“Halo with portals” is a killer elevator pitch for a shooter. That’s part of what made Splitgate a breakout multiplayer hit a few years ago and why I’ve been eagerly anticipating this sequel since 1047 Games announced it was moving on from support for the first game.
I was excited to go hands-on with Splitgate 2’s alpha a couple of weeks ahead of time and get a sense of what’s new. While the winning formula still works, the sequel is going all in on new modes that could dilute the series’ killer sales.
Right now, Splitgate 2 feels like it could be too ambitious for its own good. 1047 Games wants this to be a comprehensive live service title filled with variety, but that draws Splitgate 2 away from its elegant portal shooting play.
While the basic 4v4 arena mode feels as good as ever, most of the other new modes I tried either shoehorned the portal system into a game mode where it doesn’t really fit or deemphasized the use of portals entirely.
That threatens to take away the unique edge that made it a breakout hit in the first place and make it a tough sales pitch in a volatile live service market, even if its wealth of content is designed to address that very challenge.