Split/Second: Velocity - Boxed - PS3

Split/Second is a TV show about cars, destruction and explosions, and it's always looking for new participants. For the twelve episodes of the new season, they hire the player to be one of eight drivers and perhaps even become the next champion. It's an arcade racing game featuring fictional sports cars inspired by real-world cars. But instead of simply racing around the tracks and trying to be first by driving better, everyone has access to a Power Play bar. Drifting, drafting (driving in another car's slipstream), jumping, or dodging an activated Power Play fills the bar's three sections. While the first two are used to activate two level-one Power Plays, filling the third section gives the player access to a level-two Power Play.

Once a section of the bar is filled, the player sees an icon above the cars ahead as soon as they're within range of a Power Play. These Power Plays include things like a helicopter dropping exploding barrels, or a parked car being blown up, but also bigger events like a drawbridge going up in flames or an entire ship sliding sideways. The first two are level-one Power Plays, the latter two are level-two Power Plays. Activating a level-two Power Play also changes the track. If the ship has been blown up, the normal track is blocked by fire, forcing drivers to use the ship's deck as a detour. There are also often shortcuts on the track that open when a level-one Power Play is used and close again a few seconds later, wiping out anyone foolish enough to follow the player (or whoever opened it). The reason for using these Power Plays is simple: to destroy the opponent, either by making them crash into something or by shaking them up so badly that they lose control of their car and crash on their own. Of course, the player has to be careful too. They can also get caught in their own Power Play and lose their lead — or even the whole race. A large part of driving consists of drifting through corners and carefully applying the throttle to maintain the drift. Long drifts are also the fastest way to fill up the Power Play bar.

In addition to standard races, the game offers various other modes such as Destruction, where the player has to reach the finish line as fast as possible while every Power Play on the track is triggered automatically. In Air Strike, on the other hand, the player has to dodge missiles fired by a helicopter flying ahead. The “Air Revenge” mode takes things even further, letting the player send those missiles back to where they came from. There are also Time Trial events, where all Power Play events are triggered automatically, and Elimination, in which the last driver in the pack is knocked out of the race at set time intervals.

Over the course of the campaign, the player earns credits depending on the position they finish in an event. Collecting credits automatically unlocks access to the final event of each episode, an elite race, and new cars. The player also unlocks special stickers by doing crazy things, such as winning a race by a fraction of a second. Each episode also features a bonus event, which only unlocks once a certain number of cars have been destroyed in the other events.

On all platforms, the game offers a split-screen mode for two players as well as online multiplayer for up to eight players across three different game modes.