No. It's pretty much a Mario Kart clone in a fancy wrapper.

VeryBumpy

So you never playedany of the Carmageddon games?

Never played Burnout Paradise?

Never played either of the first two Wipeout titles?

You prefer the*sim* sort of racers (such as GRiD)?

If that describes you, then you're right; Split/Second (and the upcoming Blur) is not going to be your cup of hyper-caffeinated coffee.

However, if you miss the sort of arcade racer that is so rare on the PC that Burnout Paradise is the only other current title on the PC right now (and even BP is a year old), or you like the idea of a game without hyper-restrictive DRM, split-screen, and even LAN play (yes; all that is supported on the PC), then Blur (which comes out on Tuesday) and Split/Second (out now) are what you've been looking for.

And it's a fail *why*? (Not one of you, including the OP, stated why it's a fail.)

Do you hate the direction change (no base-building, as in RA3/TW/Generals)? Let's see; the United States military (the pre-cursor to GDI) has gone from building big bases (the Korea/Vietnam model), to the smaller expeditionary-force model (Iraq and Afghanistan). That is largely why the *occupation army* charge leveled by al-Quaida and the Taliban went nowhere - no large bases. Also, through the *entire* Tiberium Cycle, the Brotherhood of Nod *never* did big bases (even as high-tech as NOD went in TW, it took until the late game for the typical NOD base to get near the size of a GDI base at the start; both GDI and NOD had crawlers, or have we forgotten the MCV?). Both GDI and NOD basically rebooted and are starting small, and that means the expeditionary-force model. Different, yes. but hardly a fail.

The persistent Internet connection? That should be news to nobody; EA stated that from the beginning. What's more, that PIC actually has a purpose; neither online or single-player is truly standalone, as you can *level up* consistently (and certain upgrades are available after completing certain missions). Other than that, you are free to install the game on as many computers as you want to. Only your Master Account is unique (and it's portable across computers, ALA the Steam model).

Neither of the above makes the game a fail (let alone an epic fail).

I've run Bioshock (non-Steam) in Windows 7 Ultimate x64 (and in a window no less) with no issues (Radeon HD3450 at 1280x720 windowed; Celeron DC E1200 overclocked to 2.6 GHz and 3 GB of RAM).

Why in a window? No support for 1680x1050 or 1920x1080 widescreen modes (tallest WS is 1280x720; display default is 1920x1080).