Split/Second

One of my favorite games of all time is Burnout Revenge. So much so that when Burnout Paradise released, I spewed nine kinds of hate towards it for changing the formula and jettisoning everything good that was in Revenge. Having since played it on the PS3, my hate has softened like a gallon of ice cream left out at a birthday party. It's still there, but everyone has forgotten about it.

Enter two new contenders to the Burnout Revenge throne. Not that they were being marketed as such, but in my mind both Blur and Split/Second were being developed to fill the void that the Burnout franchise abandoned several years ago. The only recent contenders for the position of "full-on destruction smash racing game" have been Full Auto and possibly Motorstorm, and as you know neither fit the bill or fill the shoes of Burnout.

I played the Blur beta and enjoyed it quite a bit. Since I don't have a Wii anymore I can't play Mario Kart, so Blur scratched that competitive itch and did it with gorgeous graphics and real cars. The Split/Second demo was also good fun, so it was pretty much a toss-up as to which one would be spinning in my console sometime soon.

Best Buy recently had a sale on Split/Second, dropping the price to $40. Decision made!

So this brings me to the reason for this writing. Split/Second IS the new Burnout. I'm only 3 episodes in to the campaign and I'm loving the racing, destruction, and explosions. Blur might give you different weapons to use on your opponents, but Split/Second makes the entire track your weapon. It's amazing.

The only thing I wish it has is the Twitter integration that Blur has. It is cool that the achievements you unlock show up as decals on your car. This is an awesome idea and something that should be implemented in other games (Reach, I'm looking at you).

Bottom line is, if you've been wanting a good racing game, the wait is over. It's been quite a dry spell, but Split/Second is like a shot of Gatorade to the face. Gatorade and gasoline.

Split/Second