If you've fancied games like Burnout Revenge, Forza and Mario Kart, you may want to check out Split Second. It's like a combination of those games. You may think it's just another racing game, but there is soo much more to it. Play enough of the single player mode - Season - and you unlock tracks and game modes for Quickplay.
Season consists of Episodes having 6 Events in each, that consists of various game modes, the last one being an elite race that goes towards points and placement for the season championship. Do enough wrecking of opponents and you also unlock a Bonus event for that Episode. Try being in the top 3 for all events to gain credits. Gather enough credits and you unlock another car.
Your number on the side of your car is your "rank". Number 1 being the highest, of course. There are different game modes and are as follows:
RACE
I know, kind of self-explanatory, but it comes with twists. Power plays are in almost all the game modes. Gain enough Power to fill your power bar/gauge by either drafting and/or drifting, jumping (at certain spots attainable by a power play), close calls, drift passes and jump passes.
You can trigger a power play when a segment is filled. There are 3 segments, 2 blue for level 1 power plays and the 3rd being orange red and the most powerful as you can trigger an alternate route. Known as a level 2 power play. Time it right and you can go from being in last to jumping right ahead to first. You may also use up a segment for triggering a shortcut. Mind you though, the others can follow you and vice versa if quick enough. But be careful, because the shortcut closes after a few seconds resulting in a crash if you don't make it.
Power play can also be used to blow something up in the environment ahead of you, like a truck in the middle of the road, so you can try to wreck the other cars ahead of you. Be careful though, as it may backfire and you end up crashing yourself. Triggering a power play at the right time is crucial, especially in the later episodes.
DETONATOR
In this mode, you are given a target time. You must drive a lap against the clock. Power plays are automatically triggered ahead of you. So, not only are you trying to beat the target time, you have to dodge obstacles and power plays along the way. At least you don't have to worry about other cars. But STILL, this to me is the most difficult of all modes, since it's the most frustrating. You are given a set car and cannot change it, since it's a challenge. So, even with me doing a flawless lap on some of the tracks, I still had around .02 - .04 seconds to beat the target time.
SURVIVAL
This is my absolute favorite. There are rigs that drop explosive barrels. Hitting a blue one slows you down. Hitting a red one, and it's an instant wreck. Overtaking a rig adds seconds to your timer. If you get an overtake streak, you add a score multiplier. IF time runs out, it's sudden death. One hit will end the event. There are other cars, so if that car hits a barrel, dodge like hell or you'll crash too.
AIRSTRIKE
You get only 3 lives at the start and a target score. You will be bombarded by waves of missiles coming from an overhead attack chopper. The missiles will have markers on the road which show where they are to land, blue meaning their preset mark, red meaning that's exactly where it will land. Each wave you survive, gives you a perfect wave bonus which gives you a multiplier. Get a wave streak to increase your multiplier. 3 direct hits or crashes and your car is toast! No need to watch out for other cars in this one, just the missiles. Hehehe...
AIR REVENGE
Basically, it's a revenge mode of airstrike as mentioned above. Only this time, you get the chance to pay him back. Instead of points, you will gain power for dodging the onslaught of missiles. Fill up that power bar/gauge and trigger some power plays to jam it's targeting system, bringing down it's health and ultimately, making it crash and burn to win.
ELIMINATION
As to it's title, when the timer hits zero, the last place car gets eliminated. Don't let that be you. Use the skills you've become accustomed to, to stay ahead of the pack. Be aware though, power plays are live and kicking, well, more like blowing... So use them to slow down rival drivers and try not to get wrecked by them or crash.
In Multiplayer, I've seen some lag on a few occasions, but not much and it's tolerable. You can have a lobby of 8 players max and play on some of the game modes you can find in Season. Race, Survival and Elimination. You may also set up private games too!
Pros and Cons?
- Your unlocked achievements become decals on your car, no matter which car you choose, it will automatically "stick it on there." They should have given you the choice for placement of them and which ones you want shown.
- You can paint each car with a preset color. They should have given you a more vast selection of colors and which parts of the car you want painted. If it's to be certain parts and make it like a rainbow. LOL! Or an option to paint it one color as a whole.
- The option to Press Y to change the view to bumper cam. Ahh yes, the only way to go for me. Makes me feel more at home, being a racer myself. Though it is kind of weird NOT seeing any dashboard with steering wheel in hand and a rear view mirror. They should have put in a driver's view cam. You CAN however click in the right thumbstick to look back, which kinda sorta fills in that need for a rear view mirror and look around with the right thumbstick too. But it's still meh. Too many buttons to worry about for a fast paced game, which should have been one less.
- Pressing LB for an Instant Replay when prompted for when you trigger a "wicked" power play. Almost like a cutscene. But shifting back to your race cam can get you confused for a second. For some, maybe a bit queezy too. The first time I triggered the Replay, I was drifting a corner and when it snapped me back to race cam, I lost control and crashed. Not doing that again. Only on the straights, if possible.
My overall score would have to be a 4.
Minor details, but it would have made the difference of me giving it a 5 out of 5...
