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Whenever I look at a new FPS, I ask myself: “Why should I play it?” And I believe many might do the same. Besides Battle Royales, FPS games are flooding the gaming market. Some bring minor yet interesting gimmicks and briefly catch the spotlight. But after a while, I still ask myself, “Why should I try this new one?” To my surprise, the one game that didn’t make me ask that question was Splitgate 2. A PvP FPS with character classes, excellent gunplay that reminded me of Halo, and different modes? Sign me up! But after many hours of playing, I asked myself a new question: “Why should I continue playing?”
Decorative Portals
Splitgate 2 sounded like the perfect combination of Halo and Portal. I must admit, however, that I didn’t play its predecessor, so I don’t have a point of comparison. So, I always looked at this with the newbie rose-tinted glasses. Initially, I loved it. The art style was excellent; the UI was friendly, the guns felt awesome, and everything was enjoyable. But then the “this-is-another-run-of-the-mill-FPS” feeling started to sink in. Why? You might ask. The game has portals and should feel fresh. Well, Splitgate 2 doesn’t do much to make its differentiator shine.
Before you think I never used the mechanic, I did. However, it always felt underwhelming, completely optional, and never game-changing, as the game tells you it is. The map design in Splitgate 2 is way too horizontal and sometimes too large. It also doesn’t help that you can reach any spot with ease, without needing a portal. Furthermore, there isn’t an incentive to use it or an area that favors portal use. The system is there and helps when escaping or carrying a ball back to your base. But that’s it.
There is zero encouragement to go on a portal craze and make some wild moves or create a kill box to trap players. After spending so much time in Splitgate 2, I realized this was due to the lack of verticality. All levels, even the large ones, feel criminally horizontal, and if a game whose gimmick is using portals to pull off slick kills, this is not the way to go. Yes, portals save travel time and make navigating some mind-numbingly large maps easier. But then, what’s the big differentiator?
Still, it isn’t the end. Since Splitgate 2 is going to be a live service game. We already know each season will include a mini Battle Pass. In that regard, there is time to fix the portal issue. Maps need to be more vertical to encourage portal placement, and the spots where you can place portals need to feel less random.
Superb Gunplay, Unbalanced Modes
A highlight of Splitgate 2 is its superb gunplay. What it lacks in weapon variety, it makes up for in its easy-to-use guns. All weapons feel great, and their upgrades are too OP in a way that they favor one specific meta. Or at least in my case, I never felt that one gun was way better than another. In that way, the weapons are fantastic, but the lack of variety is worrying.
On the other hand, the classes are a hit or miss, depending on the player. I always enjoyed class-based shooters, but only if they are balanced enough or, despite some hating it, have some sort of role queue. Three classes cater to known archetypes, such as assault, scout, and heavy. I’ve always picked Meridian (Scout) as it feels fast to use and provides a lot of utility in a match. However, you can see matches with four of the same class spamming their ultimate, which can become quite unbalanced.
Yet, this might be a way to encourage players to try all classes. After all, class progression is tied to experience levels, which you’ll only get by playing with a specific class and using their weapons. Still, Splitgate 2 needs to find a middle ground to make matches feel more balanced. Ironically, bringing different classes is ideal, as each one provides distinct bonuses; however, Splitgate 2 should strive to enforce this a bit more, as unbalanced team compositions will always make the game feel tedious for both teams.
A Not-So-Royale Battle
I was not expecting a battle royale mode, and for once, I say this with disappointment. Splitgate 2 has everything to be a unique FPS that doesn’t follow the mold we’ve grown tired of. What does it do? It adds a battle royale mode. But that’s not the end of it. It adds one of the most frustrating battle royales I’ve played.
For starters, there are no solos, duos, or trios. You’re stuck with a squad of randoms, assuming you don’t have friends who want to queue up with you. Let me tell you, it’s always a coin flip that doesn’t always land as you wish. Queuing with random players can be terrible, and while you can go on your merry way, it never works. This mode needs to adjust the queuing part to make it feel worthwhile to play.
Another thing that is underwhelming is the pacing. A battle royale is supposed to be fast, and I agree with that. However, it is way too fast here and doesn’t even let you take in half of what’s happening in the arena. You land, find a chest, grab some weapons and utility items, and start shooting. By the time you want to see what the item you grabbed does, you already have to move to the new area.
Lastly, the random modifiers are one of the worst things I’ve seen in a mode like this. Let me take a page from the world’s most well-known battle royale: Fortnite. Love it or hate it, it does random events perfectly. Take the first season of this chapter, for example. A samurai boss spawned on the island, and it was up to you to face it or not. If you did, the battle wasn’t that challenging. What was difficult was facing other players who may have had a better loadout than you. In Splitgate 2, you have things like “2x weapon damage.” That’s a broken modifier, which just feels annoying. Doing double damage is not fun—it’s a way to break the game horribly.
Even if we think battle royales are all about ridiculous dances and crossover skins, the truth is that this mode has a degree of strategy that Splitgate 2 doesn’t deliver. The pacing it tries to achieve is way too fast, removing the need to reposition yourself or think about where to go next. It’s pure mayhem, and not in a good way.
Untapped Potential
Ultimately, Splitgate 2 falls into the “it’s not in a good state right now but has potential” category, which is a shame. Of all the hundreds of FPS titles that come to light almost monthly, Splitgate 2 was the one I was rooting for. Its style, gunplay, game modes, and classes looked great on paper. Yet, once you try it, you start seeing all the underlying issues that, unfortunately, make it feel like another run-of-the-mill first-person shooter.
However, there’s a light at the end of this stylish tunnel. Most of the things that don’t work need a bit of tweaking, except portals. The game’s biggest gimmick is one of the most underwhelming things, and if 1047 Games wants to keep this FPS ship afloat, it needs to put all hands on deck to fix that. But there’s a silver lining. When it comes to casual shooters, this one is quite approachable and offers superb moments of top-notch gunplay, which are great for satisfying the FPS cravings of casual players. Yet, veterans of the genre might want to return to the games they’ve called home for a while because Splitgate 2 still needs to polish many things before it’s ready for prime time.
Splitgate 2 (PC Reviewed)
Splitgate 2 has many noteworthy things that are capable of bringing it to the top FPS spots. Unfortunately, its official launch is full of unbalanced game modes, a lackluster battle royale mode, and a lack of encouragement to use the game's iconic gimmick: portals.
Pros
- Excellent gunplay
- Unique art style
Cons
- Lackluster battle royale mode
- Unbalanced matchmaking and game modes
- Map design doesn't encourage players to use portals
