"VROOM VROOM SPLODE!"
by Joel Brink

I love racing games. Pick a car, get in it, and drive it like you stole it. What's not to love? It's a simple formula that has kept eyes glued to the tube for ages. A lot of racing games fall short of this beloved status because they generally throw too much into the equation. All I want to do is push a button and scream around the track feeling like Mario Andretti on speed with my hair on fire. FUN! Split/Second gives me that wondrous feeling over and over with each lap I conquer.

I also like to blow stuff up - all kinds of things! Like a dufflebag filled with TNT, nails, potatoes, crystal balls, AA batteries, cupcakes, sneakers, cats, and pre-approved credit card offers! Okay, so maybe I'm just looking around the room and naming off things I see.

Split/Second brings together bitchingly fast racing and mega destruction smashingly.

The main chunk of gameplay comes from the career mode which is driven... by a fictitious TV show calling for racers to speed around courses rigged with mass amounts of explosives. The show is split up into 12 episodes, each episode containing different courses with different competitions. These events offer a great challenge from the very first to the very last, though the goal remains the same. Get first place. To do that, you need not only to race as fast as you'd like to drive on the freeway, you need to trigger epic course changing explosions along the way.

To unleash the fury of any monumental blast, all you need to do is, drift, draft, or jump. Performing any of these tasks fills up your power meter, allowing for some big booms. The power bar is split into 3 chunks, the first two representing minor power plays, and the third angry red chunk representing the course-altering power plays. To attempt a take-out on a rival racer, just trigger an explosion when either of the first two bars is filled. However, if you want to screw a whole slew of racers, fill the power meter up unitl all 3 bars are filled, then laugh as you destroy a cruise ship with all 7 other racers onboard. This is one of the great ways Split/Second separates itself from other games.

Most racing games allow you to pwn the competition by simply outclassing the AI with your vehicle choice. Like all those times when you pick a Ferrari to stick it to a Kia. Split/Second does not allow for this tomfoolery. When all you have is a low level entry car, you race against the same vehicle class. When you have a supercar at your disposal, the AI also has supercars. This holds true even when you do the very first race with the very best car. Be prepared for an expletive-laden challenge screaming, "I HIT THE FREAKIN' BUTTON YOU PIECE OF CRAP! THATS SO CHEAP, I SWEAR THIS GAME HAS SOME STUPID ASS CHEAT SUBPROGRAM THAT KICKS IN WHENEVER IM WINNING! THIS IS BULLSHI---what's that officer? A noise complaint?"

For as much mayhem, destruction, and blurring speed as the game spits out, it looks great and never chugged on me. The car models look shiny and crisp, the environments highly detailed, and the explosions epic and flame filled. Sure there were some texture pop-ins here and there, but I'll forgive that when I'm able to decimate a control tower and send a 747 crashing down the runway I'm racing on. You can tell the developers didn't use the blur of speed as an excuse to skimp on visual details. Well done.

Overall Rating: 9 out of 10 pieces of flying debris