Split second is an intense action racing game set within the world of hyper-competitive reality TV show. Competitors race against one another to be first over the finishing line in a made for television city built specifically for destruction with the ultimate goal being the one who can be crowned the season champion. Split Second is a blend of street racing skills, mixed with a sprinkle of tactics and an awful amount of sheer carnage.

Just as in any car racing game the ultimate object is to be first over the finishing line. Your dash for that line is however hampered by other competitors who will happily trigger destruction on the track to take out their opponents. Sure, your car may look fantastic and handle well, but can it outrun a falling building or crashing plane.

 

To set these disasters into motion you have to remain just a little patient. A power play gauge continues to grow the longer you leave it. Boost the gauage upwards by demonstrating your driving skills in avoiding near misses and entering fast slipstreams. Resist the temptation to use this gauage until it turns red and watch the awesome destruction power unleash as you hit that button.

Due for release by Disney in May it is set to go head to head with Blur for the top driving video game. It will be available on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 and no doubt it will have it’s devotee’s rushing home to play it online or in 8 player mode.

Burnout Paradise Playstation 3 plus Xbox 360
The latest Burnout will take you down to Paradise City where the grass may not be green but the cars sure are pretty. Of course, they won’t look pretty for long because Burnout is all about smashing & crashing, and Paradise is no different. What IS different is the way the gameplay has been organized, or in this case hasn’t been. This open world street racer gives you a freedom not often seen in racing games, but will be familiar to players of games like Grand Theft Auto. There are no real questionable moral decisions in Burnout Paradise though, just adrenalin pumping action behind the wheel of some of the sweetest rides you’ve ever pimped.

A large part of the game is just exploring. You’ll find fences you can drive through, billboards you can knock over, and and many other aspects to the interactive environment. You will also find events. When you first start out you’re not really given any direction or instruction, there are no events marked on your map. It’s up to you to discover them and make your own path to greatness. As you explore and discover more events and more of the city the gameplay just keeps getting better because there is simply an enormous amount of content. While you start with nothing specific to do except drive around, it won’t take long before you know the city like your own backyard.

 

It can be a little intimidating the first few times you race because you don’t really know the area and rather than finish a given race you might actually make a wrong turn and get lost. The beauty of it is, unlike other racing games where you need to score well in a race to get to the next race, in Paradise City you can just drive a few blocks over from wherever you happen to find yourself and there’s a different race you can join in. Once you’ve been around the block a few times you’ll find yourself back at events you’d previously flubbed, but now better equipped to meet the challenge.

One of the more interesting things you can do in Burnout Paradise is send your car into a controlled death spiral and just topple end-over-end while smashing everyone and everything in sight as your car flies violently through the air. The more stuff you smash, the more points you get, the further your car goes. It is completely unrealistic and somewhat disturbing to watch. In other words, Awesome!

Burnout Paradise also offers an online mode that can be accessed from anywhere in the city with a flick of your thumb and allows up to 8 players to drive around the city simultaneously. You can take part in any number of organized challenges (there are a ton of them), or just drive around and smash into stuff/each other.

Fans of previous Burnout titles may initially get the wrong idea, but make no mistake: Paradise is Burnout through-and-through. The unconventional format may not be familiar but it genuinely works to the game’s advantage and takes the title in a new direction for the genre as well. The open format and laid-back progression means you can play for as long or short as you like and both hardcore and casual gamers will find themselves really loving this game.

Nascar 09 PS3 and Xbox 360

With Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards added to the roster, Nascar 09 is the latest and greatest release for fans the sport. Gordon graces the box cover because he actually is your crew chief in the game and helps you through every step on your way to the checkered flag. Improved graphics and and some serious customization options also make this game worth checking out for both veteran and casual racers.

The centerpiece of the single player game is a new career mode that lets you start off by creating your driver and a totally custom look for your car. One of the customization options is sponsor decals, but only a few sponsors initially want anything to do with a newcomer like you. Get to the podium a few times though, and you’ll find new sponsors lining up for you to put their logo on your ride. There is also the small matter of being able to import graphics from the internet. Yes, you read that correctly: you can make your own designs on your computer, upload them to a server and then import them to customize your car.

 

In Nascar 09 you advance the single player game by gaining new sponsors and by completing over 70 different challenges, which can range from standard fare (complete a lap without going slower than 150mph) to some more creative tasks. You can also custom-tune your car before every race. The tuning mode has an easily modified difficulty setting, essentially allowing more experienced drivers to fine tune anything they can imagine but offering less hardcore players some preset tuning options that won’t leave them scratching their heads.

Difficulty tweaking isn’t just limited to tune ups though, it’s an area this game excels in overall. There are three difficulty levels that will change how tough your competitors (AI drivers) are and two driving schemes: one that offers accessible vehicle handling casual gamers will enjoy, and one that’s trickier but will offer hardcore veterans more control. There are also a couple of in-game settings which indirectly can affect difficulty, it’s all very straightforward and no matter what your skill level or preferences it won’t take you long to set this game up exactly to your liking.

The game also sounds great. From the roar of the crowd to the rock tunes playing on the track, you’ll get the feeling you’re really behind that wheel. Visually, Nascar 09 is pretty good too, especially the first-person camera mode that puts you in the driver’s seat. Where the look of the game falls short is crashes — not because of the graphics themselves but you just don’t see spectacular crashes in this game. It’s just one of those little things that would have been nice for the programmers to think of, a detail that doesn’t really affect gameplay too much but would have added to the immersion and ambiance a great deal.

Online play is available for up to 14 players simultaneously but is still subject to a race being yellow-flagged if any of those drivers decides to go off the reservation. The nice thing is you can turn yellow flags off, and even turn off collisions in online or single-player game modes. Overall Nascar 09 is a fun racer anyone can get into and Nascar fans in particular will enjoy.