As reality television dominates the airwaves, there’s a definite cruel streak to these shows that TV producers fabricate for ratings — how else can you explain fading celebs chowing down on kangaroo balls in the jungle? Black Rock Studios (maker of last year’s out-of-nowhere ATV racing star Pure) supposes that in the near future, our Colosseum bloodlust will demand that stuffy motorsports like Formula One are replaced with high-risk street races where competitors can detonate the environment, taking out their opponents in a pleasingly pyrotechnic display.

While Black Rock is understandably wary of straight comparisons with Criterion Games’ Burnout Paradise, their new racer Split Second is ostensibly similar, although Black Rock is convinced that the addition of several tons of high explosives will set its title apart. The basic premise is that a new reality-TV show sees contestants racing through portions of the city that have been rigged as “live” sets. By performing stylish or impressive driving maneuvers such as drifting, drafting, near-misses, and jumps, you build up a three-stage power bar — just like in Pure. Each of these stages gives you the chance to detonate or activate one of several pieces of scenery highlighted in blue. These “Power Plays” are designed to impede the progress of other racers, so you can trigger roadside explosions, cranes can drop girders onto the road, and huge drainage pipes can be cued to blast drivers with a jet of water.

All suitably impressive, but it’s not until later episodes in the “season” that the truly enormous destruction is introduced. See, Black Rock is sick of the repetition that comes from revisiting circuits in racing games, so as the in-game TV series progresses, circuits are rigged with even more elaborate set pieces, which are highlighted in red. These Super Power Plays are far larger in scale than the standard ones, and in the airport level demoed for us, the terminal building was blown to bits, the air traffic control tower tumbled onto the circuit, and an enormous passenger jet smashed into the runway. Some of the Super Power Plays will even change the entire course of the circuit, including collapsing freeways that force players to take an alternative route not previously available. Black Rock hopes that the ability to reshape the environment in such a drastic way will ensure that those occasions still feel fresh when you revisit the same location.

To make the explosions and collapsing buildings as astounding as possible, Black Rock is looking to Hollywood for inspiration. According to the team, too many games focus on a single, big explosion, whereas movie stunt coordinators and demolition experts trigger a series of blasts, whether their goal is to create a spectacular chain reaction or a controlled demolition.

In Split Second, each Power Play will be a multi-stage explosion, with the pyrotechnics chasing you along the length of the circuit at speeds not unlike those you’re traveling at. The team is also working on volumetric dust, which will impair your vision and add to the impact of collapsing architecture.

The bulk of the TV-style presentation hasn’t been integrated yet, but even at this early stage, it packs some sly, innovative touches. To allow for maximum impact when the world starts collapsing, the onscreen HUD has been simplified and placed as a floating object behind the car. Initially, it’s jarring to see the information plastered where the rear bumper should be, but it ensures that you’re keeping your eyes in the center of the screen rather than roving for info in the corners and missing the center-stage fireworks. We’re pretty sure, though, that if you find it distracting, you’ll have the option of enabling a more traditional layout, but it certainly seems to keep things tidy.

As a concept, Split Second is a neat twist on the traditional racer, and we’re always up for a bit of large-scale destruction — we love the idea of recognizable city environments being torn to rubble as we careen around the streets. Combine that with some more graphical polish and more outrageous particle effects, and — as with Pure before it — Black Rock could be onto arcade-racing gold.