Split Second - Xbox360/PC/PS3

As much a Kart racer as an arcade racing title, Split/Second is as predicated on screwing over other competitors as finding a perfect driving line. The premise is simple: as a contestant on the television show Split/Second, you'll race against other drivers on a track designed to be destroyed.

 

Split/Second has the most impressive destruction and explosions yet seen in a racing game. Forget Burnout and Motorstorm; from passenger jets exploding across a tarmac as you race under a wing, to detonating power plant cooling towers, to collapsing train tracks, Split/Second assaults your eyes as soon as you're off the starting line. There's so much going on during races that it's often difficult to navigate the game's courses, though the designers usually do a pretty good job of marking turns and plastering visual cues around the track.




While it's occasionally clear that the the environments and vehicles have some fairly simple geometry, Black Rock has done well to heavily stylize the game through lighting and color filters. Each course has a specific palette and theme without feeling monotonous, and the lighting is particularly strong. Split/Second is the closest a racing game has come to approximating the look of popular car films of the last decade or so, and that goes a long way to selling the premise. The visual design and UI are also very slick, though occasionally a little obtuse.

Split/Second E3 trailer