(Short review) Hello, good sir! How does it feel being driven past at the last moment?
Actually, I really wanted to like this. I really do. I don't just go and play bad games for the sake of playing bad games. I want every game I play to be awesome, I really do. But my GOD is this thing a mess.
I played the PC version of this game and right away I get the first problem. The framerate. Maybe you don't immediately know what I'm talking about, but Split/Second, both on consoles and the PC is capped at 30 frames per second. That means whenever there's lots of stuff on the screen, your screen will look like a PowerPoint presentation. This is not due to my computer not being beefed up enough, the 60 frames are there for a reason, they are there to catch the high requirements for the explosions and effects. But when you cap your game at 30 frames, I'm sorry, but it gets REALLY annoying after a few hours of play.
The developers say it was because the engine couldn't handle it, and to put the amount of detail put into each setpiece for 60 frames per second would mean double the work, and double the load for the engine. Again, I'm sorry, but don't make the game then and set your bar lower until you CAN make the 60 frames, damned!
Anyway, let me explain the premise of the game. You are a driver in a sort of TV-show called Split/Second. You will partake in 12 episodes with 6 different races in each, functioning as chapters. There are normal races with three laps where you have to be the first, there are elimination races where you can't be at the last place, there are race where you have to avoid the bombing of a helicopter and much more. Each of these different modes get sprinkled nicely into each episode, but what makes each race special is the use of Power Plays (PPs). PPs are... kind of like the detonators to increasingly powerful bombs set off in the track. You can have upwards of three PPs, three normal PP's or one very big PP. In order to get PPs you must accumulate energy you gain by surviving dangerous PPs, drifting, or just driving behind another driver.
... should you survive... muhahahasnortsnort.
You know what I also hate? A really great premise and fun but simple mechanics ruined by simple yet impactful bullsh*t this game likes to throw at you.
Not to sound like a conspiracy nut, but whenever you start a race in this game you will not win it. The first time you ever start any new race, you will simply not win. It may be due to my lack of skill in racers, but I've had it every single time when I started up a new race I've never played yet. I would almost always win the second time around, but never the first time.
Oh yeah, and this game has Rubber Band AI in it which is all the reason you need not to even touch this game. So yeah, that can go to hell as well. For those uninformed, Rubber Band AI is when, no matter how skilled in this game you are, even if you are cruisin' on three million miles per hour, the second driver in the race will be nodding and smiling at you as he easily just passes you by.
Does anybody have a wrench I can use for the lead designer of this game?