Split/Second is a sports car racing game with realistic automobile models, arcade-style action, and destructible environments engineered for massive man-made disaster. Players become contestants in a fictional reality television show that takes speed and violence to new extremes. Races are run in urban and industrial areas constructed especially for the TV show, where buildings, towers, bridges, and other structures are rigged with high-powered explosives. As competitors race around the track, they each gradually fill up a "Powerplay" meter. When full, this meter enables the racer to set off one of the explosive charges. The Powerplay meter fills more quickly as the player performs tricky jumps or squeezes through tight spaces, so precision driving is at a premium, despite the chaotic nature of the courses. The destruction of structures also calls for finesse, as it's in the racer's best interest to use timing and tactics to cause as much obstruction and damage to opponents as possible.