Monday, August 30, 2010

Melancritic Reviews Split/Second



So, Split/Second. One of the more recent racing games out there. Promoted with promising a '"Hollywood'' experience, players get to race in various destructible environments, never having any race that is the same and promising excitement all around. Will the team behind popular racing game ''Pure'', Black rock studios again deliver a fun racing experience or will Split/Second really only leave a short impression? Click on ''read more'' to find out!



What if you have an arcade racer and a multi-billion Micheal Bay movie  and put them together in a blender, The result would be shrapnel, but jokes aside, that's what Split/Second is in a nutshell. The player is put in  the position of a contestant in a fictional TV-Series '"Split/Second'', and apparently the producers are the single most rich people in the world, as they can buy entire cities and rig explosives in them, but aside from the fact that such a show in real life-is impossible, we needn't forget that this is fiction, and immerse ourselves in the experience.

The game certainly does it's best to create a believable experience that one is participating in said TV Show, the game doesn't call the ''Stages'' Stages, but rather "Seasons'', and there are twelve different seasons, with six episodes per season, each episode representing one event like a race or something similar. Before and after each season, you get a nice little montage, like a real TV series, what previously had happened, and teases with what is up to come. Everything in the game's presentation literally screams Hollywood and TV Series, so the game certainly appropriately delivered on that. One really feels he or she is participating in a TV series.

This is also reflected in the gameplay, the HUD is kept to an absolute minimum, there is no Mini-Map or anything similar. The only Information you have is displayed on the back of your car, which shows the Lap Number, your Position and your Energy, nothing more nothing less. This was actually quite a smart move by the designers, as the place where you will be looking at most in a racing game is YOUR car, right? Sure, every once in a while you will watch to an upcoming corner, or a car that passes by, but you don't want your eyes all over the place. Split/Second cleverly fixes that problem, and i can really see other games taking this concept over. It's smooth, slick, and most important of all, it's not in the way.

With less clutter on your screen, you can really enjoy and immerse.

Well not, I did mention explosives did I not? This is one of the biggest gameplay parts in Split/Second, when drifting or drafting, you collect energy. Fill up 1/3 of your energy bar and you can execute what the game calls a ''Power Play''. Most light power plays lets some explosive barrels drop, or let some cars explode, I even saw a few real impressive ones like buildings collapsing. With these Power Plays you can wreck your opponent, taking away their spot. Obviously, other AI players can utilize the same power play against you, so the game is can really dish out some unexpected jabs at you, which can sometimes provide frustration, but the game always gives a fair chance. The larger Power Plays can even change the course of  the track drastically, creating an entirely new route, or letting an entire dam (Yes, and entire frigging dam, apparently Split/Second doesn't care about the welfare of other humans ) collapse. Such Power Plays always yield great result and it always feels satisfying to be in last place, then to have an airplane crash and snag in third or second place. Again, Hollywood is the key

Said explosives, tracks and cars are all very visually pleasing, and with so many destructible environments and route-changing power-plays, no race will indeed be the same. The graphics look slick and really mesh with the game style, and the explosions really sometimes make you stare in awe.

Simple arcade racing is not the only thing you can do though, there are various different events like dodging a helicopters missiles, trying to survive every powerplay detonated in a course, called ''Detonator'', and more, and these event mesh seamlessly in the Career Mode, making sure you things will feel fresh every time around, and that you don't get stuck by getting bored by doing the same thing over and over again.

However, for every good thing, there must be a bad thing as well. There are 11 different Courses/Tracks, but some are just slight variations of the other. The game, especially in the beginning stages, begs for more variety. It is only when you get halfway into the career mode when you have a good variation of tracks for each events, it is enough to prevent the player to get bored, but only barely.

As for online, it's basically what you are used to in the Career Mode, only upped a notch. Mix the ''Normal'' Race that you come across in Career Mode with '"Detonator'' and you have a pretty good idea what online races look like, literally everything will explode and collapse, so either this is extremely fun to you surviving amidst all the chaos, or will frustrate you to no end.

Split/Second, overall, looks very visually pleasing, and provides solid gameplay, and good fun overall, The game certainly delivers on it's promoting aspects ''Hollywood and Action'', and is easy to pick up and play. However, the lack of tracks, and online being mostly the same cars and being a little predictable, makes the worth of this game for re-playability a bit low. If you are curious, it's definitely worth a rental, or even a purchase if you are a fan of a good solid arcade racer.

Split/Second is available for the PS3, XBOX360 and PC.




44 comments:

  1. nice post, keep it up

    http://starcraft4real.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey man my blog is really similar! It's a Diablo 3 blog and hopefully you'll do a review of it.

    http://diablo3ftw.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. I never played split second. I had a feeling it'd be a need for speed rip off.. after this review i'll probably check it out breh

    follow me

    http://theinternetfiesta.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. so ps3 has games now?

    http://jimborockshard.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  5. ps3 always had games lol,

    http://worldtodavid.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  6. so, I got it, and then I derped and scratched the cd :/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Always eager to check your updates. :D
    Nice review.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ps3 has nogaems
    ^^

    http://www.cigarettetalk.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  9. ps3 is for grandpas

    http://musicvideogamestacos.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  10. I actually love Split Second. I'm about half way through the single player.

    http://protipstation.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  11. Welcome to Blogger!

    http://gamesntheory.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  12. I never said Split/Second was a bad game. It's just a shame the re-playability is low.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yeah, it's a one time type of game. Gotta love the PS3 games.

    http://dontspankme.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  14. I was thinking about this game. I like how they incorporated something new into it instead of making it another generic racing game.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Played this game on a friend's console. Your review does it justice, keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Nice review, I was thinking about renting it soon, makes me want to get it more.
    http://kieransklassykids.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  17. Looks like a nice change of pace to other games.

    http://thedailyshens.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  18. Seems pretty legit, ill check it out.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Sweet blog. You need to throw some more games on here though!

    Come check out my blog, and my youtube channel!

    http://nyksc2.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  20. @NYK, Reviews will be posted here daily.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Might have some wallpapers of this game on my blog:

    http://jeweettochzelluf.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  22. too bad my computer cant run the game properly :(

    http://heavy-metal-fest.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  23. sup bro following :)

    http://bucknakkid.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  24. you did a nice job reviewing this piece o shi-
    i do vidya stuff to but in a different direction

    http://mods-games-n-stuff.blogspot.com/
    see you there

    ReplyDelete
  25. I am intrigued by this game. I find most racing games fairly lackluster, but the premise of this sounds awesome. With that few tracks, however, I suspect I'd easily get bored.

    Keep it up, I'm liking your reviews so far.

    ReplyDelete
  26. @adzerodt

    Most tracks DO feature route changers, which will mix up the track a little, but a lot of the 11 different tracks entwine in eachother with these route changers though

    ReplyDelete
  27. dude i might get that game idk yet is it good?
    could you check out my blog please
    http://jonizal.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  28. Dude, looks exciting, I might check this out on the 360.

    ReplyDelete
  29. game was quite fun, i would give it 7/10

    http://flosa-nerdgasm.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  30. Nice blog maan, check out mine

    gamingintheknowhow.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  31. Another great review, definitely still following and viewing. Looking forward to future posts

    ReplyDelete
  32. I remember playing a demo of that game. The moment I started using "action" reels to take out my opponents, I immediately wanted to buy the game. Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  33. looks kinda cool, i'll have to check it out at my buddy's house once he gets it...

    katiegreene13vice.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  34. Checkin out some cool new blogs dude. Kill some time at mine. Good for some laughs

    ReplyDelete
  35. been contemplating buying this! definitely will now! thanks mate!

    ReplyDelete
  36. I wonder it it will run smoothly on my old PC. What the reqs?

    ReplyDelete
  37. May-12-2010
    Minimum System Requirements:

    Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 / Vista SP2 / XP SP3
    Processor: 3.0 GHz Intel Pentium D processor (Windows 7 / Vista) / 2.6 GHz Intel Pentium D processor (Windows XP) or 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 or equivalent processor
    Memory: 2.5 GB RAM (Windows 7 / Vista) / 2.0 GB RAM (Windows XP)
    Hard Drive: 6.5 GB uncompressed hard drive space
    Video Card (graphics): 256 MB DirectX 9.0c-compatible, 3D video card supporting Shaders 3.0 (NVIDIA GeForce 7600 or better, ATI Radeon X1600 or better) -- NOTE: Onboard (built-in) integrated chipsets are not supported
    Sound Card: 16-bit DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card
    DirectX: DirectX 9.0c (included)
    8x DVD-ROM drive

    Recommended Requirements

    Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 / Vista SP2 / XP SP3

    Processor: 3.0 GHz Intel Core2 Duo processor or 2.4 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 or equivalent processor
    Memory: 2.5 GB RAM (Windows 7 / Vista) / 2.0 GB RAM (Windows XP)
    Hard Drive: 6.5 GB uncompressed hard drive space
    Video Card (graphics): 512 MB DirectX 9.0c-compatible, 3D video card supporting Shaders 3.0 (NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT or better, ATI Radeon HD3870 or better)
    Sound Card: 16-bit DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card
    DirectX: DirectX 9.0c (included)
    8x DVD-ROM drive

    ReplyDelete
  38. Not that much into racing-games, but I saw the review on this that Yahtzee made (Zero Puncuation)

    follow me :)! h-toothrot.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  39. reading about games makes them so much better. its like forplay

    ReplyDelete