Split/Second - hands-on

There’s still work to be done. We often found ourselves stuck in a powerslide that didn’t end until barriers restrained us, so some handling tweakage would be welcome. The Burnout-style Crashcam has yet to be consistently implemented too. Both problems, we’re assured, are being rectified.

Unfortunately we did identify issues that aren’t likely to be sorted. Even after you've performed seemingly faultless racing the AI will overtake you, prompting you to use Powerplays. Sadly there’s no real opportunity to shunt these cars off the track when they’re up close; the game doesn’t recognise the maneuver as a valid ‘attack’, nor are there plans for it to do so.

Black Rock is unwilling to encroach on Burnout’s side-to-side scrapping, to its own detriment. As the easiest way to win involves easing off the gas and letting people pass (to avoid being taken out) and then wiping out those ahead with a Powerplay, the game’s trapped in a halfway house between racer and straight-up combat driving.

Finally there’s a danger that the set-pieces will grow pretty tiresome after three or four races on each track. Once the initial wow factor has receded, there’s little else to see, and after four tries of the airport level we can confidently say we’ve seen almost all the track has to offer. If the intensity can be maintained throughout its career mode Split/Second will be a racer to cherish. However, right now that’s an explosively big ‘if’.

Sep 23, 2009