Split Fiction Review — Making Co-Op Gaming Great Again

Split Fiction is not only a great co-op game, but a great game in its own right. Developer Hazelight Studios has somewhat dedicated itself to making great narrative-driven co-operative games, with the likes of It Takes Two and A Way Out showcasing this. The result with Split Fiction is a game that not only blends genres in an interesting way, but also delivers a unique and captivating story-driven experience to two players at the same time.

Hazelight has realised that there is a huge gap in the market. While there are many co-op games out there (Helldivers II comes to mind), many of them are essentially team-based online games. Yes, you work together, but with many of these online service games, you tend to lose a little of that immersion and story-focused element. Split Fiction manages to capture that feeling of playing a really engrossing single-player game, but with your buddy alongside you, and it’s fantastic, unique, and well worth playing for anyone with an inkling of interest.

Split Fiction tells the story of two writers who get pulled into one another’s stories, and who have to work together to get through some zany and bizarre scenarios, and this is the absolute beauty of Split Fiction. Most of the levels do take the form of third-person adventure scenarios, but you actually never know what you’ll be doing (or what you’ll be).

Some levels will see you turned into sausages, while others will force you to fight aliens together — either way, it’s all about trying to work in tandem and get through the experience without strangling your co-op buddy. And while it might seem quite chaotic, the controls and gameplay mechanics are established early on that allow you to kind of know what you’re doing, even when the scenario you’re thrown into catches you completely off-guard.

Of course, the writing, motion capture, and narrative delivery are fantastic and live up to the expectations set by other games from the studio. The arcs of each character and the relationship between the two are intriguing to watch unfold throughout the course of the game, and everything is done with a ‘less is more’ approach that fans will appreciate.

As an added feature of accessibility, Split Fiction is quite forgiving in order to promote gamers of different skill levels to play together, but still requires one another to progress past certain puzzles and objectives. It’s simply a testament to the ingenuity of the design of the game.

Visually, Split Fiction is also stunning and has such a wealth of different ‘looks’ throughout its runtime that you never get bored seeing the same levels or textures. Its constantly-changing variety bodes well for the appearance of the game, not just the gameplay variety.

If you’re looking for a great co-op game to play with a gamer friend or loved one, Split Fiction is the answer. It may be a little more demanding than some other Hazelight games, but its forgiving nature and fun premise make playing through it an absolute joy.

Split Fiction is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.