Split Fiction – Review

In today’s multiplayer video gaming landscape, classic couch co-op experiences have taken a backseat in favour of larger-scaled competitive extravaganzas of battle royales and extraction shooters, leaving far fewer choices for those who simply want to chill and enjoy a finely-crafted cooperative experience with a friend in tow. 

Thankfully, developer Hazelight Studios has not only made it a point to preserve this core gameplay concept, but also made it an integral part of all their projects, expertly dominating the genre with previous hits such as 2018’s A Way Out and 2021’s It Takes Two.

Determined to keep the momentum going, their latest stab at the genre, Split Fiction, aims to not only learn from and build upon everything that fans love about their previous titles, but also ramp things up to eleven with a heavier emphasis on gameplay variety and non-stop action. But ambition can be a double-edged sword, and for better or worse, Split Fiction marks a game of two extremes, juxtaposing some of the most gameplay-diverse levels on offer to date with arguably its weakest narrative yet.

Like all the games in Hazelight’s repertoire, Split Fiction is built from the ground up as a co-op only experience, so having someone to tag along with on the journey is not only required, but essential to enjoyment, with its platforming and puzzle-solving elements revolving around coordination and communication. To this end, the game offers both online and local couch co-op modes – the latter being the recommended way to play – alongside a friend’s pass system, allowing players to invite their partners along for the ride at no additional cost, even allowing cross-platform play across PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC for the first time in the studio’s history.

Its story starts strong enough, centred around two budding authors of separate genres: Science fiction writer Mia Hudson and fantasy writer Zoe Foster. Struggling to get their stories published, the duo join an experimental augmented reality program by Rader Publishing that not only promises to let them experience their created stories first-hand, but also with the allure of a potential publishing deal.

Sensing something amiss, Mia gets cold feet moments before being put into a stasis-like trance, and in an ensuing struggle with the staff, accidentally falls into Zoe’s stasis field, trapping them inside a reality of both their creations. After discovering Rader Publishing’s nefarious goals to steal their creative ideas, the pair are forced to work together, adventuring through their stories to break free from the simulation, while exposing Rader in the process.

It’s a shame then, that the game’s driving narrative doesn’t live up to the same potential as the fantastical stories created by its two protagonists, offering a largely-forgettable affair riddled with predictable revelations, shallow character-building and clichés pulled straight out of a cheesy low-budget B movie. This could be forgiven if that was exactly what it was going for, but the game surprisingly takes itself far too seriously, further adding to the tonal mismatch.

Its main issue stems from the writing of its two main characters, who unfortunately remain unlikable in their own right throughout the entirety of its storyline, with Mia’s development from her initial coldness feeling forced and insincere, while Zoe getting some really badly scripted leftovers, with dialogue filled with unnatural and cringe-worthy lines including, “We’ll do this… together” and “I don’t know how much more I can take”, making certain intended emotional moments awkward to watch.

Choosing to double down on its seriousness, the game also suffers from poor narrative pacing, slowing the on-screen action down to a halt at multiple points during levels, to focus on the developing friendship between the two characters. Whereas past titles like It Takes Two followed a similar style of storytelling, its strong emotional plot about working through a divorce meant that narrative beats allowed it to further flesh out its protagonists, making them easier to root for. In contrast, Split Fiction puts a larger emphasis on its platforming action and the many unique worlds available to explore, making its cookie-cutter story about friendship nothing more than an avenue to drive its events forward.

Thankfully, the game excels at just about everything else, presenting one of the most unique platforming experiences in recent memory simply due to the staggering amount of gameplay variety. Every level in the game takes place in a different story dreamt up by its protagonists, alternating between sci-fi and fantasy settings. This shake-up isn’t purely aesthetic either, as each of the game’s eight levels introduces its own unique platforming mechanics, from vehicle hopping across a busy hovercar highway, to riding on the backs of dragons and even partaking in a pinball-inspired side scrolling section, meaning it never fails to provide something fresh at every turn.

The barrage of creative new gameplay features is all held together by solid core platforming mechanics, with responsive controls making it a breeze to double jump, dash and grapple through levels. Despite having certain platforming sections that seemed to require precise mid-air adjustments, the game also subtly assists players by providing a slight amount of magnetism when landing jumps, automatically snapping characters into place as long as they are within a small threshold, effectively striking a balance between providing accessibility while not being too aggressive and sapping the challenge out of the experience. 

That’s not to say that the game is easy by any means, as due to its diverse nature, it essentially throws new concepts at players that span multiple gaming genres including shooters, puzzlers and arcade-style flight simulations, which can be overwhelming depending on each player’s familiarity with these genres. For those who find themselves struggling with a particular section, the game does offer an optional choice to skip to the next checkpoint, saving players the hassle of needing to constantly redo challenging portions.

Of course, this feature is only meant to be the last resort, as the game actively encourages thinking outside the box, providing no shortage of eureka! moments. To ensure that both players have a uniquely different experience, the game introduces complementary abilities in most of its levels, giving Mio and Zoe their own individual means to interact with specific parts of the environment, with most puzzles designed around using each ability to help one another progress. This also adds to its replayability, with a second playthrough required to fully experience each character’s abilities.

Take an early level, for example, where Mio receives a katana and Zoe gets a laser whip. With their separate equipment, Mio can throw her sword towards set points in the environment and teleport to it, while Zoe can grab distant objects like a lasso, which she can then freely aim and throw. Combining the two abilities, the duo must solve increasingly complex platforming puzzles, like teleporting across a crevice as Mio, activating a canon and launching a sphere at Zoe, who can catch it mid-air and throwing it to break glass that reveals a path. The game is filled with moments like these, with later puzzles ramping up the challenge to include elements requiring stricter coordination and precision. 

Its wealth of content doesn’t even stop there, as certain levels also include side stories, mostly optional objectives that transport the pair into a mini-world represented as their unfinished ideas. These levels provide some of the most interesting gameplay changes seen in the game, from competing in a deadly game show to taking the form of pigs, although in the interest of avoiding spoilers, the rest will need to be seen to be believed. Even the many boss fights throughout the game offer their own unique methods to overcome, making full use of the abilities learned during the level and putting a player’s skills to the test, constantly providing a spectacle with every encounter.

As spectacles go, the game is a visual one for sure, never staying in a particular theme or locale for too long before offering the next new thing to marvel at. Lush thick forests, neon-lit streets and even the vastness of space are just some of the many places players will visit, each providing a myriad of moments to stop and take in the sights. Environmental details are not only pretty to look at, but reactive too, with elements like tall grass, sand or snow realistically behaving based on the actions of a player. 

As an additional treat for the avid gamer, Split Fiction is filled to the brim with easter eggs and references to not only previous Hazelight titles, but other popular franchises too. These aren’t always limited to simple hidden objects either, as parts of levels can be themed entirely based on another game, with examples like God of War, Contra or Sonic, and with the latter two even going a step further, by introducing gameplay elements inspired by their source material.

Level variety is further supplemented by frequent changes to perspective, letting players experience the journey from literally a new point of view, with its traditional third-person gameplay swapping to side-scrolling, isometric or even some more unique switch-ups (once again, no spoilers!) at any given moment. The downside to this is that these perspective shifts will no doubt cause motion sickness for certain players, although the game does try to alleviate this with features like camera rotation assistance, the ability to reduce screen shake, or the aforementioned checkpoint skip feature when all else fails.

As co-op experiences go, Split Fiction is the gaming representation of an all-you-can-eat buffet, constantly providing enough new concepts and gameplay variety to ensure players are kept on their toes all the way until the credits roll. Its overarching narrative might not live up to the high standards set by Hazelight Studio’s previous adventures, but with its lengthy, action-packed, world-bending gameplay as a tradeoff, it’s still an absolute win at the end of the day.

Kevin Low

Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.