The Split/Second HUD
by K. Michael Alexander
Split Second integrates the typical race HUD in a rather ingenious way.
There’s no doubt you haven’t heard of Black Rock Studios upcoming racing game Split/Second. A lot of interested has been bubbling with the recent videos showing some pretty impressive gameplay. The game flips some of the traditional elements you’d see in a typical racing shooter by adding destructible environments and special abilities that allow for some intense fast paced gameplay.
As seen in the screen shot above Black Rock has rather ingeniously introduced a integrated HUD into the mix. Instead of the typical direction with HUD elements located on the periphery Black Rock has clustered it all near the rear of the players vehicle and angled it in a way it feels like it’s apart of whats happening on screen. This not only puts relevant information right where the players are looking, the center of the action, it does so without interruption.
Black Rock takes it a step further by adding effects to the HUD making it feel just as much apart of the action as the exploding buildings, crashing cars are. The HUD flickers and fades, glows hot and shifts around compensating for the moving camera. This adds to the action and these small but important effects serves to not only pull a player into the gameplay but still deliver important contextual information. When you see Split/Second’s clustered integrated HUD in action it really feels cinematic. It’s rare when a HUD can ads to the drama of the gameplay experience.
Be it be ammo readouts located on a weapon like some modern shooters have done, or health displayed on a playable character model similar to Dead Space. HUD integration is a good way to draw a player deeper into the experience. I encourage you to check the video after the break to see Split/Second’s HUD in action.
Comments
The HUD does look pretty slick, and the comparison to Dead Space is apt. Black Rock seems to have realized that the small amount of space behind the vehicle is close to the action, but out of the way of things the player will have to attend and react to during play. Good thinking.
The way the HUD reacts to player movement, flickers, and etc. reminds me of Metroid Prime. While few games may seem to have HUDs with the same variety and quality of reactions to the game world as Prime and Split/Second, I’d argue that (much more common) flickering and blood spatters are just as much part of the HUD as the health bars, and are ways in which interfaces become part of the game world. Perhaps this aspect of interfaces is not so rare as it is under-appreciated or overlooked.