Reviewed by: Sci0n
Black Rock Studio's is no stranger to racing game's as they have a good amount of knowledge under there belt, with games like Pure, MotoGP series, Even Crash N Burn (which we loved) but then why does Split Second: Velocity feel like its missing something....
It all begin's here, and now on BR-TV (Rubber Band A.I is part of the package)
Split Second is like something Michael bay would do if he made games, as there are enough explosions, Crash's Etc. That one could make a film it self! Split Second is set in a reality game show called 'Split Second' and is Recorded/Aired by BR-TV (Black Rock) and you are a contestant on the show who is there to take on the elite racer's and win the 'Split Second Season'
Eat my Dust, or was that someone's Power Play?
Split Second is split over 12 Episode's on 12 racks, and in each episode there are 6 different Race's some consist of;- Race: Win the race by any mean necessary, by completing the required laps.
- Survival: Is you against other A.I drivers while a Big Rig drop's exploding barrel's for you to dodge and rack up points and beat the High Score.
- Detonator: Pit's you against the clock while trying to avoid the automatic Power plays triggered, there is no room for error in this game mode!
- Air Strike/Revenge: You a chopper and a heck load of missile's which you have to dodge to rack up points and multiplier's, In revenge you do the same but this time you can knock back the Rockets at the said chopper to win, the quicker you do this the better as you are timed!
- Elimination: Same as race but only the last position gets knocked out after a certain time, so being 1st is nearly all ways a must!
- Elite Race: These the elite players of Split second, who will stop at nothing to win or make sure you loose. High Speed Action, Explosions are a must in theses race's if you want to win!
Episode 5 - 2 Race's, 1 Survival, 1 Air strike, 1 Bonus race, 1 Elite race...
Doing theses Race's Earn you Credits to unlock other cars Etc. and this is where we felt Split Second show's one of it's weakness. As there is no point in Unlocking a Faster way better car if the A.I is gonna keep up with you, there was even time's when cars that had low strength could ram our car of the road or even push us like we was a piece of paper. hell we even won some race's with a low level car against some of the Elite vehicles, so we was asking our self's what was the point to theses car's as it didn't feel like it offered anything. OK some did handle better than others also some had way better acceleration/speed but that's all pointless if the A.I are in low level cars than you and can keep up or push your car around like its nothing. we triggered a Power Play quite a few times wrecking multiple cars only for us to drive skillfully round this chaos only for them to be right behind us 1 second later yet this happens to you and, well lets say you'll be playing catch up!We thought Rubber band A.I went out yrs ago yet it seems black rock studio thought it was a good idea to keep it in the game, we can understand that they did this to keep the action and power plays constant but as gamers we feel as though if i set up a power play and smash multiple cars with one and we drive skillfully through it all then we should be rewarded for it. Not like 'hell yeah that was awesome' then only to have all of them right behind you again, as it give's no time for the player to enjoy his hard work!
Micheal Bay would eat his heart out here!
This is not to say split second isn't fun, as it is at times but more so it's frustrating when the A.I can do whatever they want yeah they make mistakes from time to time, but there are to many moments where they do something that would wreck your car or even slow your car down. see we remember these things in games like Burnout, Need for speed. but these games were on the last gen console's and we could forgive it back then as every time they did another one (sequel) they would make the A.I better and not have them up your arse all the time. As with split Second there a many moments where your like 'common, common... your taking a corner brilliantly, skillfully driving through the chaos/explosion's handle the effects of the power play; only to look back and see the cars be hide you doing it with ease. even though the force of some power plays knock your car from the after effect of the explosion's! see our biggest problem with split second is that once you've raced on all the tracks, you know what to expect or maybe whats gonna happen and we feel that at times it becomes all to predicable.
What Happens next?....... (yeah we crashed into it)
But we do have to admit when you forget about the A.I and it's short coming's Split Second is something of fresh idea, it's different and new so we have to give it to black rock studio for trying something new as alot of other developers wont take the risk theses days. And as we all know nothing is perfect on its first time, we could sit here a pick at other things like; not being able to trigger power plays behind us, or that the handling sometimes feels off or goes weird for no reason. But again as we said this is a new IP and no everything will be perfect and we can respect that!Now once you venture online with Split Second a lot of these problems go away, as many times did we beat other racer's easily because we was in a much better car than they was (this is why we was confused about the SP side of it) yeah we even got beat due to this at times when we hadn't unlocked some of the better car's. So yeah playing online will require a decent car unless you don't mind getting beaten a lot!
Waiting in the lobby, and hoping to whoop some people!
the modes online are the same as the Single player yet you don't have; Detonator, Air strike/Revenge, Elite Race's. But you do get the rest and we must say Survival is a lot of fun against friends, as the Race's online usually come down to what car your racing as we said before the stats for your cars do matter online Unless you keep making mistakes.As you can see in our Multiplayer Race Below
Online does offer some options for the host to change basic things but still better than coming out to re-do it all or just to change the game mode. if anything the online part of Split Second is not as predicable as the SP side of it as you have real players to deal with and not the A.I the game does say its supports Downloadable Content so it will be good to see what they put out. We hope its some more tracks than anything else well we would have liked the option of replays as we did feel a bit let down by this, the game has none not even a Photo Mode! which is weird as alot of games are starting to do this.
As we said your basic in-game options!
So does Split Second hold up to what else is on offer out there... well yes and no, as if anyone is a big Burnout, Need for Speed fan will enjoy Split second but might feel a bit let down by its Rubber band A.I or is lack of tracks Etc.. as Critertion Studio's have have done an amzing job with the burnout series and we think it would be hard for anyone to say this takes there Crown. but we would easly recomend Split second to these people as it offers just enough to keep you interested untill either Critertion make another Burnout, or till we get the Need for speed: Hot Pursuit. Either way Split Second does have alot to offer arcade racers out there. yes Split Second does have its short comings but it does remind us of those time when we was trying to beat a record or score, and missing it by a second or a couple of points. Only for us to keep trying over and over again until we got it!
Will everyone enjoy Split Second... No they wont but for those who do, will know every second/point, Corner, Close call, and power play will count.
Pro's:
- Amazing visual's
- Addictive Multiplayer
- Good game modes
- Power Plays offer something new and change everything (including the track)
- Dare we say fun at time's
- Can get too Frustrating at times
- No Replay's (and why not BRS)
- Rubber Band A.I
- Car stats in Single player don't mean much
Here is a Video of the Options/Game Modes, for Split Second.