If Split/Second: Velocity was a song, it would be “Boom Boom Pow”. If it was a film, it would be a Fast and the Furious title. Shiny, fast-paced and (at least at first) shallow, its premise is that this is all a high-octane, violent vehicular reality show where obstacles and explosions are thrown in front of any competitor crazy enough to take part. It seems a bit high concept for an arcade racer but it works, letting the motoring madness run riot.
Speeding down an airport runway in a shiny red sports car is cool; speeding down an airport runway with an out-of-control aircraft thundering toward you is insane. and also bloody hard to dodge! That's the idea behind Split/Second, an arcade racer in which you wreck your opponents by triggering destructive hot spots scattered all about the track. The frequent explosions, tumbling debris, and resulting tug-of-war among racers are undeniably stimulating, and great fun, for ar least for a while. You'll whoop for joy when you demolish four opponents at once as they pass under a fuel station and moan aloud when a falling concrete beam crushes your vehicle like a beer can. These jolts are electrifying, but they aren't lasting ones. Once you learn the tracks and the tricks, the excitement dies away. Then, you realize that underneath the booms and bangs is a solid but one-dimensional racer that relies almost completely on a single mechanic. That mechanic isn't enough to boost Split/Second to the head of the pack, but it is still a fun racer with a lot of speed and a lot of spark and is worth buying.
