Split Second: Velocity

Split Second: Velocity

Split Second is an action racing game developed by Black Rock Studios and published by Disney. This game was released in 2009 and set to bring a new style to the already popular racing genre. Split second's selling point is that the game is a fictional reality TV program, in which you must buil;d up your "Powerplay" to destroy the scenery and other peoples cars.

The gameplay elements are much like a normal car racing game but with a slightly more action oriented feel with the constant explosions and the adrenaline rush of levelling a 4 story building to create a new path for you to drive through. This creates for an incredibly fast paced experience for the gamer as they must constantly be aware of their surroundings as they do not know if the opposition has the points to destroy the scenery around them.

The graphics shown in this game are incredibly realistic even 4 years on they are still incredibly detailed and seem close to real life, which is the professional norm for serious racing games. However, one negative point is that when riding close to a collapsed building small bits of debris sticks to your screen. I believe however, realistic you may believe this to be, I believe it comes across as tacky and do not agree with their decision to use this.

The sound in this game is very intense. The car engines are incredibly loud in comparison to everything else, including collapsing buildings. This is unrealistic but i believe it adds to the fast paced action of racing your car, all of the focus is on you driving which means your focus is not shot on something else. They also use a variety of fast songs which adds to the action packed settings.

The fun-factor of this game is very obvious. Who doesn't love pressing a button and watching a motorway fall ontop of the unsuspecting man in first place, only to then take over as the victor of the race! This is also very satisfying when you find out this game has online multiplayer! I believe the key demographic for this game was teenage males and so the constant explosions and loud noises can be considered here as well because that just makes the game so fun for this specific audience.

The Replayability for this game, as previously mentioned is in its multiplayer, both offline and online. When having computer AI in singleplayer chase you the game will seem very one sided, as they choose not to use powerplay very often. This is completely reversed when playing the game online or split screen with a friend, because you will be constantly hunted by the other players and powerplays will be activated to screw you over as often as possible. This can easily be the most fun and most frustrating experience for any prominent driving game enthusiast.

 

I believe this game is a:

3.5/5

Rentable

I am not very interested in the racing game genre and so my opinion will be very different to any person who is interested in this sort of game.