What Is It?
Split/Second is a racing game that takes place over the course of a season of an imaginary reality TV program. Players race on giant set pieces rigged with explosives, which they can trigger once they fill their Power Play meter in order to open up new shortcuts and inconvenience their opponents, with events ranging from signs falling across the road to massive, devastating events that change the track completely.

What We Saw
I watched a developer race through a new shipyard level before they allowed me to drive the same airport course that Crecente saw last month.

I had to play through the track twice, as the first time I went around I managed to flip my car, leaving it spinning on its roof, where it sat as the developers stared. Apparently this hadn't happened before, at least without the car resetting, which it didn't. I killed it!

How Far Along Is It?
They've still got a long way to go, with only two levels available at the show, only one of which was playable.

What Needs Improvement?
Again, Damage Modeling: Echoing Crecente's concerns, cars that are damaged don't drive as if they were damaged, and the game would certainly benefit if they did. Imagine the drama of taking out your opponents with a well-timed explosion and then limping across the finish line in a barely-drivable heap. This reality show could use a bit more reality.

What Should Stay The Same?
Drifting And Handling: I'm not sure if the controls have been tweaked since the last time we previewed the game, but I found Split/Second's controls to be perfect for an arcade racer. It feels very much like a boostless Burnout, which for me is the sweet spot for a pick up and play racing experience.

Big Budget Blow-ups: Signs and power lines falling across the track are impressive, but when an entire section of the track sinks into the ground? If Split/Second can manage to pull off massive events like this on a consistent basis it's going to be one hell of a show.

Single Track Variety: I got to play through the airport track twice (well, one and 3/4 times), and both times the experience was completely different. That's the joy of Power Plays. Depending on who you are racing and what Power Plays are available (more unlock on each track as you progress in the season), the variety present in any one track is delicious.

Final Thoughts
While I wish I could have seen more, what Black Rock Studios has so far for Split/Second has a great deal of potential. It's an arcade racer with an element of strategy to it, which could be a sweet answer to delivering a deeper racing experience to those of us who shy away from the more realistic driving simulators out there.

What Is It?
Made by the team behind PURE, Split/Second hopes to deliver a racing game packed with Hollywood-sized special effects. In the game, players can build up their power play bar by drifting, drafting, jumps and near misses. Once filled, icons on the screen tell players when they can activate small and large power plays which can derail other cars, blow out walls or even permanently alter the course.

What We Saw
I played through a single race four times.

How Far Along Is It?
There was only the one level available, built specifically for the event. The game itself, I was told, has a long way to go before it hits the PS3, PC and Xbox 360.

What Needs Improvement?
Control Sensativity: The game's controls are still a bit too touchy for a racer, but the developers said they know that is an issue and are already working on modifying the controls.

Graphic User Interface: The first time I saw the game, the score, place, and power play gauge were all on the car's bumper. This time around they are all displayed beneath the bumper. It's an improvement, but I'm still not in love with the look. I think the look has plenty of room for improvement.

Damage Modeling: While the cars do take damage as you race around the course, that damage doesn't impact the way a vehicle handles. In a game that's all about taking out the competition, damaged cars need to act damaged.

What Should Stay The Same?
Power Plays: The power plays are broken down into small and large events. I was able to trigger gas station explosions, walls collapsing, taking out an entire highway overpass and even downing a large commercial flight. These events, which both slow other races and change the actual course, are what this game's all about. On the course I ran, they had a nice mix and all of them were delivered with over-the-top graphics.

Aesthetic: The game's look is perfect for what it wants to deliver, a summer blockbuster of a racing title packed with explosions and surreal events.

Over-the-top Action: In my final race, finally comfortable with the controls and understanding the concept of the two-tiered power plays, I tore the track apart, speeding through billowing clouds of dust, drifting around flaming wreckage and avoiding a crashing plane. It was unlike any race I had played before.

Simplified Controls: The controls definitely need work, but using them couldn't be easier. One trigger is gas, another brake and you pull both to drift. Then there's one button to activate the smaller power plays and another to activate the larger ones.

Final Thoughts
Split/Second is a great idea, a racing game in a staged set built around the idea of blowing things up and changing your course. The game adds a much needed sense of fun and tactics to a genre that is increasingly in danger of becoming a niche accessible only to gearheads.

Why, Black Rock Studios own Split/Second, the explosive reality show-meets-street racing game, of course.

"We're all fans of street racing here, but as a genre it is relatively stale – the evolution is only coming from how you customise cars, which can only serve to remove you from the action – I think Split/Second will do the opposite," game director Nick Baynes tells Develop.

Obviously, some of this is drinking the development Kool-Aid, publicizing the merits of one's own video game, so it must be taken with a grain of salt.

But Black Rock studio head Tony Beckwith says there's some data to back those statements up.

"If you look at the sales figures, the racing genre is in many respects dying out – take Mario Kart out of the equation and the category is in a dire way," he says. "I think this genre is ripe for something new and inventive to give it a kick start."

While the game certainly looks flashy enough and critical acclaim for Pure was positive, we'll have to see if Split/Second lives up to the developer's own hype.

Disney's Black Rock: We can save 'dying' racing genre [Develop]

Coming early next year for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, Split/Second is, as Crecente observed, a melding of Death Race and Burnout, crafted by Pure developer Black Rock Studio. Players race through a made-for-TV built with destruction in mind, with the ultimate goal of becoming the season champion of a reality television show. As well as knocking opponents off the track, racers will be able to strategically alter the race's route by triggering huge explosive events.

"We're creating huge memorable moments on par with the biggest blockbuster action films," said Nick Baynes, game director, Black Rock Studio. "Action racing has captured the imagination of video game fans worldwide and we're going to redefine that experience with Split/Second."

Sounds like a game that could capture the hardcore Burnout fans who've jumped ship due to Burnout Paradise's change in direction.

With off-road, over-the-top racer Pure and a slew of ATV and MotoGP titles under their belt, it looks like Black Rock wants to get into the street racing business.

Looking over their job vacancies page, it looks like the game will likely be for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. I'm guessing this is the original IP racing game that they were hiring a lead technical artist for back in May.

The video ends with To Be Continued March 11, 2009, so we don't have long to wait.

This is due in no small part to the visuals. Each track in Pure is loaded with smooth-looking graphics and lush backgrounds that almost distract you from racing. The bikes themselves don’t look half-bad, either. Though there are no licensed models, each part of the bike is licensed and if that means anything to you, you can look forward to cobbling together some pretty sweet custom bikes with some of the best parts; there must be more than a thousand combos you could come up with. Bikes either skew towards fast racing models, or slower trick bikes. An auto-build-your-own mode lets you get as crazy with customization as you can stand without having to go through each and every bolt and frame choice.

On to the actual gameplay. We were treated to the multiplayer experience – not a great idea because they pit journalists against the production team so needless to say, we got slaughtered. But at least we got to see most of the seven tracks in the game while getting our asses handed to us. There were two tracks apiece for Thailand, New Mexico, and of course, Italy (hence the statues) plus one extra track I never made it to because I kept toppling off of cliffs. The idea is that one track usually has all the high jumps and is better for trick-racing, while the other is a lot shorter with tighter turns, a true racing track. Both are decked out with images appropriate to the area (hot air balloons for New Mexico, jungles for Thailand, etc.)

We spent most of multiplayer going through Freestyle mode where the idea is to do as many tricks, grab as many power-ups and (obviously) finish first to get the highest score. Tricks are crucial to gameplay in Pure because without them, you don’t earn boost – and without boost, you can’t win. Other modes include Sprint (a straight-up race) and a third mode I again didn’t make it to by virtue of dying a lot.

But don’t cry for me, Argentina – dying in this game is fun. Of course since Disney’s holding the leash, you’re not going to get bloody gore, or sickening bone breakage; but developer Black Rock Studio sure knows its rag doll physics. After the third time I failed a coffin trick and landed on my head I deliberately started to see just how sick a wreck I could get into, giggling like a girl with a glitter stick in art class.

A PR rep noticed and tried to correct my epic fails by re-explaining the controls. “Just hold down the right trigger to go forward… Yes, that’s it. Now, you’ve got to push the right stick forward when you’re going up a hill and then pull it back right before you launch to get really high… Good, good… Okay, you start out only with basic tricks by pressing A while jumping. Oh, look, you unlocked B tricks… hey, you did a Superman! Okay, okay… Now, land it. Land it.”

Crunch.

I asked about a crash-cam. He said something about ESRB ratings and took me off of multiplayer. “Let’s see how you do on a basic track… let you get the feel of things.”

I did get the feel of things pretty quickly in single-player. Pure is nothing if not intuitive. By the end of the first track, I was pulling of the Y button tricks; insane feats that you simply can’t do in real life – like ghost-riding the whip 150 feet in the air. Apparently, if you nail these tricks, you’re given the option to create your own tricks by holding down the left and right buttons.

“We want this game to be for everybody,” said the PR rep. “We can’t make it too hard or too graphic.”

“Uh-huh,” I said, ramming into the side of some ancient Roman ruins.

He gave me the hairy eye. “You really are a fan of Burnout, aren’t you?”

Pure is out September and I look forward to getting my driver killed in new and interesting ways with every race.

Here’s the most massive blitz of screens ever – plus a few pics I took of the party.