Last week I got Split Second for my PS3, along with 3D Dot Game Heroes , and Skate 3.
In my opinion they are all great games; Skate 3 giving a great Skating experience tied with challenges and a little bit of realism in the extreme sport. Then 3DDGH is a homage to all 8bit RPG games, most likely Zelda games. Some might say a copy, but once you play it, you might think its the greatest past-gen Zelda game. And in last place I got Split Second; from the first trailer I saw I was "in line" for this game. It looked like it was inspired in the arcade game play style from past Burnout games. And it was. Played the demo and liked it, the car was slow on the demo though. But it rocked.
Now that I got it and the reviews are out everywhere I feel good that I didn't got a game that is worldwide hated. It a pretty damn good game, maybe its a middle evolution of Burnout. Cars all look like taken out from Burnout, some tracks look identical to the game in comparison. But the game have a soul of its own. Made in style to feel like an action movie. And they nailed it. Even with the same 4 to 5 songs (not pretty sure) the game have the power to make you a little proud or anxious on the race. Great sound effects, and visuals that are pretty damn good. Progress wise, its pretty good. All tracks are similar but routes changed. On later tracks you can change routes and go though "older", similar tracks. After all the racing on the same tracks and you are familiar wit them you get thrown in an elite race; which is simply a "boss" race. But since you are racing on older tracks its pretty easy, NOT! Being a boss race they have the fastest cars and if you haven't tried to unlock all events on first place and tried to memorize all power plays you are in for a little bit of frustration my friend, or a second place to try and beat later with a better car.
But if the game is not that bad... what is it that a lot of people hate it?
I tried to see bad things in the game and even though I tried, I didn't noticed. Maybe the voice of the "host" of the reality show the game is based on, but that voice is made on purpose to sound like an action movie trailer voice. Just like in House of the Dead for Wii. Then its the driving... I loved the controls, I would have liked a turbo button or an e-brake but drifting is a breeze (with the right car) in this game. Power plays are the shit. Instead of throwing turtle shells at your opponents you are knocking buildings down or making trucks explode over four opponents, or making a tanker ship crash and ride through it, all its very rewarding and a spectacle to look at. Progress is not boring and there is always new power plays to try, and new cars to unlock. Variety? there is not only racing. There is a fast track while trying to dodge power plays, sorta like an action movie. Then there is Air Strike, where you have to evade an helicopters rockets, there is the variation to that where you evade and charge your power play meter and shoot back to the helicopter. And there is this event where you are racing behind trucks that throw gas tanks trying to knock you, your mission is to use other cars as shields and try to overrun the trucks, which the same as the other events, if you have the wrong car its no easy task.
No matter how I see it, the game is not bad, not even being a copy of Burnout. Yeah I sometimes feel the urge to take down an enemy racer to the side of the road, but then I remember that I can explode those three taxis and make other 2 racers go down with him.
The game is a blast to play, from the cheesy host, to the action packed races, to the great visual effects.
Maybe I cant recommend to buy it cause I am no game guru, but if you are a Burnout fan, go grab a copy. If you like arcade racing games go check it out or rent it. I got it and I loved it, and plan to get gold in all events.
Think of it like a merge of Burnout with Mario Kart....like the sound of it?
Image Credit: IGN.com
