Split/Second Velocity

Split/Second is a combat arcade racer built around one genuinely clever idea: instead of weapons bolted to your hood, the track itself is your weapon. You build up a Power Play meter by drafting opponents, drifting through corners, and pulling off jumps, then spend that meter to detonate roadside traps ranging from rolling truck bombs and swinging cranes at Level 1 all the way to full-on building collapses and crashing aircraft at Level 2. Those Level 2 Route Changers are the real hook - they physically reshape the track, opening shortcuts and alternate layouts that make each lap feel genuinely different from the last. The minimalist HUD keeps only your lap count, position, and three-segment power meter visible behind the car, which is a smart call because there is always too much happening on screen to look anywhere else. The Season mode runs you through 12 episodes of a fictional reality TV show, with events ranging from standard multi-lap races to Detonator (a time trial where every Power Play fires off automatically trying to kill you), Survival (dodge explosive gas canisters dropped by giant semis), and Air Strike modes where a helicopter gunship is actively shooting at you. It is absolutely the kind of game you describe at length to someone who hasn't played it and watch their eyebrows go up. Finishing events earns credits to unlock new cars - none of them licensed, which makes sense when you consider how often they get pancaked into rubble. Season mode clocks in at roughly 8 to 15 hours, and Quick Play opens up tracks as you progress. For couch sessions, the two-player split-screen mode is present and works well, and there was an eight-player online mode at launch. Fair warning on that last point: the official multiplayer servers are offline now, so online play requires a VPN or LAN setup to connect with friends. That stings a little if you were hoping to run lobbies, but split-screen for two still holds up fine for a Saturday night. The PC version also shipped without the console DLC packs (three bonus supercars including the Cobretti Severus, Ryback Vulcan, and Hanzo Katana, plus the Quarry map), though the community has produced mods that port that content to PC. The real criticisms are consistent across every review from launch to now. The AI rubber-banding is genuinely punishing - CPU cars snap back from nine seconds behind like they have a teleporter, while the same courtesy is not extended to you. Some later Season events tip from challenging into outright unfair. The PC port at launch had stability bugs including crashes to desktop and a broken lap counter, and while those issues have largely been worked around over the years (DXVK helps significantly with frame-pacing), this is not a game with ongoing patch support. Depth is also limited by design: no car tuning, no stat upgrades, no open world. What you see in the first hour is pretty much the full toolkit, which is both a strength for accessibility and a weakness for long-term legs. Here is the honest take: Split/Second is one of those games that is enormously fun for exactly what it is. Grab a gamepad, plug it in, and within five minutes someone in the room will be yelling at a collapsing bridge. The concept is unique enough that nothing has quite replicated it since, which makes it worth revisiting on that basis alone. It is short, it is loud, and it is best played in bursts with someone watching over your shoulder. Casual players and anyone who loved Burnout but wanted more environmental chaos will be very happy here. Sim racers and people who need depth or a living online community should temper expectations.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

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