Last week I was down in LA attending the pre-E3 festivities put on to decide the best in show awards. I wasn’t there as a judge, but I did manage to tag along with my Editor in Chief in order to check out some really cool games and get a head start on previews for E3. Attending Disney’s festivities was one of the highlights of the trip. To showcase their games they actually drove us down to Disney Land. However, when we got there we were fast-tracked to the front of a handful of lines instead of going immediately to see the games. That came as a bit of a surprise.

I got cornered into going on the Tower of Terror, the sole reason I hate elevators to this day, so not to look like a wuss in front of all the other games journalists.  All in all, the event was six hours long, only one of which was demoing games. Still, it was enough time to check out a handful of titles with a heavy emphasis on Split/Second. I prefer arcade racing titles to hardcore simulations so Split/Second is definitely on my radar as a game to watch.  Read on for my preview and a link to the original article!

Last Year Black Rock Studios released Pure, an impressive arcade racing title that nabbed the Game Critics Award for best racing game of E3 2008. In 2010 the studio hopes to build upon that success with Split/Second, a game that takes place within the world of reality TV.

In Split/Second, participants vie to become the tournament champion on special courses designed specifically for the show. These grand sets are fully destructible and you have the power to bend them to your will. Each course has been rigged to blow in true Hollywood fashion, which not only makes good TV for the helicopters hovering overhead, but drastically changes the way each race, and even each lap, unfolds.

As you progress through each race you build up a Power Play bar through acts such as drifting, drafting and jumping. When the bar is full and you pass by a particular object or opponent in range, you can initiate large blockbuster moments in order to take out one or more cars on the path ahead of you. In Split/Second, your car isn’t your only weapon – the city itself is.

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