenge is amped up when you take the races online against 7 other human opponents.
From start to finish, this game just screams adrenaline and keeps you on the edge of your seat. It’s a shame that the planned sequel was canceled because the slight imperfections this game had probably would have been fixed. Those imperfections shouldn’t keep you from experiencing Split/Second; however, for some, it may be a game best served up with some friends around. With the likelihood that it’s now at about a $19.99 price point, anyone who even vaguely enjoys arcade racing games should pick this one up.
Split/Second was developed by Black Rock Studio and published by Disney Interactive Studios. It was released in North America on May 18, 2010 with an E10+ rating from the ESRB and an MSRP of $59.99. This review was based on a copy of the game purchased after the release date.
Anthony Ortale writes news and reviews on behalf of Examiner.com. He does so much gaming in his spare time, it’s practically a full time job! If you like what you read here, please subscribe to his articles! You can also follow Tony on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook! If you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to email Tony any time at ortale.anthony@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you