PORTALE ROYALE

SPLITGATE 2 doesn't make FPS great again

- Nova Smith

Splitgate 2's plan to "make FPS great again," as 1047 Games co-founder Ian Proulx's really cool hat put it, is undermined by gunplay that feels nearly identical to that of Halo 5: Guardians (hardly one of the greats) and movement that mimics Apex Legends (just OK). There is something comforting in Splitgate 2's familiarity, though, and I easily fell back into old habits as I racked up multi-kills with the tastefully limited arsenal of grenades, abilities and melee attacks.

There is something comforting in Splitgate 2's familiarity, and I was surprised by the ease with which I fell back into old, tenth-prestige habits, deftly comboing my Splitgater's tastefully limited arsenal of grenades, abilities, and melee attacks, and racking up multi-kills, but its flagship feature falls flat, and the maps and guns lack character, making Splitgate 2 fine as a free-to-play timewaster, but little more than that.

PORTAL PROBLEMS

What's supposed to really set Splitgate 2 apart is its portals, which work something like they do in Valve's famous puzzle games, but there's little reason to 'think with portals' during its 4v4 deathmatches given the laser-accurate gunplay and a swift time-to-kill. Even in the surprise battle royale mode, which was announced just before launch, I haven't found portals to be of any significant utility. When I did make use of them, it was always jumping through someone else's so I could beat them to death.