You won’t have long to admire the view however, as its not long before you get crushed by a two-hundred foot tall air-control tower. Or crumpled under a collapsing bridge. Or knocked into the side-hoardings by a dump truck being dragged along the track by a helicopter. If (or when) any of these things happens, you have become a victim of one of the games many ‘powerplays’. Triggering a powerplay is as simple as pressing X or B; the trick is that before being able to do so, you must build up your powerplay meter by drifting, jumping or drafting opponents. Filling one bar activates the small level one powerplays (generally consisting of small explosions, steel drums being dropped onto the track etc). Level 2 powerplays up the ante, bringing down bridges and toppling radar dishes. To see the game’s real showstoppers requires all three bars to be filled; activate a Level 3 powerplay and all hell breaks loose. Discovering what the powerplays are and how best to use them is a big part of game, so we’ll try not to spoil them for you too much; but what we can say is that Blackrock have done an amazing job of putting you in the middle of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie – if you see something on the side of the track, chances are you can make it explode, topple, collapse or simply disintegrate.

While the powerplays are hugely spectacular, we do have slight concerns that – as weapons – they can lack the tactical satisfaction of more immediate/traditional car-combat weaponry. At times you find yourself jabbing the powerplay button whenever the cue appears in the hope that an opponent will fall foul of the resulting explosion, but successful hits aren’t always as satisfying as, say, slamming someone with a green turtle shell or lining up a shot with a laser beam. This is a small criticism – and, let’s be honest, is one that’s fairly easy to overlook when the powerplays look so good – but it’s a criticism nonetheless.

Outside of the core singleplayer (which is split into Seasons and comes complete with a suitably cheesy announcer), Blackrock have done much to expand the experience. There’s two-player split screen along with a Survival mode that pits you against massive, explosive-barrel discharging trucks (dodge the barrels, score points…it’s not as simple as it sounds!). In Airstrike and Air Revenge you must avoid missiles being rained down by an attack chopper (and, in the latter, bounce them back at the helicopter). There’s also a fully featured multiplayer (also see our hands on preview) supporting up to eight drivers in races, survival or elimination modes. In another nice little touch, decals are placed on your car to show off your online achievements – which is a great way to differentiate the noobs from the veterans.

When you finally take the key out of the ignition, step out of your hotrod and observe all the carnage that Split Second has wrought, the overriding impression is that this is one slick game. While it may divide audiences (we foresee this and Blur quickly becoming embroiled in a FIFA vs. Pro Evolution Soccer style conflict amongst fans), it does what it does extremely well, and the risks that Blackrock has taken genuinely push racing games in a new, interesting and explosive direction. The subtitle of ‘Velocity’ suggest that Disney would like to make this the start of a franchise, something that we would be more than happy to see happen – if only to see what other insane powerplays Blackrock can come up with.

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