Split/Second Hands-On Preview
Racing games aren't synonymous with Disney Interactive Studios, but they are becoming more common place following the acquisition of Black Rock Studios in 2006. As well as purchasing new studios, there has been a real focus on creating new IPs within Disney, and the latest one, Split/Second, looks like it could be the real deal.
Gaming Union recently had a chance to spend some extensive time with the game in a single-player race against numerous AI opponents. It enabled us to see what the hype is all about and it also enabled us to blow a ton of stuff up.
There has been a real shortage of good arcade racers in recent years, so Split Second arrives at the perfect time. Players perform various stunts, such as drifting, drafting and jumping, which allows them to increase their power play bars. Where most arcade racers have power-ups that can be collected, Split Second features an innovative system which see players use their Power Play, to use objects around the track to stop their opponents. It might sound quite underwhelming, but it's anything but.
Some of the objects are exploding buses, but it can range all the way up to huge buildings which are completely obliterated. Some of the larger objects can actually create alternate routes due to the sheer level of destruction, which means it's possible for the track to change during the race. Sometimes this will also offer up short routes, so even if the obstacle was unable to the slow the opponent down, forcing them to take a the longer path still gives them a disadvantage.
The AI characters can respond accordingly with similar attempts to sabotage the players progress, often making it essential to perform precision driving to avoid cars or structures, possibly even consealed by smoke or otherwise. It makes the action really fast paced and frantic, because all of a sudden a bomb might be being dropped out of a helicopter. Players also have to be careful that they don't hit their own offensive moves.
Graphically the game looks impressive. There is no hud, so to speak, as it's actually all generated on the bumper of the player's car. It means the majority of the focus is on the action, and the information that players need is right in the middle of their focus. The destructiveness honestly has to be seen to be believed and there didn't seem to be any frame rate drops despite all of the chaos on screen, it's very impressive.
Split/Second has all the tools to become a really solid game. It's a great arcade racer and the level of destruction on offer is definitely a unique selling point. Ironically, there didn't appear to be any damage to the cars themselves, which was a bit disappointing, but there's still plenty of time for amendments to be made before the game ships in March, 2010 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
