Split / Second Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)First I will say that I am a big fan of arcade style racing games in which you can cause mayhem and destruction. In my opinion Burnout Revenge is the best game in that genre for the X-Box 360 but Split/Second is a split second behind.

Split/Second is set in a reality show where you must earn credits in races, elimination races or time trials, in order gain access to new cars, open up new events and advance to future episodes. Each episode is broken up into events and these tracks are rigged with booby traps that you can set off on your opponents, yourself if you aren't careful, or others can spring them on you. These traps are called power plays and you earn the ability to trigger them by filling up your power meter by drifting, drafting, jumping or nearly avoiding a trap sprung on you. When you do trigger them they make beautiful explosions, hurl obstacles onto the track or even bring buildings down. Also you can activate a route changer which changes the track and opens up a new path. If you time these triggers right you can take out multiple opponents or even yourself if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Spring them at the wrong time and they will miss taking anyone out and the power is wasted. If you finish the race with a top ranking you earn credits which go towards new cars or unlocking events, which are all automatic so you don't have to worry about managing them. You can always go back and retry an event again if you fail or want to better your ranking and try for first place, in order to max out your credits.

Overall this game is a blast, literally. It's really easy to just pick up and play and has a nice tutorial race to teach you about how the power plays and route changes work. The graphics are great. The explosive effects are spectacular, especially when you bring down whole buildings or when an airplane crashes on the runway coming right at you! Your power meter and position in the race show right under your bumper in 3rd person mode or at the bottom of the screen in 1st person mode so the screen isn't cluttered with information that is distracting. The sound is excellent really adding to feel of speed and mayhem. The motion feels fluid and the cars handle nicely, it just feels right to me. You get a good feeling of speed but not so much so that you can't control your car, at least most of the time. Also there is X-Box Live and split screen multiplayer modes and this is where the game will really shine. I must say it's good to see split screen mode because it seems lately I'm starting to see more games without it.

There are a few minor negatives about the game in my opinion. The music is OK, has an action based reality show sound to it but I would've liked to hear some real songs, music with a fast beat to it like Burnout Revenge's soundtrack. Also sometimes I feel the drifting is a bit over the top. You will go around a corner and start drifting and spin out without even really initiating the drift yourself. It's a nice effect in that it's a challenge but sometimes it just feels like you aren't in control of your car on turns that aren't even that sharp. Also the single player portion may be rather quick to complete because so far it doesn't seem too difficult.

Overall though the game really is good quality. If I could I would give it 4 1/2 stars with 1/2 a star off for what I feel are only minor drawbacks, but I round that up to 5 here. I was hooked the first time I played it and really what more can one ask for in a game than that? It is just plain explosive fun.

PROS:

+ Excellent graphics
+ Incredible special effects with things blowing up all around you
+ Great sound
+ Easy to control with a nice fluid feel
+ Good multiplayer and with split screen too
+ Just plain fun

CONS:

- Ho-hum soundtrack
- Sometimes feel like the drifting is a bit overdone
- Limited difficulty on single playerUPDATE (5-31-10):

After having played this some more I would like to make some points which I feel are important. One being a point many on the X-Box forums have made concerning the rubber banding AI, as in you can never really get a big lead on the AI racers because they are always right behind you, and frequently zoom past you even if you are going full speed. This is a valid point and I understand why it is frustrating. You can be in first place about to win and the AI in second place zooms by you. Or you might drift too much, lose some speed and two or three AI racers zoom by you. It does seem kind of cheap but quite frankly I feel that if the developers didn't do this the game would be no challenge at all. You would get into the lead and widen the gap so much between you and the AI that you would never have a chance of losing. In a way it adds a bit of strategy in that you should consider conserving your power plays near the end of the race instead of just blowing them as soon as they pop up. On more than one occasion I was able to win a race despite AI racers rubber banding past me near the finish line by taking them out right after they did, but be warned you will get frustrated sometimes when that doesn't work.

One other problem I have also noticed is how AI racers tend to push you out of the way, nudge you from behind to spin you out, and other means of aggressive behavior. This in itself is not a bad thing except for the fact you really can't do the same back to them. You can barely budge an AI racer at all. You can maybe direct them into a wall if you time it right but it's probably not worth the effort because you might as well concentrate on racing and not crashing yourself.

These AI issues, combined with the Detonator (time trial) races having very hard requirements to finish in first place, make for a more difficult and challenging game than I originally indicated in my review. You should have no problem completing the single player part of the game but completing it with a first place in every event (for a 130 point achievement) will be pretty challenging.

Concerning online play it is fun if you are in races with somewhat evenly matched cars. Unfortunately there is the ability to unlock all cars and tracks available via Microsoft points on X-Box Live. I say this is unfortunate because I feel people should have to earn their cars to compete online, not just buy them. It kind of cheapens online competition at least until the game is out long enough that most people have the cars one way or the other. As a tip I recommend playing through the season mode of the game before playing online because that is how you unlock the cars, plus you will learn the skills necessary to drive better.

The other points in my review stand. I have revised my score down to 4 stars for the AI issues which do become a problem later in the game. I still think that this is a really fun game despite the AI issues but it would be nice to see some fixes to these with smarter, rather than cheap AI. I would recommend trying Split/Second for fans of arcade racers involving destruction. Try renting or getting the demo to see if it's for you. If so go buy it and blow some stuff up now that it has gone down in price.

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Product Description:
Split/Second is an intense action racing game set within a reality television show. Competitors will vie to be the first to the finish line in a made-for-TV city set rigged to blow with the ultimate goal of becoming the season champion. Players in Split/Second don't just collide with other vehicles to knock them from the track, but can also trigger devastating events that drastically alter the dynamics of the race. Players must use pinpoint timing to obliterate huge structures and towering TV set pieces to tactically alter the track or create entirely new routes.

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