Split Second (video game)
Encyclopedia
Split Second: Velocity is an arcade racing video game developed by Black Rock Studio
and published by Disney Interactive Studios for Microsoft Windows
, PlayStation 3
, and Xbox 360
. Revealed in March 2009, the game was released in May 2010 and was later released for OnLive
in June 2011. In the game, players take part in a fictional reality television
show, consisting of a variety of events, each focusing on destructible environments triggered remotely by driver actions known as "powerplays". Of the four families of car featured in the game, three (with "Elite" being the exception) take their name from action movie characters: "Cobretti" from Sylvester Stallone
's character in Cobra; "Ryback" from Steven Seagal
's character in the Under Siege
films; and "Hanzo" from Sonny Chiba
's character in Kill Bill
and Shadow Warriors.
Split Second was ported to the PlayStation Portable
.
program where participants race for money and glory. Throughout a race, players can build up their "powerplay" meter by performing stunts such as jumps and precision driving such as drafting and drifting. As the player builds up their meter, special events can be triggered which create obstacles for other players, create shortcuts or alter the race course entirely. These triggers are also activated by the player's AI opponents.
Such events include explosions, aeroplane crashes and building collapses. The severity of the events available to trigger varies depending on how full the player's meter is. The first level of events are available when one of the three bars on the HUD
are full and the most extreme can only be triggered once all three are full. Event locations, and the vehicles they will affect, are highlighted with blue icons for the level one powerplays, and red icons for level two, and the player must time the action accurately in order to hinder his or her competitors as much as possible. One section of the powerplay meter resets once a level one event is triggered, so the player must also choose whether to activate the less destructive first-level events as soon as they are available, or save their powerplay points and build them up further in order to use the top-tier actions. There are also certain powerplays that reset for the next lap, such as bombs dropped from helicopters, small environmental changes and secret shortcuts, but there will also be powerplays that will never reset, until the race is finished, restarted or quit. Black Rock Studios also wanted to make the HUD as simple as possible by taking away all unnecessary elements such as the speedometer and the track map (rendered useless due to the dynamic nature of the track) leaving only the lap count, position that the player is in, and the powerplay meter, all positioned behind the car itself, to leave more room to display visuals.
Using the reality TV show premise, the game is broken up into 72 events across 12 episodes, with different modes available. One such mode, "Survival", has the player racing along a given track, while contending with a time limit and a series of trucks rolling colored barrels out of the back to stop the player reaching the finish in time. Blue barrels takes away seconds and red barrels result in instant death, followed by a respawn. Overtaking a truck will add extra seconds to the timer. When the timer runs out, the game goes into a sudden death phase where the next fatal impact will end the race. Another mode, "Air Attack", sees the player dodge incoming missile fire from a helicopter. The power-play gauge acts as a way to steer the missiles back at the helicopter in "Air Revenge", ultimately destroying it.
The game also has a multiplayer mode, with both 8-player online and 2-player split-screen offline available.
pack was released upon the game's launch which unlocks all cars, tracks and modes without the player having to unlock them by playing through the game's "Season" mode. The "High Octane Supercar" pack was released on August 31, 2010 as a paid download. In addition, the Elite Vehicle Livery and Ryback Cyclone Special (an upgraded version of an on-disc car) packs were released as free downloads.
The next paid download was released as the "Survival at the Rock" pack and included a new Survival mode track (Minepit Park) and a new multiplayer-only mode (Survival Race; a racing variant of the Survival mode). It was released on October 12.
Another vehicle pack, entitled the "Deadline" pack, was released on October 20. The Deadline pack included three new cars and an enhanced version of the Coyote vehicle. Also included is the Deadline mode, a variation of Detonator where pickups spread across the track can pause the timer.
The final known pack is the "Quarry Onslaught" pack, released to Xbox Live Marketplace on November 2. Included with this pack is the "Quarry" race course and the "Onslaught" game type. During an Onslaught event, racers are challenged to pull ahead of the competition while the helicopter fires missiles onto the track. Points are awarded based on how close to the front the racer is and the game will end after twenty missile waves.
.
. The PSP version of the game features, among other changes, an extra track based on the "Docks" environment. The track (simply called "The Docks") is a composite course that takes the drivers through areas from each of the three other Docks environment courses (Dry Docks, Ferry Wharf, and Port Bridge) in a single lap. The PSP version also adds new gameplay modes that offer variants on the core game (such as drifting around the training course to earn points). The PSP version also offers some changes to the game itself, such as revamped physics to make driving easier on the PSP. Subtle changes to track design, event rules, and car statistics were also made to the PSP version.
The PSP version supports ad-hoc multiplayer for up to four drivers.
spoke to an anonymous source that confirmed Disney Interactive Studios had made a reduction at Black Rock Studio
's workforce. Due to Disney's new management the game was cancelled in December 2010 despite attempts to fit with their new business model.
Black Rock Studio
Black Rock Studio was a video game developer based in Brighton, England. The studio was founded by Tony Beckwith in 1998 as Pixel Planet. It was then acquired by the Climax Group in 1999 and was renamed Climax Brighton. In 2004, it became Climax Racing, as the Climax Group rebranded its studios...
and published by Disney Interactive Studios for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. Revealed in March 2009, the game was released in May 2010 and was later released for OnLive
OnLive
OnLive is a cloud gaming platform: the games are synchronized, rendered, and stored on remote servers and delivered via the Internet.The service is available using the OnLive Game System, PCs running Microsoft Windows and Intel-based Macs with OS X 10.5.8 or later...
in June 2011. In the game, players take part in a fictional reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show, consisting of a variety of events, each focusing on destructible environments triggered remotely by driver actions known as "powerplays". Of the four families of car featured in the game, three (with "Elite" being the exception) take their name from action movie characters: "Cobretti" from Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
's character in Cobra; "Ryback" from Steven Seagal
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal is an American action film star, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist and reserve deputy sheriff. A 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, Seagal began his adult life as an Aikido instructor in Japan...
's character in the Under Siege
Under Siege
Under Siege is a 1992 American action film directed by Andrew Davis and starring Steven Seagal as a former Navy SEAL who must stop a group of mercenaries, led by Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey, on a U.S. Navy battleship...
films; and "Hanzo" from Sonny Chiba
Sonny Chiba
, also known as Sonny Chiba, is a Japanese actor, singer, film producer, film director and martial artist.Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience.- Early life :Born in Fukuoka, Fukuoka,...
's character in Kill Bill
Kill Bill
Kill Bill Volume 1 is a 2003 action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is the first of two volumes that were theatrically released several months apart, the second volume being Kill Bill Volume 2....
and Shadow Warriors.
Split Second was ported to the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
.
Gameplay
In Split Second, players take part in a fictional reality TVReality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
program where participants race for money and glory. Throughout a race, players can build up their "powerplay" meter by performing stunts such as jumps and precision driving such as drafting and drifting. As the player builds up their meter, special events can be triggered which create obstacles for other players, create shortcuts or alter the race course entirely. These triggers are also activated by the player's AI opponents.
Head-Up Display
A head-up display or heads-up display is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints...
are full and the most extreme can only be triggered once all three are full. Event locations, and the vehicles they will affect, are highlighted with blue icons for the level one powerplays, and red icons for level two, and the player must time the action accurately in order to hinder his or her competitors as much as possible. One section of the powerplay meter resets once a level one event is triggered, so the player must also choose whether to activate the less destructive first-level events as soon as they are available, or save their powerplay points and build them up further in order to use the top-tier actions. There are also certain powerplays that reset for the next lap, such as bombs dropped from helicopters, small environmental changes and secret shortcuts, but there will also be powerplays that will never reset, until the race is finished, restarted or quit. Black Rock Studios also wanted to make the HUD as simple as possible by taking away all unnecessary elements such as the speedometer and the track map (rendered useless due to the dynamic nature of the track) leaving only the lap count, position that the player is in, and the powerplay meter, all positioned behind the car itself, to leave more room to display visuals.
Using the reality TV show premise, the game is broken up into 72 events across 12 episodes, with different modes available. One such mode, "Survival", has the player racing along a given track, while contending with a time limit and a series of trucks rolling colored barrels out of the back to stop the player reaching the finish in time. Blue barrels takes away seconds and red barrels result in instant death, followed by a respawn. Overtaking a truck will add extra seconds to the timer. When the timer runs out, the game goes into a sudden death phase where the next fatal impact will end the race. Another mode, "Air Attack", sees the player dodge incoming missile fire from a helicopter. The power-play gauge acts as a way to steer the missiles back at the helicopter in "Air Revenge", ultimately destroying it.
The game also has a multiplayer mode, with both 8-player online and 2-player split-screen offline available.
Downloadable content
A "time savers" downloadable contentDownloadable content
Downloadable content is official additional content for a video game distributed through the Internet. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from a single in-game outfit to an entirely new, extensive storyline, similarly to an expansion pack. As such, DLC may add new game modes,...
pack was released upon the game's launch which unlocks all cars, tracks and modes without the player having to unlock them by playing through the game's "Season" mode. The "High Octane Supercar" pack was released on August 31, 2010 as a paid download. In addition, the Elite Vehicle Livery and Ryback Cyclone Special (an upgraded version of an on-disc car) packs were released as free downloads.
The next paid download was released as the "Survival at the Rock" pack and included a new Survival mode track (Minepit Park) and a new multiplayer-only mode (Survival Race; a racing variant of the Survival mode). It was released on October 12.
Another vehicle pack, entitled the "Deadline" pack, was released on October 20. The Deadline pack included three new cars and an enhanced version of the Coyote vehicle. Also included is the Deadline mode, a variation of Detonator where pickups spread across the track can pause the timer.
The final known pack is the "Quarry Onslaught" pack, released to Xbox Live Marketplace on November 2. Included with this pack is the "Quarry" race course and the "Onslaught" game type. During an Onslaught event, racers are challenged to pull ahead of the competition while the helicopter fires missiles onto the track. Points are awarded based on how close to the front the racer is and the game will end after twenty missile waves.
Reception
Split Second: Velocity has received a positive response, and currently holds an 83 and 82 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, respectively, at aggregate site MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
.
PC version
In the UK, the PC version of Split Second: Velocity is only available as a download from Gamesplanet and Direct2Drive, a well as on demand for streaming via OnLive.PSP version
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) version was released on November 17, 2010, with porting and development duties handled by Sumo DigitalSumo Digital
Sumo Digital Ltd. is an independent game development studio based in Sheffield, United Kingdom. Set up in 2003 following the closure of Infogrames Studios Sheffield/Gremlin Interactive...
. The PSP version of the game features, among other changes, an extra track based on the "Docks" environment. The track (simply called "The Docks") is a composite course that takes the drivers through areas from each of the three other Docks environment courses (Dry Docks, Ferry Wharf, and Port Bridge) in a single lap. The PSP version also adds new gameplay modes that offer variants on the core game (such as drifting around the training course to earn points). The PSP version also offers some changes to the game itself, such as revamped physics to make driving easier on the PSP. Subtle changes to track design, event rules, and car statistics were also made to the PSP version.
The PSP version supports ad-hoc multiplayer for up to four drivers.
Sequel
In May 2011, EurogamerEurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
spoke to an anonymous source that confirmed Disney Interactive Studios had made a reduction at Black Rock Studio
Black Rock Studio
Black Rock Studio was a video game developer based in Brighton, England. The studio was founded by Tony Beckwith in 1998 as Pixel Planet. It was then acquired by the Climax Group in 1999 and was renamed Climax Brighton. In 2004, it became Climax Racing, as the Climax Group rebranded its studios...
's workforce. Due to Disney's new management the game was cancelled in December 2010 despite attempts to fit with their new business model.