Preview by: Danielle Riendeau

Amidst the din of the PAX East main show floor, I was able to get my hands on a demo of Split/Second, Disney’s new “hardcore” action-racing title. For those of you who haven’t been exposed to the hype so far, here’s the deal - you play as a “reality TV” participant, driving gorgeous, souped-up cars around huge, semi-destructible tracks, wreaking havoc on your opponents and avoiding said havoc for yourself. Think of it as Burnout meets Mario Kart – it’s pretty and “realistic” looking, but there’s a whole lot of mischief and attacking going on.

I grabbed the controller and immediately began racing around the only available track – a sunny metropolis with more than a few environmental hazards. The racing felt fast and precise, demanding a light touch on the stick, while drifting controls much like it does in nearly every on-road racer this side of the Dreamcast.

The big departure here is in the “power play” attacks. You have a power bar (it sits just below your car on-screen) that fills when you draft opponents, drift, or complete jumps. Filling that bar allows you to unleash the wrath of environmental damage on nearby opponents. Hit the A button (I played on the 360) and a massive explosion will wipe out your foes (along with a piece of the environment, of course). It’s a lot like the experience of taking out a buddy with a perfectly-timed red shell – only this time, it comes with an enormously satisfying explosion.

Crashing (something I did quite often) doesn’t necessarily ruin your chances of winning – much like Mario Kart, there’s just so much attacking going on that the playing field feels relatively level. You’re taken out for a brief moment and inserted back into the race with nary a scratch on your beautiful ride. Clearly, the folks at developer Black Box Studios aren’t going for simulation here.

I was told that the build on display was about three weeks old – and that the team has about three more weeks to go until submitting the final code. As such, the game looked good, but could definitely use a bit of polish (some textures were a bit rough and the like), but it’s nothing that can’t be cleaned up in the final weeks. As for the sound, I can’t comment – the show floor was just too loud for me to hear anything coming from the game. Given the slick presentation, however, I’d be shocked if the game didn’t sound fantastic.