There is fun to be had with Split Second, but it's severely flawed.
The game takes place in a reality show. Most of the time spent will be in the season mode. Here, you unlock cars by earning credits, which are earned by placing in races. The higher you place, the more credits you earn, and the better cars you get. You have different modes including races, elimination, time trials, air revenge, air strike, and survival. There are also bonus events which are unlocked bu accomplishing specific goals, like taking down 30 rivals.
The game actually has some inventive modes. Survival, air strike/air revenge are all very fun. Survival has you dodging blue and red barrels of passing trucks and you need to avoid them and pass as many trucks before timr runs out. In air strike, you need to dodge missles from helicopters and in air revenge, same thing, except you have to build up energy and deflect the missles back at the helicopters.
Controlling the cars is fine for the most part. Controls are generally tight and simple. Another great thing the HUD. Your speed and energy are shown under-neath you car and looks pretty awesome. Drifting is hit-or-miss. Sometimes it's awesome, other times, it's a pain.
The real problem with the Split Second is the computer controlled opponents. They cheat and suffer the rubber-band AI effect, where they magically catch up to you, but it's impossible to catch up to them. They also a tenancy to use power plays only on you.
Another problem is the car selection. The balance seems completely out of whack. I tried racing with one car in several races, and couldn't get on the podium no matter what, but I chose another car and I started breezing through the game. It didn't make any sense.
At the visuals and audio are fantastic. The game has great car models and lighting plus a smooth frame rate. Sound rocks with great musics and booming crashes and effects.
Online is okay and supports 8 players in race, survival, and elimination events. You also have quick play where can jump into any track, mode and car at any time.
Split Second isn't a bad game, but it should've been better for sure. If only the vehicle balancing was better and the AI didn't cheat, this could've given Burnout a run for it's money. As it is, it's a decent rental.
7/10