Well now, Splitgate 2 has certainly come out to one hell of a reception eh?
Ian Proulx, CEO of 1047 Games who develops Splitgate 2, came onstage while at Summer Games Fest and boldly told us that the FPS market is stale, and he’s sick of playing the same Call of Duty. “I grew up playing Halo, and I’m tired of playing the same Call of Duty every year. And I wish we could have Titanfall 3.” He said to the crowd. This led to a reveal of a new Battle Royale mode that would be launching the same day. This did lead to a lot of mocking criticism online, accusing Splitgate 2 of simply following the trend of Battle Royales, while having a very expensive Microtransaction shop – although the latter has since been reduced in price across the board due to community feedback.
But what is Splitgate like to actually play? Honestly? Really good. Splitgate 2 has a large selection of game modes, including plenty of 4v4 Arena game modes, old school Team Deathmatch, and the newly released Battle Royale. I decided to stick to the 4v4 Arena modes for now.
Splitgate 2’s unique selling point is, of course, its use of portals to both spice up and innovate the movement around the map. Every player can place two portals — one entrance, one exit — on clearly designated walls and floors around the map, allowing you to carry momentum, create new flanking routes, and even give yourself a new angle to shoot the bad guys. This mechanic is implemented brilliantly. Our portals are see-through, so we can see where our portals exit and can see the enemy through them, should we wish to shoot. But the portals of our teammates and enemies are not, so we can take the risk of following our enemies through their portal, but we don’t know where it leads. A good balancing job there.
There are three factions to play as during our time in the arena. Aeros, Meridian and Sabrask. Each of these factions has their own weapons, equipment, abilities and perks to set their role aside from the others. Aeros gives your team reduced ability cooldowns and gives themselves a big buff to movement, reload speed and health regen; Meridian gives the team reduced time before health regen starts, as well as having an ability to scan enemies through walls; and finally, Sabrask gives the team reduced equipment cooldowns and allow them to put up one way shields to protect objectives and themselves. Having tried and played all three factions, there doesn’t seem to be one that’s more powerful than another, and Splitgate 2 reminds you to run at least one of each on your team so you are getting the benefits of each class. Incidentally, my favourite was Meridian due to their assault rifle.
The Arena mode has a few different game modes. Classic Domination, Splitball and Firecracker. Splitball requires you to pick up a ball from a central location and take it back to your base to score, similar to a Capture the Flag mode. Firecracker is very similar to a Search and Destroy game mode, with one team defending and one team attacking two bomb sites. The game modes are anything we haven’t seen before, but the addition of portals as well as the faction system puts just enough of a spin on them to make it a fresh experience.
I did dip my toes into the new Battle Royale mode too, and while it is a very creative experience, it doesn’t shine anywhere near as much as the game does in its Arena modes. It very much feels like the game was obviously designed around Arena and Battle Royale was added in later. And, while I’m on the complaint bus, I am a firm believer in games needing some sort of Skill Based Matchmaking. I know, I said the forbidden words to a lot of FPS gamers, but the games are so widely either a stomp or a bloodbath. Sometimes you’re a hammer, others you’re a nail. It’s not a fun experience on either end of that spectrum.
Regardless, Splitgate 2 has some big competition to beat if it’s going to remain in the FPS space, and I genuinely hope it does. It’s a unique experience and refreshes the Arena based shooter genre, which for so long has only really had Halo to occupy it. Let’s hope 1047 Games and Mr Proulx can deliver on their big ideas.
Splitgate 2 is out now for Steam, Xbox and PlayStation.
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