One of the biggest surprises of the Eurogamer Expo 2009 was Black Rock Studio’s Split/Second racing videogame. Technically I shouldn’t have been surprised how awesome this game is turning out to be, mainly because they did an exceptional job with Pure. However, what I was about to experience was pure adrenaline on a disc. Others around me were making all the sounds of having one of those ‘gamer defining moments’ and it was easy to see why.

So what is Split/Second, well from the actual hands on it you didn’t get the impression there was any substance over than an OTT racer but upon researching Split/Second is actually a reality TV program where contestants participate for money and glory. Funnily enough I’ve been calling for a video game version of Death Race but Black Rock may well have given us something a little more. Powerplay’s are what makes Split/Second unique upon rival racers, at certain stages within the race you get to use these actions to open up shortcuts, destroy environments and deform territory to not only wreck your opponents cars but to also change the whole dynamic of the next lap.

So what does it feel like? Well the handling feels very similar to a cross between GRID and NFS Carbon, which is no bad thing. Now, we only got try one of the cars out, so it may have been the fact we were racing with a pretty heavy car, but we’re pretty sure that the racing feel will be slightly to the right of arcade when it comes to car handling. Graphically the game is simply stunning, triggering events like blowing up an aircraft, destroying roads and dropping doors on other cars is seamlessly pulled off, with your eye having enough time to soak in the action, but not to detract from game play, it’s something that has been executed well, where perhaps became the annoyance in Burnout titles. Does Split/Second play like Burnout? No. Your opponents cars have more weight and the idea here is to take opponents out with Powerplays than ramming them into walls and the A.I is certainly balanced well enough giving you a stern enough test throughout the three laps

I’m not sure on what else to expect when it comes to the actual tracks, but what I will say is this, if it has the same imagination as the Airport race track, we’re in for a real treat. It looks to me that all Black Rock Studios need to put right is putting the frame rate and they look pretty much ready to, I can expect them to be working on this and putting the finishing touches to their online mode, from now until release. This game was up against Mass Effect 2, Saboteur, God Of War III and Heavy Rain and somehow, it’s came away from the Eurogamer with a noteworthy mention, this is definitely one for the radar!