Split/Second

Split/Second (2010) is an over-the-top arcade racing game where you navigate carnage-ridden urban racetracks. Play involves high-speed drifting around corners and rapid obstacle avoidance to activate explosive traps that impact your opponents. Like Mario Kart, it stands out for its comical mayhem that's as much about destroying other racers than putting in a perfect lap.

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You play as a contestant in a reality TV show where participants race across tracks rigged with explosives and traps that you can detonate by triggering Power Plays. To do this, you must build up your power meter by drafting behind other cars and drifting, causing bigger explosions at greater power levels. The trick is timing, use a Power Play too early and it won't affect the racers in front of you but do it too late and you risk wrecking yourself.

As the race progresses, the explosions, plane crashes and demolitions caused by Power Plays alter the direction of the course, opening new routes with new traps to activate. You unlock more cars by competing in events with additional game rules, such as elimination mode where the driver in last place is periodically eliminated until one winner remains.

The result is a ridiculous yet comedic frenzy of explosions, crashes and traps. Activating a Power Play at the perfect time to wreck multiple opponents at once is satisfying and moreish, and embracing the Mario Kart frustration when they go against you is all part of the fun.

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Our examiner, Jake Kendall, first checked Split/Second 4 months ago. It was re-examined by Ollie Robertson and updated 3 weeks ago.